Pioneer Woman

Last week I talked about the need to take the shock value out of animal protein and, on the same note, animal agriculture. One option to help create a sense of comfort for the general public when it comes to meat animals is to push through our boundaries and make farm life mainstream; share the love of our lifestyle, commitment to our animals, and - this is a big one - reveal that we are normal people who are devoted to our families and actually have hobbies and social lives off the farm. In general, show everyone the "coolness" of our jobs in order to bring farm life into focus for those who have never experienced it.

The problem with this plan is realized when one starts to ponder the logistics of convincing a very reserved and very small part of the population (farmers/ranchers) to interact with a very outgoing and very large population demographic (everyone else)...and getting the latter to listen. People in agriculture are getting much better at using the internet to spread the real farm story, but even the breadth of the web is not enough to fully change the farm image. What is? I think the answer is yet to be fully realized, but I recently discovered a woman whose work, whether she intends it to be or not, is making major leaps toward that goal - making farm life mainstream.

Her name is Ree Drummond, but she calls herself The Pioneer Woman. She grew up as a typical city girl from a well-to-do family, dreaming of (and living) a big life in a big city enjoying manicures, pedicures and all of the other -cures, nightly take-out food and a trendy vegetarian lifestyle. According to her writing, she was totally unaware of any type of agriculture and did not care to ever learn anything about farming (this is how I assume most Americans feel about the topic) until she unexpectedly met and fell in love with a cowboy. To make a long story short, her city life and city plans were completely derailed (in a good way) by the relationship, and she found herself married and living in the middle of nowhere on a very large working cattle ranch surrounded by the steady day to day activities of farm life.

Ree did not immediately fit in, but, fortunately for all of us, she decided to approach the awkward situation with a positive outlook. She started and continues to maintain a very popular blog that reveals her very humorous integration onto the ranch including a multitude of daily pictures, recipes, and other entertaining bits of information. A cookbook, simply titled "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" is the latest of her efforts that is gaining widespread attention from both farm and non-farm people (I plan to own a copy soon). One can safely say that she is becoming a popular figure across the nation.

The reason I am excited about her writings is because she is able to present information in a way that is appealing to everyone: her style is outgoing, her recipes are delicious, and she is FUNNY. Read her blog - www.thepioneerwoman.com - to see what she is up to, and check out her cookbook (it includes amusing stories, pictures, descriptions, and very clear step-by-step instructions). Ree presents the reality of ranching in an enthusiastic, love-filled manner that has the ability to make anyone want to quit their job and work cattle. She easily overcomes the "ho-hum" perception of farming, and her descriptions of various everyday tasks present the information in an honest manner that is a stark contrast to most ag-targeted media. Because her work is progressive and fun, it will find its way into the hands of people who would ordinarily avoid anything farm related, creating a positive first glimpse of agriculture for those individuals.

It is people like Ree that we need to launch agriculture into modern society. Her universally appealing style and wildly enthusiastic descriptions of agriculture help to shape the image of our industry among the masses, peeling away the undeserved "dumb farmer" stereotype and replacing it with reality: farmers are tough, farmers work hard, farmers are intelligent, and farmers are awesome. Way to go, Ree.