Agriculture, the Land and You
What would we do if there were no farmers?
What would we do if there were no farmers? Where would we get food, clothing, or supplies to build houses? Where would we get flowers, trees, and plants? Farmers produce all these things! Imagine how hard it would be if we each had to grow everything we needed on our own!
Farmers are producers, and people who buy what they grow are consumers. Producers and consumers need each other. We buy and sell among ourselves so everyone can get the food, shelter, and clothing needed to survive.
Agriculture grows what we need and changes it to forms we can use. Getting what we need into our hands is also part of agriculture.
When you write on a piece of paper, do you think about the tree fiber that the paper is made of?
As you eat your cereal, do you think about the process it took to go from grain in a field to your cereal bowl?
Agriculture starts with soil, seeds, water, and energy from the sun. Then millions of workers and billions of dollars change and move agriculture products from the land to you. Agriculture products come to you through supermarkets, lumberyards, drugstores, clothing shops, restaurants, sports stores, and dozens of other places.
