When I married Bob, I began noticing how farmers and their farms were depicted in the media. If all you knew about farms came from those outlets you’d get the wrong idea about modern farms.

Children’s books often set farms back in the 1940s.

In this archived column, I grumble about this problem.

Years ago, a lot of people visited relatives on the farm. My Chicago cousins helped with haying when we still lived in Illinois. Those summers Don, Ron, and Val learned a lot and worked hard.

Bob always told how he invited a Chicago teacher and her students to take a tour of the Manzke Illinois farm. At the end, he asked the students what they liked best. Bob expected to hear about calves or even the barn cats. The children said they liked seeing apples growing on trees the best. They had never seen an apple tree before. This shocked Bob.

These days many urban people are not connected in any way to farms and that’s a shame. Showing them real rural activities makes a big impression. It educates them while the farm people learn about life in the city.

So when things open up again after this pandemic, visit a farm. Go to a Breakfast on the Farm. Eat your fill and look around. You might be surprised at what you find.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved