Food: Fundamental Good

I am proud to be a part of agriculture and world food production in all it's forms. I see food as a "fundamental good".

Food is fundamental in that life depends on it at its most basice level. Without food life stops. Think about life on another planet. The first thing needed is food. Or think about life in a desert. There is little life because there is little food. My first experience in a big city, New York, I remember being concerned about where to get food.If food is abundant, life and people have a chance to thrive and all of civilization may spring forth.

Food is a fundamental good in that it promotes peace, prosperity, and contentedness. I have seen people fight for food. Wars arise, peasants revolt, nations pass from history because food was not available. I have not heard of two great enemies that will sit at a table and eat with weapons drawn. With the abundance of food comes the opportunity for the abundance of peace and the prosperity that follow. So food is a fundamental good.

With all the concern and clammering in the world over agriculture, food, and the business of food, let us not forget that at the end of the day, food is about doing good for one's self, one's neighbor, one's nation, and one's world. No matter how it is produced, food is fundamental to the life of the earth. Let us be thankful for those who strive to provide that resource for everyone's good. They are providing a "fundamental good".

Thank you for your thoughts.

Can Government Create a Job?

My wife came home from a recent event where the question was asked, "Is it goverment's role to create jobs?". Some version of this question is tumbling around in the political discussion almost daily with the fall campaigns if full swing. Here are some of my thoughts on the topic.

In my view, governments role is to reward righteousness and to punish evil. This of course begs the question, "What is righteousness and evil?" I, personally, turn to the bible and the Judeo Christian traditions for my definititions. Righteousness would be those things that indicate an acceptance and appreciation of the God of creation who has taught us through scripture, example and history what things are pleasing to Him. God's character becomes the ultimate gold standard against which right and wrong are measured.

Evil then becomes all those things that indicate a rejection of these standards and a rebellion against the One who established them. The Ten Commandments come to mind as a clear set of standards that reflect God's character. Let it be said clearly that I stumble and fall across these things repeatedly. When I do, I have done something evil. The laws of our government tend to reflect an understanding of these truths and at some point rise up to punish us. The government and laws in a Muslim/Hindu/Communist/etc. nation will reflect a different understanding of rightousness and evil.

Now, having said all this, I have opened up any number of possibly controversial topics. Which church's opinion of biblical interpretation shall the government use? What about national defense? How is the size of a reward or punishment to be determined? Should the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings and courthouses? The list is quite long and I am not suggesting to answer any of these questions. I only wish to point out my understanding of the "role of government".

The second observation in this question hangs on the idea of "creating jobs". I am very much attracted to the word "create". I believe God created humans in His image. He also created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Creating is a God image thing. It is part of His nature/character. It is what He does. So "creating " is a very good thing. Creating jobs, works of art, houses, cars, food are all fundamentally good.

In my experience, I create a job when I discover some creative activity that produces a profit. Profit is not a bad thing in my understanding. It is a reflection of society saying, "What you have created is worth more to us now than it was before you got involved." When society approves of what I have created in a way that allows me to profit my response is to create more. At some point, I am making enough that I have to hire people to help. So my creative effort didn't employ just me but others as well. This is how a job is created.

I don't see government "creating" things. I see govenment rewarding and punishing. Rewarding in the form of subsidies, tax incentives, and non-regulation or punishing with taxes, regulation, and outright making things illegal. An interesting dynamic is that for government to reward one person with money, government must take (punish) that money from someone else by way of taxes, fees, or whatever. And what happens to government's ability to reward job creation when the taking of that reward money destroys jobs faster than they are created.

Is it government's role to create jobs? I guess I would have to say "no". Creativity is inherently a human experience and therefore job creation is the result of human expression. Government can reward or punish the creator of jobs but I don't see how government "creates" a job.

These are just some thoughts I have. Thank you for thinking with me.

Welcome ThinkTV viewers

Greatings! Welcome!

I am excited and happy that you have taken the time and effort to find my humble blog. The breadth and reach of this blog never stops amazing me. When I realise that people from all over the world stop by to read and consider my posts I am humbled. We live in amazing times. We live in exciting times. Thank you for your interest.

My farm's business name "Standing Oaks Enterprises LLC" has its roots in the mighty oak trees that stand in a grove on my farm. I seldom see these trees but I wonder what they have seen and endured in there life. Some have seen most of the events of our country unfold. Simply by standing there in a grove they remind me of the legacy of the past and offer hope for the future. I pray that my life could be that meaningful.

The name "Acorns for Thought" comes from my desire to encourage people to think and ask questions about farming. I hope to plant seeds of thought in people's minds. Seeds of thought that may some day grow into mighty oak trees of ideas. Ideas that will provide the food, shelter, and beauty that everyone should enjoy.

