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Iowa couple is helping to tell agriculture’s story

Telling agriculture’s story to the non-farm public is nothing new for a northwest Iowa farm couple.

Tony and Shirley Schroeder of Le Mars, Iowa estimate that, over the past 20 years, they’ve hosted well over five-thousand school students on their farm, including those from nearby Sioux City.

Tony says when students first arrive on the farm, he always begins by asking the question, “Where does your food come from?”

“They all tell me, ‘the grocery store’—and I correct them right away,” Tony says. “I say, ‘Yes, that’s where you pick it up at. But this where the food starts at. We produce it our here on the farm. We’re very careful with all our food. Our animals are well taken care of, and then we have them processed and brought to the grocery store’.”

Shirley says students are often surprised to hear of the many common household items that originate from farm commodities.

“When we tell them that marshmallows and lipstick and footballs and even medicines come from livestock, animals like cattle and pigs, they’re kind of surprised,” she says. “They just think cows are hamburger and maybe they know pigs are bacon.”

Tony says very few of the students have ever been to a working farm, prior to visiting the Schroeder farm.

“They are so far removed from the farm any more. We get a busload at a time and, of that busload, there may be a handful—maybe—that know anything about the farm.”

And Tony says, often times, the teachers are as unaware as the students on where their food comes from.

Dennis Morrice, KLEM, Le Mars, Iowa contributed to this story.