Agriculture, the Land, and You!
What would people living in towns and cities do if there were no farmers?
Where would they get food? Wool? Building supplies? Flowers, trees, and shrubs? Farmers are producers of all these things. What would farmers do if there were no consumers to buy these things? What would it be like if each of us had to grow everything we need all by ourselves?
- Consumers and producers need each other. We are interdependent. Without producers, people everywhere would not have the food, shelter, and clothing they need. Without the consumers, producers would not have enough places to sell their products.
- Agriculture grows what we need and changes it to forms we can use. Getting those things into our hands is part of agriculture, too.
- When you write a note, do you think about the tree fiber that went into the paper? As you eat your cereal, do you think about the soil, water, and workers between the grain field and 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 agricultural products from the land to you. Agricultural products come to you through supermarkets, lumberyards, drugstores, clothing shops, restaurants, Christmas tree lots, sports stores, and dozens of other places. Together, producers and consumers help each other.
