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EPIB Trail
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Volume 12, Issue 3
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Recipes for the Boss Ag Woman By Darrian Beam Inspiration from The Boss Ag Women of the NJ Bureau On November 18th, I attended a banquet hosted by the NJ Farm Bureau at their annual convention. Upon my arrival at the Princeton Westin, I was surprised to see a large pink tractor parked out-front. The theme for this year’s convention was Celebrating Women in Agriculture. We often think of farming as a man’s job...filled with dirt and grime, the field is a place of hard physical labor, unfit for the petite hands of a woman. I will admit, when I arrived at the event, I anticipated I would be in the minority, most of the attendees would most likely be men. Yet at every turn, there was another woman, ready to discuss her product and her story. It was clear that even agribusiness has not escaped the polished grasp of the modern, professional, game changing women of America. As a member of Rutgers’ own CCCF Agribusiness Scholars program, I was deeply excited by the energy and wisdom of the women present at this event, and felt compelled to extend the spotlight on women in agriculture in this month’s article. The women at the convention surely had something to say about a woman’s place in and out of the field. Forget a nine-to-five; these professionals were full-time wives and mothers while taking a hands-on approach to their family’s farm business. Rather than sitting at home twiddling their thumbs and changing diapers, these women are taking active responsibility towards preserving the livelihoods of these businesses, as the modern farm faces challenges in today’s society. Let’s face it, people aren’t as interested or connected to farms as they once were. Today’s society often moves too fast to care. Rather than picking up their produce directly from a neighborhood grower, most people get their food from a supermarket. Supply channels are elongating, and consumerproducer relationships are becoming less intimate. The consumer’s ideas about produce are also changing. Capturing the attention and gaining the interest of potential buyers has never been as difficult as it is today. In 2019, in the age of technology, governed by the “here, now” mentality, customers are overloaded with purchasing options and overwhelmed by other priorities in their lives.
