Agriculture + Lifestyle

Promoting agriculture through education

Posted on March 5, 2020 12:00 AM

Georgia Farm Bureau is incredibly proud of the work done by its Women’s Leadership Committee, 其目的是通过教育促进农业发展，并扩大对农业各个阶段的参与，以建立领导能力并实现更有效的组织.

We recently had the chance to sit down with Heather Cabe, the current chair of the Women’s Leadership Committee, to learn more about what drives her and the other members.

Born and raised on her grandparents’ cow-calf and broiler farm in Ila, Heather Cabe grew up surrounded by agriculture, but her love for the industry didn’t blossom until she became a young adult. Somewhere between driving the tractor and volunteering with Georgia Farm Bureau, Heather was lured in, her passion ignited.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born and raised on my grandparents cow-calf and broiler farm in Ila, Ga. 我父亲在开始管理安格斯种畜业务之前，做了几年ABS的现场代表, while my mom was a pharmacist but spent a good portion of my childhood exclusively on the farm. 尽管我周围都是辛勤工作的农民，但直到很晚的时候，我才对农业产生了热爱. I played softball through high school and college and soon after marrying my husband, Will, in 2010 realized what kind of relationship I would have with agriculture. 在答应自己永远不会嫁给一个“养鸡户”之后，我发现上帝的幽默感一直存在，他给了我一个拥有比我小时候更多鸡舍的男人. 如果你让农场有一点点机会，它就会吸引你，让你爱上它，这对我来说是非常正确的. Beef cattle were the more intriguing they had ever been, 在干草季节开拖拉机成了一个目标，甚至鸡舍看起来也不那么糟糕. 我甚至记得有几次给父亲打电话，告诉他我在牛身上学到的“新”革命性的东西(只听到他咯咯地笑), because it had always been that way.

Tell us a little about Georgia Farm Bureau's Women's Leadership Committee.

GFB妇女委员会可能是我所接触过的最无私的团体之一. 他们每个人都从繁忙的日程中抽出一小段时间，致力于向各个年龄段的人传授农业知识. We push each other to try new things, 从彼此的成功和失败中学习，最重要的是找到方法与我们周围的世界分享农业的重要性. All in all, it’s the perfect avenue to interact with students, teachers, consumers and volunteers across the nation about where food, 燃料和纤维直接来自农民，他们每天都在提供这些东西.

What goals do you hope to accomplish during your tenure as committee chair?

我想弥合差距，摆脱一直被称为“妇女委员会”的耻辱，. 这群女士们努力工作，为学生们提供有趣和有教育意义的农业课程, teachers and consumers. 我觉得我有自己年幼的孩子，我有一个独特的视角，把在课堂上的努力，我希望能鼓励更多的年轻女性想要参与妇女委员会.

Why should other women want to get involved?

In my opinion, 对于消费者来说，没有比向种植食物的农民了解他们的食物来自哪里更好的途径了. As women in agriculture, 我们有一个独特的机会，以一种与消费者在个人层面上联系的方式，分享我们在农场的故事. Fellow moms, 教师和学生与农场上的女性找到了共同点，通过教育正规博彩网站评级活动，如“课堂上的女性”，我们有了一个出口，让乔治亚州农场局的女性能够把时间投入到下一代身上.

How has your involvement grown in the Women's Leadership Committee and GFB as a whole?

我的岳父当时是我们县办事处的代理经理，所以我们家对GFB的热爱是强烈的. 他鼓励我们尽可能地参与GFB，因为我们未来的生计取决于我们讲述我们的故事. So we found ourselves in the the YF&R program, then as county chairs, District 2 chairs and were later blessed to serve as GFB YF&R State Chair in 2016. 我确信，在这个组织里，我们可以找到一生的友谊，这种友谊是通过我们在农场的努力来侍奉上帝的.

你是如何因为参与妇女委员会而成为你所在县乃至整个州更强大的领导者的?

妇女委员会是我的下一步，因为它促使我以个人的身份服务，它驱使我走出了自己的舒适区，让我找到了一种我从来不知道自己能拥有的领导能力. I am encouraged to ask teachers to allow me to come and interact with their students, 我很高兴能计划和主持农业扫盲活动，最重要的是，我不得不分享农业对我们这一代和下一代的影响.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of your involvement with the Women’s Committee?

没有什么能比看到孩子们在吃到他们以前说不喜欢的东西，在听了一个农场故事和一堂课后改变主意时脸上的笑容更开心的了. 当家长或老师表达他们对误导性农业事实的担忧并希望参与对话时，将这项服务提升到一个全新的水平. 能够提供准确的信息，立即缓解担忧，并与学生互动，绝对是我参与妇女委员会的“原因”.

From helping on the farm, to parenting, homeschooling your children and volunteering, how are you able to balance it all?

作为家庭农场的一员，意味着我有幸拥有这个星球上最不可思议的支持系统... seriously. 威尔的父母在农场步行就能到，而我的父母在南边不到30分钟的路程，还住在我长大的家庭农场. 双方的父母都知道如何在农场上养家糊口，我很感激他们能如此亲密. Homeschooling and volunteering go hand in hand. 在家上学所带来的自由直接体现在我所拜访的教室里. Time management will always be a struggle, 但你有时间做你想做的事，现在我要依靠我的丈夫，他把骑拖拉机变成了圣经故事, 祖父母总是需要额外的小帮手来做家务，并从上帝那里得到指示来完成所有的事情.