Tell Your Story

Everyone has a story. And it is becoming more important for farmers to tell their story before an activist does it for them. At Charleston|Orwig we try to help farmers do that. So a few weeks ago I participated in the Missouri Photo Workshop to sharpen my visual storytelling skills.

I spent seven days with 39 other eager photographers from around the world with two goals to accomplish. The first was to soak up as much knowledge as we could from each other and the 10 world-renowned photojournalists who were serving as our faculty throughout the week. The second was to help in a 62-year-long quest to document life in small-town Missouri.

This year’s workshop was held in Macon, Mo., and I chose to do a story on one of the local family farms. After talking with the vet, John Deere dealer and ag loan officer, I was introduced to the Thrasher family—a family with a progressive hog, cattle and crop operation and a great story to tell. Watch the video below to see how my week went.

And then look through the picture story to see how I helped one rural Missouri farmer tell his story.


Now, go forth and prosper! No really, go tell your story before someone else does.

Hidden Field Assignment

I had just finished unloading my car with all the Project EverGreen materials for the Gathering Waters Festival booth, when a young man asked for some help. Lakeshore State Park, where Saturday’s event was being held, was still fairly dead. I decided to help him unload his trailer full of odds and ends.

I told him I was representing Project EverGreen, a national, not-for-profit organization that promotes adding green spaces. He showed me his “beepod,” an invention of his that allows people to produce their own honey. As we were chatting, he informed me that bee populations are dying. I asked him what he meant. He said bees are dying because “big seed companies that genetically modify plants inject nicotine into the plants, and when bees pollinate the plant they get ‘high’ and die.”

Now, I may be a little gullible at times, but nicotine, really?! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of farmers planting crops genetically modified with the latest nicotine lines.

I began to wonder… Is this what people really think?

I thought quietly to myself and then said, “Well, I do know a thing or two about farming and the types of crops farmers plant.” I informed him that the use of biotechnology allows for integrated pest management (IPM) programs, which doesn’t harm beneficial insects.

He looked at me and said, “Huh… I’ll have to look that up. I didn’t know there were such things.”

Hopefully our short conversation changed his perspective, and hopefully he looked it up to reevaluate his beliefs about biotech crops.

There are so many people who believe in myths and have misconceptions when it comes to modern agricultural production. There are resources available to help dispel these myths, such as the Thinking Ahead blog.

My field assignment for the day was to promote Project EverGreen. What I didn’t know was that I had another field assignment for the day—to be a voice for agriculture.

What do you think? Have you ever had an experience like this? What are some of the tools you used to advocate the truth?