3 Steps To Get Reacquainted With How Our Food Is Grown

This post was originally published on Forbes on November 6, 2016.

Post written by Kurt Boudonck. Kurt Boudonck is the Greenhouse Group Leader for Bayer CropScience. Kurt conducts crop plant experiments and hosts greenhouse tours.
 

I grew up on a small farm in Belgium. On our small farm, I was fortunate to have my own vegetable garden, and next to my little vegetable garden my family grew many acres of corn, wheat, grass or sugar beets meant for animal feed.

So, from a young age I was allowed to learn first-hand what it takes to grow your own food. After school I was always busy weeding my garden, watering the plants, tilling the soil, hand-removing insects that threatened to destroy my plants in my garden, and watching my family do the same on our acres of crops.

While I understood the hard work it took to grow our own food, the part of the process I didn’t understand at that time was what was inside the food – how different varieties of tomatoes were made and what made our neighbor’s corn different from the corn we grew.

It was only much later, after studying Biological Sciences and Agriculture at Ghent University (Belgium) and my work at Plant Genetic Systems (Belgium), that I understood that foods can be made and grown in many different ways and that there is a science behind it as well.

Understanding the science behind food production and agriculture was so illuminating to me that one of my life’s passions has become to share that enlightenment with as many people as I can.

Today I work as a Greenhouse Group Leader for Bayer CropScience, and one of the best parts of my job is hosting tours of our greenhouses, leading visitors around, and letting them ask questions. In meeting with hundreds of visitors over the years, it has become crystal clear to me that people are hungry not only for food, but for knowledge and understanding about where their food comes from and how plants are made and grown.

This is especially true when we discuss our genetically modified plants or GMOs. People want to understand what it means to modify a plant, what beneficial traits are added, what safety tests are done, how GMOs are made, and what the differences are between organic, conventional and GMO food.

Step 1: Ask questions

Bringing people to visit our greenhouses for a tour is all about answering their questions and creating Ah-ha moments. I would encourage everyone who wants to know more about food and the science behind it to go visit a local farmer, a greenhouse, an Ag Biotech company, and ask questions!

To illustrate how impactful these open doors tours can be, look to Bill Nye, the Science Guy. After visiting a greenhouse with biotech plants and asking lots of questions, Bill changed his mind on GMOs, realizing how beneficial they can be.

When people get the facts and become informed, it allows each one of us to make better decisions. That’s why I encourage everyone to be curious and get engaged in conversations about their food.

Step 2: Get your hands dirty

Another step in the right direction could simply be to try to grow a few food plants around your home garden or in pots on a porch or deck. Involve the kids as well! They will learn firsthand, like I did, what it takes to grow their own food.

While doing a little gardening at home, you will also learn what some of the challenges are the Ag Biotech companies and food suppliers are trying to solve for you every day: insects eating your vegetables, weeds invading your plot, veggies that may start rotting fast while still on the plant.

Step 3: Come see how we’re using innovative agricultural technologies to grow food

It’s those types of everyday challenges for food production that our teams of scientists working in our greenhouses are trying to solve. And, if you come for a visit you can see that process first hand!

The best conversations we have with folks about their food is when they ask the questions. In that respect opening our greenhouse or farm doors is one of the best ways we can educate our families and children on food and agriculture and the exciting science and safety focus behind it.

If you want to get a little preview of what one may see and potentially learn during a tour of a research greenhouse, please watch the video below.