Picking Presidents is like Picking Corn

Years ago John Sununu, Governor of New Hampshire said, “Iowa picks corn, and New Hampshire picks presidents.”  He was chiding Iowa over the first in the nation status in the caucus/primary sweepstakes.  He was half right Iowa picks a lot of corn because we’re number at growing it. Jon Huntsman erroneously used that logic in 2012. If you are like me you are sick and tired of the phone calls, emails, TV commercials, and mailboxes stuffed with political flyers.  On February 1^st, it will all be over, but until then we are on the clock to pick our next Presidential nominees.

Iowa’s demographics may not be as diverse as the rest of the country, but we still have a good cross section of people with common sense.  Iowa’s economy is growing more diverse.  It hosts a strong financial and insurance industry and a growing tech industry along with agriculture.   It has a high percentage of small business owners including our farmers which makes taxes and regulations an important issue.  Iowa has a lot of varying views on Presidential qualities.   Neither party dominates in the state, just look at two of the country’s longest serving US Senators Tom Harkin (D), recently retired, and Charles Grassley(R) who have both been supported by voters since the early 1980’s.  The Iowa Statehouse is split as is our US Congressional delegation.

Flyover State, America’s Heartland, and the Midwest a place where folks cling to their guns and Bibles are anecdotes that have been used to describe Iowa during election cycles.  Iowa represents the best of America, we still hold many of the traditional values our country was founded upon, but we also have many voters that are more liberal in their views- after all someone must still subscribe to the Des Moines Register.  The coasts where the population is dense fret a lot about Iowa’s first in the nation position for Presidential nominations.  Our unique caucus system puts pressure on candidates to visit and meet citizens.  All of the robo-calls in the world are worthless in Iowa if you have not had a town hall meeting at the Pizza Ranch or community center.   Iowans value their opportunity to grill the candidates on food, farm, and issues important to rural Americans. 

The caucus gives Iowans an important role in “thinning the herd” each Presidential election cycle.  Iowa has also been a breath of life to campaigns like Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter, both of whom were struggling until caucus supporters turned out for them.  The Iowa Caucus gives us a chance to flex some muscle into the selection process for President.  Each of us should take this opportunity seriously.

We have our issues to evaluate candidates on, and we should also look at the issues that are important to agriculture. If Iowa doesn’t who will?  What are the candidates’ position on the farm bill, clean water act, federal budget, international trade, renewable energy, taxes, and biotechnology labeling?  A lot of these topics aren’t in the debates or advertisements, but they impact us nearly every day.  On caucus night don’t stop with the vote, speak up at the meeting and share your thoughts to make sure the issues important to you are discussed as the party platform is built.  We only have a few days left to have an influence on these issues. 

Don’t let the millions of dollars, hours of volunteers’ time, and thousands of frequent flyer miles go to waste. Let’s carefully consider the candidates on the issues that matter because our decisions will likely put a few campaigns out to pasture.  This is being touted as the largest turnout in the history of the caucus, so make sure you attend and make it a record crop.

Fair, Food, and Politics

When it comes to the pulse of politics, the nation comes to Iowa for the Iowa State Fair.  The first in the nation status makes Iowa a central power in telling the nation who should be each party’s nominee.  The honest, hardworking, common sense Iowans are interviewed on the nightly news and morning network programs. 

When it comes to food the nation passes over Iowa and the heartland to focus on the coasts.  Hollywood and Washington DC are the focus.  Actors and superstars are the "experts" on food production practices and technology while lobbyists and activists fill the streets and hallways of the nation’s capital.  All of them quote food production facts commonly found searching random websites or memes on Facebook.  The national media loves to tell the Iowa story when it comes to politics, especially when a candidate is holding a deep fried food on a stick, but when it comes the politics of food, food production, and food safety Iowa is the last place they want to come.  Iowa’s status as first in the nation doesn’t end at the caucus.    Iowa leads the nation in corn, egg, and pork production.  It’s essentially the capital of our food production.

Politics in food is nothing new.  Remember the original Tea Party?  Two of the latest topics are biofuels and biotechnology, which have hit the political circus because of the effects of food prices, availability, safety, and production.  Facts fly freely in debates on the topics and most claims go unchecked.  It’s the passion and emotion behind the facts that really garners the attention from Americans.  The sensationalized facts are repeated over and over again by foodies, celebrity moms, and anyone with a keyboard or smartphone.  The Iowa farm families who are sought out for photo ops with politicians are not included, or worse, their testimonies are marginalized because the facts come with point blank honesty and a solemn voice.

Farmers and our families are not going to get the prime time spots to tell our stories of the safe and wholesome food we produce to feed America and the world.  Each and every one of us must tell our story of how we produce the meat, grains, vegetables and dairy consumed each day.  We have to use the facts, but weave them into a compelling story of what we are doing each day and give examples of our first- hand knowledge.  We need to tell our story any and every way we can in coffee shops, carpools, ball games, elevators, churches, on Facebook and Instagram.  We may not often get the major media sources, but when we do we need to share the facts so American families see the passion we have what we do, because every story matters. 

Your story may be like the Pork Chop On A Stick that Hillary Clinton carried around the fair on Saturday because it may not be completely eaten, but one bite may get the message across.  Those fifteen minutes of fame will make a difference to someone.  This is my contribution to telling the true story of agriculture, because farmers matter. Welcome to the Bacon Burger Blog.