Come Along with Me on the Gate to Plate Tour
I was invited to attend this tour to raise awareness of the important work farmers are doing.
Working on a farm, I have seen first hand the many misconceptions people make about farmers and farming in general. Even though the farm I work at is an agritourism farm ( meaning most of the money is made by hosting events and in the fall with the pumpkin patch), I still hear things that honestly makes my blood boil.
So many people give farmers a bad rap, they think that everything they see and hear on television and the internet are true. They never stop to think where the information is coming from ( what source) and is there an ulterior motive for the so-called news.
I have been following Feed The Dialogue on social media for a while, Instagram especially, and I became intrigued by their mission so I reached out to the director, Marlowe, and asked how I could help get involved with their work. That stepping out of my comfort zone ( again) led to being invited on the Gate to Plate Tour.
The Gate to Plate Tour was a tour put together by Feed The Dialogue NC with help from the North Carolina Cattlemen’s Association, the NC State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, NC Farm Bureau ( who I can say we are proud members of, all of our cars are insured through them.), NC Pork Council, NC Soybean Producers Association, and North Carolina Grange.
Sound like a lot of organizations right, well honestly to put together an amazing tour like this one, you have to have a lot of partners. So what exactly was the purpose behind the Gate to Plate Tour? The tour walked us through the day in the life of a cattle farmer, how they care for their animals, and how genetics are used in the industry.
We were able to tour two cattle farms, the Elaine Moore Farm and the Harward Sisters Farm. Each of these tours were unique and I had thought of putting both farms in this one post but then I realized that this would not do any of them justice. So they will get their own separate posts. So check back on those posts.
I will admit that I was little anxious when the day of the tour rolled around because I would be driving at the butt crack of dawn to get to Raleigh, I had made up my mind that I was going to take the highway but as soon as I was about to hit the highway, GPS warned me of an accident that was causing backups so I went the back roads and got there in record time.
I had to be at Farm Bureau in Raleigh at 7:15 am to meet the bus that would take us on our tour. And that bus was super nice and luxurious. Kristen from Tabletop Media had stopped at Biscuitville for biscuits and coffee for everyone to enjoy on the bus. I thought that was so thoughtful.
As soon as we were all loaded, off we went on our magical tour. I was super excited to see some familiar faces on the tours, Linda and Tamara were both featured on women’s series so I felt right at home. Before the day was over we were all cracking jokes and just having a good time.
We arrived at our first destination a little late, but that was just a hiccup on an otherwise perfect day. Check back soon to hear about our tour of the Elaine Moore and Harward Sisters Cattle Ranches and see what yumminess was involved during lunch.
