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.organd contact your county Farm Bureau president. I’ll keep you updated on this.
Until next time,
Mark
Plows and Politics 