I approach life from my understanding of the JudeoChristian worldview. I am not an academic nor a trained and learned thinker so I do not presume to compete on that level. I am a farmer that has his hands dirty, his back aching, and sweat on his brow almost everyday. My blog approaches life from that angle and asks questions. I do not always answer my questions. Sometimes I don't know the answers. There may be multiple answers to a question and I will attempt to present the one that appeals to me. I only ask that you consider the ideas.

I invite you to consider questions with me and to feel free to comment. Perhaps in this discussion a seed of thought will be planted in someone's mind and begin to grow into something strong and beautiful. That would make me proud and very happy.

If this humble blog doesn't catch your interest, I invite you to click the link to CauseMatters provided below. You will find there a broad set of resources, not the least of which is links to other farmer blogs. Please enjoy, ponder, and grow with me and my fellow farmers.

http://www.causematters.com/ag-resources/


Thank you for your time and thoughts.

A Cross Cultural Opportunity

I will be attending a meeting of pastors and lay people in Minneapolis in the near future. The meeting is for the purpose of discussing responses to the recent changes in the governing documents of the Presbyterian Church USA. These changes provide for the elevation of people, who are openly practicing sinful behavior and refuse to repent, into leadership positions within the church.

So that I might be better acquainted with the discussions surrounding this event I have joined in on several online discussions. These discussions are, quite naturally, dominated by very skilled pastors. I have found myself in a new culture. The culture of the ordained, educated, and career pastor. I am not yet sure what to make of this new culture I am rubbing up against. Being new to the culture I fear misunderstanding what I see and hear and, I fear being misunderstood.

Being in a new culture isn't that remarkable. We all do it everyday. We move from through the cultures of our family's, our work environment, our schools, our communities, etc.on a constant and continuous basis. Sometimes we move into a culture for the first time and we realize that things just aren't exactly what we thought they were. I feel this way when I step out of my predominantly agricultural existence, other professions have their own cultures.

I feel like the proverbial "Bull in a China shop". I tend to say what I think on the strength of my own thinking and support it with nothing but the quality of the thought itself. My words are not measured and weighed for balance and substance against the writings or thoughts of others. They rise and fall on their own merit. This is a stark contrast to the online discussions I have been following. I suddenly find myself in the world of theological academics.

I look forward to this experience because I enjoy people and observing how they think, communicate, and make decisions. This conference will provide many opportunities to interact with people that know nothing of the world of agriculture and where food comes from. Since many of the people I meet will be very gifted and experienced communicators, they are career pastors, I hope to gain alot of understanding of how to approach commuicating agriculture's story to a non-ag world.

Already I am seeing things that contrast with what I am used to in the agricultural world.

Brevity and pointed, undefended, personal opinions seem to be avoided in this culture. I wonder if the defense of personal opinions leads to the death of brevity? Brevity is the stock and trade of the farmer. We are people of few words. Personal opinions are just that, personal. They don't need defending.

Money or finances seems to have a different twist in this world. I haven't quite nailed it down yet. I am used to openly discussing financial arrangements and trying to create the famous "Win Win". Money/finances can be used as a fearful weapon but in agriculture the discussions usually revolve around the good and productive side. In the pastor's world I am hearing most of the discussion revolve around issues of money as weaponry.

Thinking of money as a weapon first and for most is in contrast to hearing the hopefulness and creativity of the farmer when finances are discussed. Farmers see economic danger all the time but it is overcome with visions for bright opportunity just around the corner. If risk is one side of the coin, opportunity is the other, tends to be the mindset in the farmer's heart.

These are just a couple of my observations so far. I am trying to refrain from jumping to conclusions until I am more familiar with the culture.

As a person that loves to study people and how they think, this conference promises to be an interesting time. I would describe it as a "target rich environment" for the attentive observer. It should be fun to learn more about this culture, a non-ag culture, and consider what lessons can be gleaned about communication from it.

Thanks for thinking with me.

Is that Appropriate?

I have been considering the question, "What is appropriate?" allot lately. I have faced this question as my family has been the subject of a lifestyle documentary for ThinkTV and in relating to things that I post on social media.

The question arises in the television arena when I realize that the very same picture can create multiple impressions in the viewer's mind. The evening the camera crew spent several hours filming the front of my home at sunset comes to mind. The camera never moved, only adjustments were changed, and through the camera my home was light a cheerful in a setting sun or quite and dark. The light and breezy image more closely resembled reality that evening. The darker more of the Walton's feeling came through. Would it be appropriate to use the darker image if it fit the producer's story telling needs?

Another shot is of my wife and daughter sitting in the yard studying school work. It is not outside of possible that they might do this but never late in the evening on a pleasant summer day. Is it appropriate to stage a shot like that of something that might happen. It will make good TV I have little doubt.

