While the blog started out several years ago as a way for me to write about life on the farm, I did not see using the internet as a specific way to promote the farm. Last year around this time, the USDA began a program called Know Your Farmer Know Your Food. From their web site:
This is a USDA-wide effort to create new economic opportunities by better connecting consumers with local producers. It is also the start of a national conversation about the importance of understanding where your food comes from and how it gets to your plate. Today, there is too much distance between the average American and their farmer and we are marshalling resources from across USDA to help create the link between local production and local consumption. (Read more here.)
In the past six months or so, I have begun to realize just how important it is for folks to have the opportunity to get to know farmers on a "personal" level and how important it is for farmers to be transparent and reach out to the public. Mike and I do this by having a personal connection with all of our produce customers in the summer. However, the internet offers us a way to reach an even wider segment of people with more detail than we can in a brief encounter over the sale of produce.
With this thought in mind, I launched my Face Book Farm page several months ago, where I can leave brief, informative posts throughout the day. They might include the birth of a new calf, fences that need repaired, agricultural type articles in the news, or a variety of other topics all farm related. I always seek to make the Face Book page interactive, informative and hopefully fun for the readers. I hope by participating, folks get to "Know Their Farmer" a little better. Although all the readers of my blog or Face Book page are not local, I believe that by being exposed to the day to day life of a "farmer" folks at least begin to think about agriculture in a way they maybe never have before.
(For more information on using social networks to promote your farm or agricultural industry, I found a good article here.)