Not long ago, someone planted a seed. “How about you share your prospective as a farmer’s wife and R.D.?” I gave it some thought but, don’t you know, its incredibly difficult to start a blog. There’s the trouble of coming up with a creative name and of course the fear, “does any one really care what I have to say?” or worse “what if no one likes what I have to say.” After a year of thought & cultivation – “From Farm to Label” is here to share my point of view on agriculture & farming, nutrition labels, and everything in-between.  But first, a little bit about how I got here –>

I grew up in central Maine and as far as I can tell, I had a pretty typical childhood. I spent my first year of college at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts but quickly realized that it wasn’t a good fit for me. I also decided I wanted to change majors and study nutrition and found myself at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina.

When I arrived at Clemson, I don’t think I knew what I was in for. Growing up in Maine, our family had a pretty good sized garden that my parents encouraged us to help with, but I don’t know that I had given much thought to where the rest of my food came from, or who worked to prepare it. I feel like Clemson gave me the opportunity to learn more not just about the science behind nutritious food and earn my “R.D.” (Registered Dietitian credential), but also learn who and what it takes to grow food for the world.

It turns out that the best person to teach me about modern day agriculture, also became my best friend and my husband.

At the beginning of my senior year I started working in the Student Services office for the College of Agriculture, Forestry, & Life Sciences. One of my co-workers, Drake was a junior studying Agribusiness and planned to return to his family’s Angus cattle farm after graduation. We worked alongside each other for about three months before we were “officially” dating and almost five years later we got married.

Through out college there were many trips home to the family farm where I began to learn about cattle production, environmental practices, ag policies and somewhere along the way I fell in love with the idea of working alongside these people that have a thankless job, working hard each and every day, and put their heart and soul into producing a quality product for others to enjoy.

So I guess that’s why I’ve chosen to claim this space – a space to share a little bit of what I know about health and nutrition, how we can nourish our bodies, and what modern day agriculture looks like on our family farm.