From
the Field is a bi-monthly column written by Mark Campbell, Farm Bureau Field
Services Director for the Central District. He writes about Farm Bureau member
benefits and County Farm Bureau activities.
If
you haven’t heard about Main Street Agriculture, then you will have a couple of
opportunities to experience it at events in Charlottesville and Winchester this
fall. Main Street Agriculture is a
movement with a mission to bring education and awareness of the importance of
agriculture to the community year-round with a Main Street Agriculture
celebration event in early Fall.
Bringing
the farm to the city has been well received by the general public since it was
first launched in Winchester in October 2012.
Bringing the message to the nonfarming public where they live and work is
very effective. In 2013, the Winchester
Main Street Agriculture event drew more than 10,000 people on one day. The events are always downtown and on a
Saturday. The movement connects farmers,
families, agribusinesses, city government, and merchants.
In
addition to the mission of increasing the awareness of the importance of
agriculture, a sideline benefit, and really important one, is the new
partnerships created with city government, chamber of commerce, city leaders,
and downtown businesses. This is one
area that Farm Bureau and the agriculture community haven’t really explored
until the Main Street Agriculture movement.
I have been pleasantly surprised at how accommodating the city of
Charlottesville has been. They have
welcomed us with open arms and will be providing the Downtown Walking Mall, Lee
Park and closing several streets. Downtown
restaurants are planning to offer a local food menu the night before as well as
the day of the event. This movement also
provides advertising for Farm Bureau. The exposure is a good buy considering
the alternative cost of media advertisement. The movement also creates year-round
awareness of the importance of agriculture and the power of Farm Bureau through
membership while enjoying the benefits.
Putting
on a Main Street Agriculture event can feel overwhelming at first because it is
a big event and it is not like anything we have ever done before. However, Dee Cook of Virginia Farm Bureau
provides significant help and guidance in getting things started by making inroads
with city government leaders, and businesses. She has also developed a guide
for county Farm Bureaus to follow when delivering this event.
The
Main Street Agriculture event is sponsor-funded which helps the county Farm
Bureau connect to community leaders who offer support. In many cases, the
sponsors and community leaders had no previous connection or understanding of
our grassroots mission. The county Farm Bureau contributes startup funds to
launch the program. All proceeds above and beyond expenses are donated to
Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. Donations to AITC are based on the percentage
of sponsorship and given in the name of the sponsor.
If
you are interested in doing a Main Street Agriculture event in your community,
visit the website at www.mainstreetag.org
and contact your county Farm Bureau president.
I’ll keep you updated on this.
Until
next time,
Mark
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