There are other examples similar to these from our time spent filming. I am completely comfortable with the spontaneous footage, but the staged footage leaves me wondering where the line is between communicating the truth about our life and creating a fantasy that will entertain the audience?

In the social media world the question is, "Is this image something that the general public should see?" or "Is this statement drawing attention to things in agriculture that the general public doesn't need to be reminded of?"

The birth of a pig, to me, is an enormous part of my life but as an image it shows slime and blood. In the purest form it shows that some pigs are born dead (stillborn) or even mummified (partially decomposed).  Dealing with this is what I do. Is it appropriate to show that aspect of my life to the general public?

Is it appropriate to write about the death of animals on the farm? Do I want to remind people that animals sometimes die and have to be disposed of on a farm? Is it better not to point out this obvious fact to the unthinking and let them live in their ignorance? Ignorance is bliss you know.

With the TV questions I guess I sort of shrugged and let it go. I know so little of the editing process and the needs of that profession to do a good job that I probably am not in a position to judge well where the lines should be drawn. The crew is professional and I will defer to their judgement and experience. Perhaps, the end product will suggest I chose poorly.

With the social media questions I am starting to adopt the 4th grade rule. If it something that a 4th grader would learn if they spent a weekend with me then it probably should be shared. I admit somethings must be shared with tact and thought, but the consumer should have access to the information. If I would not be comfortable showing or explaining something to a visiting 4th grader maybe I shouldn't be posting the item at all.

What are your thoughts?


Thanks for thinking with me.

Touching Base

I feel guilty. Well, sorta guilty. No not that guilty. I haven't done anything. That is the point. I haven't blogged for a little while. That sorta, not really, kinda guilty.

The reason for the lack of blogs is pretty easy to figure out. There are three things sucking up my time that should provide food for the blogger juices for a while. The first is the heat wave we all have experienced. The second is my family's involvement with ThinkTV (PBS) in filming a 30 minute segment profiling our farm family. And the third is a discussion that is going on in the social media Agvocacy community and the Ag trade associations concerning what is appropriate to post online.

Each of these are a rich source of information and examples for my very active mind to work with. I want to share with the public (consumers) an honest picture of what my life is so they can better understand the people that produce food and what motivates us. We are a unique breed.

The question keeps coming up, "what is appropriate?".

Should I tell the public I will try almost anything to protect my animals from dying in the heat and how unpleasant dragging them out to bury is? Or should I come up with a different way to say it that doesn't cause the public (that isn't educated or thoughtful enough on their own to know it) to even think about it?

Should I go along with staging parts of our ThinkTV production so that the producer has the shots to work with that will best tell the story for the audience? Or should I insist on only allowing shots of spontaneous events? What will be left after editing? Are the two really any different?

Should I some how ease up on caring for my animals in the heat so I have time to deal with these other important questions. (I am writing this now because I have imposed a "Siesta" on the activities at the farm to let the hogs rest through the heat of the day uninterrupted by feeding and chores). Where are my priorities to be?

So there are some interesting thoughts out there to explore, when I get time.

Thanks for beginning to ponder these things with me.

A Precious Honor

My family has been working with the producers of ThinkTV, a PBS station that airs out of Dayton Ohio, to produce a 30 minute documentary centered around a farm family. The show will be featured on the "Our Ohio" show that airs weekly sometime this fall.

We see this as a great honor to be chosen for this production. We did not apply. We did not recommend ourselves. The show found us. Through our activities in promoting agriculture and being involved in some of the current issues faced by the farm community our family's story found its way to ThinkTV and grabbed the producer's interest.

I am not shy about pointing out the connections between my Christian beliefs and how life seems to play out accordingly. I considered it an unusual honor when the producer, Richard Wonderling, asked if it would be possible to record my family at a church service. The fact that he perceived church, my family's faith, to be central to the telling of who the Wildman family is, was a great compliment.

It is very easy to forget in the daily living of our life that we are communicating much larger truths to those around us. In my gloomy moments, I question whether the hours, days, and years spent doing the mundane things of raising a family are really speaking to my children and community. I have such a vivid understanding of all the things I have done wrong and what a sinful father and husband I am. As I have listened to my children tell their story's this week to a camera, under the lights, with a microphone stuck in their face, I have shed tears of pride. Tears of pride because I can hear those things I and my wife have prayed for and worked so hard for, being reflected in the daily activities and lives of our children. Somehow the message I wanted my children to hear has found its way into their hearts.

I openly confess that the honor of representing an Ohio farm family on a television show appeals to my personal ego. To be selected from among the many qualified family's with great stories is a marvelous honor. But the joy of listening to and hearing my children reflect the messages my wife and I have tried to teach has been the greatest, most humbling, and precious of honors.

Thank you for considering these things.