Being Thankful..........

 As I pause and reflect this week before Thanksgiving----I'm pretty thankful---how about you?
I have had many opportunities to work with students that are studying to be teachers at universities across the state.  Some of their classmates are exercising their 1st Amendment rights across campus, but they were in class---learning how to become better teachers.  For that --I am thankful---the future, no matter your politics, has many people looking to do the right thing--even if they didn't understand or appreciate all the agricultural literacy concepts I shared with them, they were respectful and asked many interesting questions.

Next I'm thankful for the opportunities I've had to interact with farmers from across the state of Illinois.  I'm thankful that you let us tell part of your story.  You have an audience that wants to know more-I thank you for your willingness to open up and share with our program, that we can turn around an help tell your story--in ways that teachers can integrate into their existing curriculum.

I'm also thankful for the opportunities to learn more about Agriculture across the US.  Recently, I got to spend time in Oregon with the Oregon AITC Program.  Leaving the land of Corn and Beans, I arrived in the land of Hops and Hazelnuts--and, seriously-- in the Grass Seed Capital of the World, Linn County Oregon.   What I found was farmers who took pride in what they were growing, wanting to help others with a product and to explain what really goes on --on their farms!  I was shocked to learn the impact the economy has had on grass seed.  But think about it---not as many new homes, not as much need for grass seed.  Wow!  The economy really did have an impact.  It was the same across the board.  From specialty wines and hazelnuts to hop production to salmon and beef and dairy and wool.   I met many great people--and am thankful for the opportunity!

Hopefully, you too will take a minute to pause and reflect.    Where did your bountiful meal come from, besides the grocery store?  The fine folks at Western Illinois University have developed a map detailing who grew your dinner.  It is certainly worth a look to see where your food came from. 

I guess this video---detailing how from 1960 the average farmer fed 26 people.....and now it is 155 people.....sums it up for me.  As I enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner---I'll be thankful....will you?

Flu Shots…..and Agriculture?

I got my flu shot the other day.  It was relatively painless, and after filling out the form and getting the shot I got a Snoopy Band-Aid, and a Tootsie Roll.   That process is happening across the US, and especially in Illinois  (well,  maybe not the Snoopy Band-Aid) as we approach the dreaded flu season.

But as I was signing the form, the person behind me in line said---I’ll be you can’t link your flu shot back to agriculture.    Wrong---I bet I can……

You see the vaccine for the flu virus itself is incubated on the inside of a chicken egg.   Yes that is right---a chicken egg.   For the last 50 years or so---flu vaccines have been cultured inside a fertilized egg.   Although there are researchers looking to find ways to utilize other methods, right now, the egg is still the most widely used incubator for our vaccine strains.  That means plenty of planning ahead for the vaccine period where you need plenty (say 100 million--give or take a couple dozen!) eggs!  How do you build up this supply?  Where do those eggs come from?  It is all one of the mysteries that most folks don t think about-we just get our flu shot!

But say you were to get sick?  How about Penicillin and all the other medicines we take?   We’ll right here in Illinois --Peoria to be exact at the USDA Agricultural Research Service National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research-Doctor Andrew Moyer and others helped utilize a development of the deep vat fermentation method to bring the production of penicillin to consumer uses.  In fact, from 1940--the price of penicillin dropped from “Priceless” to just 55 cents per dose in 1946!    All of that and more is detailed in the USDA Publication “Science in Your Shopping Cart”.  You’d be amazed at how you use agriculture and ag research in your daily life!

Of course there is corn starch in the bandages--Snoopy ones included, and the Tootsie Rolls I got after my shot---well those too are an Illinois Product made in Chicago, with Corn Syrup and Soybean Oil.  Yes, believe it or not--Illinois Agriculture is all around you...even with your flu shot!