The Hand that Feeds U.S.

May 11, 2009

Farmers Hope to Grow Media Support with
'The Hand That Feeds U.S.' Project

WASHINGTON (May 11, 2009)—America's farmers are extending an olive branch to the same urban media that have often been critical of agriculture, and some powerful U.S. lawmakers asked the nation's reporters in a letter today to give them a chance.

"It makes no sense that we're being demonized by many of the nation's top newspapers," said Linda Raun, a rice grower from Texas who is participating in The Hand That Feeds U.S., a new farmer-led project to improve relations with big-city reporters.
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Casting Blame and Cashing In—It's Grrrreat

MINNEAPOLIS—If Kevin Garnett's picture suddenly disappeared from the Wheaties box, most grocery shoppers would notice the absence of the former Timberwolves star. But if the amount of cereal within that box shrank by an ounce or two, few people would even realize it.

It's no wonder the Minneapolis-based General Mills chose the latter when the company trimmed overhead in 2007 to boost profits.

And when the company decided to charge more for the smaller box, few shoppers at the local Cub Foods grocery store even batted an eye at the $3.19 price tag because of brand loyalty.

When asked about paying more for less, General Mills-which also makes Cheerios and Total-uses a common excuse: higher input costs left them no choice.
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Farmer Barry Evans

	Name: Barry Evans Title: CEO, Evans Farm Age: 46 Location: Kress, Texas (pop. 772) Claim to Fame: Considered a "giant agribusiness" by many urbanites Highlights: This giant agribusiness is made up of Barry, his wife, three kids, and 73-year-old father.

Barry's Story

	A Few of My Favorite Things
	See Barry in Action
	Hear from Barry

Barry Evans is far from a rich corporate mogul, but gets called one nearly every day by the handful of zealots who seemingly want to return to the days of mule-drawn plows.

Barry finds the whole situation almost humorous because similar critics existed when his grandfather first purchased the Evans farm in the 1920s. Back then, people complained that "rich" farmers were ruining agriculture with new inventions like mechanized tractors, cotton harvesters, commercial fertilizer, and hybrid-seed.

Since its inception in the '20s, the Evans farm has been all about respecting the land and finding efficiencies to produce more with less, all so that one generation could improve the prospects for the next generation of family. A self-proclaimed technology junkie, Barry is an early adaptor of new technology and equipment-just like his grandfather and father.
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