All Blog Posts Tagged 'food' (24)

Agriculture is interwoven into my personal fabric. This passion led me to the world of professional speaking nearly ten years ago. Anyone can speak, but not everyone delivers the same impact. Continued education about the many facets of a speaking business, building expertise in a given topic area, and mastering the art of presenting a quality program are just a few of the areas expected by the National Speakers Association for professional membership. Some pundits like to make fun of my…

As a proud Michigan State Spartan, I know defense wins basketball games. If you follow the game and Tom Izzo (top coach in the country in my book), you know that rebounding and great defense have taken our beloved coach to the best record in the Big Dance. We like to watch what Izzo does best – play one of the toughest schedules in the country, take some losses (even though we really dislike the recent Big 10 losses) and get teams to peak at just the right time.



We’re especially…

The buzz word these days in the food world is “processed” – and by and large, it’s being used as a negative term. But what do people really mean when they use it? It may come as a surprise that some of the negativity regarding processed foods is being directed toward modern agricultural and food production, in addition to foods with low nutritional value and foods containing…

I’m writing from the plane on my passport's final trip. It expires tomorrow after 10 years, countless miles – and hopefully a few changed lives. I always want to keep my old passports – this one has 31 stamps, four visas and full pages rich with memories.

Eastern Europe: This part of the world reminds me of the necessity to foster dreams – after meeting people suppressed under the communist…

Our family happily picked apples last week in an orchard 20 miles away, where we managed to taste Fuji, Yellow Delicious, Roma and Red Delicious on a bright Autumn day. We do the same with blueberries in July. We purchase eggs from our neighbor. We grow our own herbs, raspberries and vegetables – our family spends many hours in the garden to grow our own food. We also purchase beef from a local farm, enjoy pork burgers from the next county over and would love to find a lamb to buy. We enjoy…

Now that I have your attention, we’ll spend the next three paragraphs discussing the merits of the USDA’s decades-long research on the efficacy of comprehensive nutrient management plans (CNMP), BMP and how it is encouraged by NRCS. That’s not exactly effective, unless you’re a farmer looking into how to manage manure to add organic material to your soil. Not of great interest unless you’re working with farm animals. Since this is less than 1.5% of the U.S. population, I might…

Food is served on a variety of plates today; plastic, china, big, small, and even fast food wrappers. So you might be wondering why I’m asking about the shape of your food plate. As a cook and a bit of a “foodie”, I love a beautiful presentation on the cool square plates and the look of the ovals.

However, as an agriculturist, I’m firmly convinced our food plate needs to remain round so that we can have…

Not according to recent accusations by animal rights activists. After all, how can you possibly eat an animal if you love animals? Wouldn’t that make you a hypocrite, according to messaging by…

In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m sharing a note penned for our young child…

Each night I’m home, I lay my hand on your sweet cheek and send up prayers of thanksgiving for you. It’s those little moments I miss most when I’m traveling, such as standing next to your bed and the resulting peace.

Beyond health and happiness, I hope your life will include:

• A family who…

Farmsphere.com, the Food & Agribusiness meeting point, brings you the best Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness social networks.

You already know the benefits of Farmsphere.com: management of online reputation,…