Advocacy
State Fair Supervisor
Minnesota Pork
As a supervisor for Minnesota Pork, I assisted in leading efforts at the MN Pork Oink Booth and Promotion Booth at the MN State Fair for 12 days. In this position I was tasked with coordinating volunteers, taking care of the sow, boar, and piglets at the oink booth, making sure freebies were stocked, interacting with the public at both booths, and advocating for pigs, pork, and pig farming. At the Oink Booth, we focused on promoting and answering questions about pig farming. We had a sow and piglets there and a boar, which generated the questions we answered since many of the state fair attendees lived in urban areas and had never seen a real pig or pig barn. At the Promotion Booth, we focused on promoting and answering questions about pork products. We would hand out promotional materials and recipes to teach people about all the things they can make with pork. We also focused on promoting pork as a nutritious and versatile protein.
My main purpose as a supervisor was to promote pig farming and pork and be an advocate for the industry. Since the MN State Fair is located in a largely urban area, St. Paul, our main audience was people who had lived in the city their entire life and had little to no experience with agriculture. For me and the other supervisors, our job was to be a voice for the over 3,000 pig farmers in Minnesota.
Through this experience, I learned that many people don’t have even a basic understanding of an industry that feeds the world. Pork is the number one consumed protein in the world, so I find it very important to help consumers understand more about the people who raise their food, how they do it, and why it's an important and fulfilling job. Agriculture is so important in our society and as agriculturalists it should be our duty to educate those who don’t know where their food comes from or how important our farmers are to the world. I greatly enjoyed being a supervisor because it gave me a unique experience to interact with people I don’t usually get to speak with because I both grew up and have gone to school in rural areas that are surrounded by agriculture.