Chewing The Cud

It's hard to believe that one year has passed... The 2007 National FFA Convention, held in Indianapolis, IN is underway this week. Last year at this time, I passed a huge milestone in my life that I'll never forget--that milestone was my full and true committment to stand up for animal agriculture.

Perhaps you have heard of Carrie Underwood, the 2005 American Idol winner and country music sensation. What you might not have heard was that Miss Underwood is a vocal vegetarian and member of the Humane Society of the United States, an extremist animal rights organization with the main mission of abolishing animal agriculture. So when I heard Carrie was the star entertainment at the FFA Convention last Fall, an organization that represents students in agriculture, I knew I had to do something about it and stand up for animal agriculture.

Here is one of the many press releases about my whirlwind story...

THE VOCAL POINT: Ambassador Puts Some Bite Into 'Good News' About Beef

...Underwood is an avowed veggie who was named PETA's "Sexiest Vegetarian Alive" in 2005 and wore a "V Is for Vegetarian" T-shirt during her American Idol performances. None of that sat too well with Nolz, who grew up on a South Dakota ranch where her folks raise purebred Limousin cattle. In true Generation Next fashion, Nolz created months of buzz on the Facebook Web site, outlining Underwood's anti-livestock affiliations and building momentum for a protest of her FFA show among the high schoolers heading to Indianapolis. As Underwood took the stage, Nolz arose and defiantly walked out of the arena. More than 500, according to witnesses and news reports. In the end, Nolz said she realizes that a single protest by itself isn't going to change the world. But she emphasized that those who believe in agriculture need to stand up and be counted — not counted out.

Click here to read the rest of the story. It's a good one, I promise.

After writing on this blog for a year and a half, I realized that never once, did I tell my story about the walkout. Never once did I mention how crazy my life was, and how good it felt to stand up for animal agriculture. Below is the video of the walkout. The same video that was removed from YouTube by either FFA or Carrie Underwood.

We have got to start telling our story of production agriculture. If we don't, who will? Let us never forget that one voice can make a huge difference.

Thanks for letting me reminisce over some good memories. If anything, someday my kids will think their mom was pretty cool--I led a protest afterall! :)