Empowering Future Generations:
The Timeless Importance of Food and Agriculture
They say, ‘knowledge is power’, and I suppose that’s true. Equally true would be the sentiment that ‘food is power’. One thing I know that each and every human being on this planet has in common is that all of us need to eat on a regular basis. What we eat might change based on geography, culture, religion, or personal preference, but the fact that every human eats to live is a universal truth. This truth only emphasizes the importance of global, national, and local agriculture to the lives of everyone on this planet. All of us are customers in the ag sector. All of us are dependent on farmers and ranchers.
I have had some fun discussions over the years with my son, who is now in his late 20s, about what humans from the past would be most intrigued with if they were somehow transported to modern society. He is convinced that it wouldn’t be the telephone, television, electricity, or internet that would amaze them the most-he holds firm to the notion that it would be the ‘spice aisle at Publix’. The idea that in America we have almost any imaginable food, let alone spices that in previous generations would have been considered tremendously precious, all available for easy purchase in one location is one of the biggest blessings we enjoy living in this country. Sadly, though, sometimes it might cause modern Americans to take for granted the abundant supply and variety of food we enjoy.
My dad was born in 1923 in Pasco County. Of course, the depression hit the United States in 1929. He was raised in a time in which if his family didn’t grow it, raise it, catch it, or harvest it hunting, they probably didn’t eat it. I grew up in a time of relative plenty in this country. My dad, who grew up during the depression, always told me growing up that good times can be fleeting and to always be prepared for hard times. He made sure I knew how to garden, graft and bud fruit trees, care for livestock and poultry, and preserve food in a variety of ways. My mother canned food, my dad cured and smoked pork and mullet. I am so thankful I grew up with parents who took time to teach me the older ways of growing and preserving food. I still carry on many of these old, sometimes ancient, practices of preserving food, along with some more modern techniques like freeze drying, food. I pray these skills can remain a hobby and never have to become a necessity, but we never really know what tomorrow might bring.
Working with young people for well over 20 years I have enjoyed helping to teach many of them skills they need to grow gardens, care for fruit trees, and raise poultry and livestock. Along with teaching them the scientific principles they will need to have success with these endeavors, I have tried to instill in the youth I have worked with that there is power in the ability to feed oneself and one’s family. I absolutely believe this to be true. I have told – I don’t know how many kids over the years – that if they can grow a vegetable garden, care for a few fruit trees, care for a healthy flock of chickens and know how to successfully care for, harvest, and preserve hog that they might never be rich, but they will also never starve. Maybe this is a heavy subject for young people, and again I pray they never need this, but I am convinced one of the best things we can do for people is help them learn how to feed themselves and others.
Dr. Chris DeCubellis is a State Specialized 4-H Agent with the UF/IFAS Extension Service and helps coordinate state-level animal science and poultry programs for youth. Chris also has a small cow-calf and vegetable operation with his family outside of Archer, Florida. Chris is a native Floridian originally from Pasco County where his family has been for generations.