My life is taking a very different and exciting change. As with the beginnings of a new business there does not seem to be enough hours in the day to do all of the many things you would like to do.
Many of you know that I have started Dairy Goddess Farmstead Cheese. I am now on my 11th week and it is really beginning to take off. I feel like I have been spinning my wheels in some directions (marketing and promotion) but exceling in others.
I am a women of faith and I believe that I am put in places where I am meant to be. I am now selling my cheese at 4 Farmers Markets in the Central Coast of California. I am waiting for my 5th Thursday evening availability in San Luis Obispo. I arrive on Thursdays and depart Saturday evening or Sunday morning. I am on my second week and I am selling more and more cheese. Along with this I get to meet with people and advocate about modern dairy-farming. I have met wonderful people who are interested in where their food comes from. Many have been mislead by labeling and media. I feel I am doing exactly what I am meant to do.
My husband and I decided to stay and attend mass on this beautiful Sunday. (We will go home to begin making cheese tonight). The priest spoke of not focusing on the negative but enjoying the moment you are in. He explained that media helps facilitates the negativity in the world. Media often lies and distracts us from our joy and creates mistrust in others. He was really enforcing the “Pollyanna” mentality. Media, though can really squash all of the positive around us.
I came home from church and began to catch up with some news and emails that I have been missing due to my cheese making/promoting/selling. What is one of the first things that I see? More dairy farmer information that is inaccurate and not factual. The New York Times and the Washington Post write about the ‘government’ giving money towards our marketing (DMI) to “push” our products. (REALLY promoting dairy…is that the biggest conspiracy that you got right now????)
Let me get this straight. We, dairy farmers pay, out of our checks, a fee for marketing OUR product. Any one with a product markets! Are we dairy farmers to be any different?
I understand even more now with my own cheese business that the most difficult part of a business is the marketing and promotion of the product. We are dairy farmers! Our first priority is our animals and farms. We dairy farmers find the value to pay for these programs to promote and market our product. As we want to continue to do what we do best…make milk!
I am not going to dwell on the negativity within the media promoting their secret agenda. There is an evil within that industry that I refuse to have ruin my day. I just don’t want any more innocent people sucked into their lies. I can not just sit back and have people believe that us dairy farmers are receiving handouts. We work hard and pay for ourselves to provide a nutritional product that our country is so blessed to have in safe abundance while so many people starve in this world!
Some facts and resources to see for yourselves:
- The dairy checkoff program was created by farmers, for farmers, and is funded by America’s dairy farm families – and only by dairy farmers. It does not use any government or taxpayer dollars to promote dairy products in the United States.
- The discussion has overlooked DMI’s unwavering commitment to health and wellness. DMI helps the dairy industry keep pace with both consumer preferences and the latest in dietary guidance by sharing nutrition science, product research and consumer research, which the industry uses to develop healthier choices in dairy foods, including reduced-fat and reduced sodium cheese, and reduced-sugar
- flavored milk.
- More than 50 percent of DMI’s annual budget is allocated to advance dairy health and wellness efforts, that are consistent with the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Those programs include: nutrition and product research (including research regarding the development of reduced-fat and reduced-sodium cheeses); the in-school Fuel Up to Play 60 program that aims to help children’s health by bringing healthy eating and physical activity to more than 64,000 schools; efforts to help build a more sustainable U.S. dairy industry; and programs to meet consumer needs, such as those with real or perceived lactose intolerance.
- http://www.sogoodblog.com/2010/11/09/cheese-usda-dominos-pizza/
- http://www.yearofplenty.org/2010/11/how-my-little-blog-out-reported-the-new-york-times.html
Thanks for the great post Barbara. I’m glad to hear your cheese business is doing well. Good for you!
Well written, Barbara! It is unfortunate all the misleading information that seems to materialize about us dairy farmers. I have faith that the majority of the public will see through the inaccuracies the media presents regarding us and our businesses. Thanks for getting the true story out there for all to see.
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Barbara,
Thanks for helping to get the facts out there. I know when I read this in my Sunday paper, I couldn’t believe that someone didn’t verify their facts first!!