Moving forward.

Sitting on ones backside for weeks after surgery is a whole lot of no fun! Now that I am slowly getting back into the swing of things, I'm feeling better than I have in years!
My confidence is up, new things that were just a dream a year ago are reality, and great things are happening all around me! My Journey back to health is inspiring others and my ranch life is tied to that in ways that I never realized.
 Our family has been raising cattle for four generations, and I sit and watch people with no clue about the realities of ranch life attempt to destroy that life daily. That hurts! Not just us but every single person in the Ag community. If you won't take the time to seek out the truth, with your own eyes, and accept misinformation and lies about where your food comes from and the people that grow it, you are no different than a school yard bully!
Just today I was reading a post by a "Leader" in one of the food and wellness movements, They said straight up that they did not care if the information that they gave was correct, or even real...WHAT! Hold on a minute....You mean to say that it is okay to outright lie to the people that look to you as a leader for the sole purpose of furthering your agenda? Nononono!
What I want people to get, is that you have to do what is right. No matter what! My right may not be your right. But it has worked for me. And science is science. You can't ignore the fact that we are feeding a world of over 6 Billion people to promote a way of being that is unreasonable, untenable, and unsustainable. If I raised cattle the way that My Grandfather did I would be out of business! Better genetics, better management techniques, more efficient grazing practices, all of this makes a difference. We also farm, We raise Corn for the dairy industry, and hay for ourselves, as well as a large market garden. I also have to work off the ranches to make ends meet. I am a one woman show and my life as well as the lives of my partners and employees depends on me, and me alone.
I lost sight of that for a good long while, I ate myself almost to death because I was afraid to stand up, afraid that I couldn't measure up, afraid, no, terrified that I would fail....so I did not try. And every time someone knocked me, said something unkind or made a derogatory remark, I retreated, I hid, I did just enough to get by. Let me tell you, finding the will to fight back was HARD! It still is. I'm not perfect, never will be, no one is. But Damn it. I am worthy, I do make a difference, I am a steward of this land, I freaking feed America and I'm proud of that! I also Took control of myself and my life, pulled myself up by my bootstraps and fought my way back to health. And if I can, so can you!
I have made some Huge decisions in the last year. Moving my base of operations from a place it had been for over 30 years, Taking a job that puts me in the public eye and on the Agricultural front lines every single day. You need to see that we "hicks" are the ones that put the food on your table and the clothes on your backs! Did you know that per Capita more members of the Agricultural community have completed at least a bachelors degree than any other sector of America? Talk to us, ask us questions, visit our farms and ranches, learn our stories. We're really fun and interesting people! And a few of us are changing perceptions, One bite at a time!