I want to thank the members of our board of directors, members and staff, who worked as a team to make our convention a success.

Everyone had the opportunity to visit and to be enlightened and entertained as Doc Holiday put some of our leaders under hypnosis at the Wednesday evening reception (Editor’s note: See photos.

On Thursday and Friday we got down to business. I want to thank the delegates for the confidence they expressed in our leadership by re-electing me president and Rick Roth, vice president.

I also want to welcome Jeff Vermillion, Marion County Farm Bureau president and newly elected director from District 10, to the board and to thank retiring board member Wayne Smith for his years of service. And congratulations to John Hoblick and Howell Waring on their re-elections as board secretary and treasurer, respectively.

Farm-City Week commemorates partnership

We have just observed Farm-City Week, the seven days leading up to and including Thanksgiving. During this week, Farm Bureaus nationwide commemorate the partnership between farm and city.

Florida Farm Bureau teamed with our partners-in-promotion, the Florida Department of Agriculture, and was joined by IFAS/Extension and the Leon County Farm Bureau, kicking off the week with a breakfast at the state Capitol. I joined Commissioner Charlie Bronson at that event, part of an effort to bring new emphasis to Farm-City Week at the state and local levels. The Leon County Farm Bureau also participated in the Tallahassee event.

Florida Farm Bureau incorporated support for Farm-City activities into our on-going agricultural awareness program by purchasing radio schedules to increase awareness of the event in the greater Tallahassee, Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa markets.

All around the state, county Farm Bureaus and Extension offices held events promoting the partnership that exists between farm and city.

Florida Farm Bureau staff and leaders were invited to speak at many local events. I was invited to address the Alachua County Farm-City Week luncheon. My assigned topic was an appropriate one: “Agriculture Will Come Back,” an opportunity to reflect on the innate resiliency agriculture as an industry always displays in adversity.

Food Check-Out Day: opportunity for outreach

Just about 60 days from now, Farm Bureau will be observing Food Check-Out Day, another national event that helps the general public understand and appreciate modern American agriculture. In 2005 it falls on Feb. 7.

My hometown of Jacksonville hosted the 2004 national observance; in 2005 that honor goes to Orange County, California.

Food Check-Out Day commemorates the calendar day when, according to United State Department of Agriculture figures, the average American will have earned enough income to pay for the entire year’s food supply. The messages Farm Bureau wants to get across to the public are:

• Based on Agriculture Department statistics, it takes just 37 days for the average American to earn enough disposable income to pay for his or her family’s food supply for the entire year.

• Americans enjoy the safest, most abundant and most affordable food supply on earth.

The idea for Food Check-Out Day surfaced through the Farm Bureau Women’s Committee. An official national commemoration was first held in 1998 in Chicago, Ill. It was a test run of sorts, to gauge interest, not only of the news media, but Farm Bureau volunteers as well.

Results from the initial effort were extremely positive – so positive, in fact, that it was decided to formulate comprehensive national campaigns.

At the national level, AFBF will employ the speaking talents of AFBF Women’s Chair Terry Gilbert as national spokesperson for the event.

Here in Florida, we will involve the entire organization, including county Farm Bureaus, Women’s Committees, Young Farmers and other active volunteers in events geared toward generating public interest and understanding.

I encourage everyone to take part in events supporting Food Check-Out Day. It is an occasion to tell an important part of the agriculture story.