The Farmer's Daughter USA

Hi, I'm Amanda! My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm also a practicing attorney.

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I lost my temper at the grocery store.

June 27, 2022

I’m not proud of it, but it happened.

This older woman was picking out sweet corn. She picked up an ear, tore back the husk, and set it back on the pile. Over and over again. So I walked up next to her to grab another item and said (in the nicest voice possible), “you know, when you open the sweet corn like that it dries out and then no one else wants it.” She made some noncommittal response and kept going. After putting other produce in my cart I had to walk past her again–where she was still ruining ears–and concluded with (not as nicely), “but go ahead and keep ruining it.”

I don’t normally encourage scolding strangers in the grocery store, but I was so mad. My family grew sweet corn for 25 years. I know the effort it takes to plant, grow, harvest, and sell sweet corn. I remember watching people tear through our ears at the farm stand and getting upset because they were destroying it. We eventually hung a sign banning the practice. All these years later, I now work with a food-rescue nonprofit and the fact that this woman was so casually destroying perfectly good food was infuriating.

Why do people do this? Usually for two reasons: to see whether the ear is completely filled out and to check for worms. But it really isn’t necessary. You’re not going to eat the kernels at the end of the ear anyway. If you really want to check though, you can use your hand to gently feel along the ear’s length to make sure it’s fully formed. And worms don’t always hang out at the ear’s tip. They could be anywhere on the ear, and many times you can see where the worm burrowed through the husk anyway. So you’re not really accomplishing much by tearing back the husk.

Except it will dry out. Exposing the kernels allows them to lose moisture, and shortens the self life. It also spoils it by limiting the ways people can cook it. For example, I sometimes make mine in the microwave. But it has to remain in the husk to cook properly. So when the husk is torn back, it limits how it can be cooked.

Whether you’re purchasing fresh produce at the grocery store, the farmer’s market, or a roadside stand, please respect the grocers, the farmers, and the sellers. Don’t squeeze too hard. Don’t tear off the husk. Don’t sample unless you’re invited to. Just be respectful.

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Filed Under: Family Farms Tagged With: family farms, farm stories, promoting ag

Comments

  1. Chris says

    June 27, 2022 at 9:34 am

    Since the advent of BT sweet corn, I haven’s seen a single worm. I just grab the fattest ears in the pile and enjoy!

  2. Donna Medlin says

    June 27, 2022 at 10:57 am

    Well, said.

  3. Wakt says

    June 27, 2022 at 11:13 am

    We sold the neighbour’s sweet corn at a farmers market in Canada. One lady said she was scared to buy it because she was afraid ithat she thought it was GMO. But then she found one very ugly ear (the rows of kernels were all scattered, not in straight rows). She said “I think I will buy this one ear. I don’t think his one can be genetically modified, if it was, I think all the rows be nice and straight” 🙄
    It is a shame when fear tactics have been used to change peoples buying habits.

Hi, I'm Amanda. My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm an attorney and I'm passionate about agriculture!

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thefarmersdaughterusa

Amanda | The Farmer's Daughter USA
I'm a proud farmer's daughter & advocate for modern agriculture. U.S. farmers are leaders in sustainability.

Amanda Zaluckyj
Just a reminder. #agriculture #usagriculture #far Just a reminder.

#agriculture #usagriculture #farmers #usfarmers #farming #farmfamilies #sustainableag #sustainableagriculture #sustainable #sustainability #farmerscare #homegrown #localagriculture #knowyourfarmer #shoplocal #madeintheusa #madeintheus #americanagriculture
Happy Thanksgiving! I realized this morning that Happy Thanksgiving!

I realized this morning that it's been 20 years since I performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What a trip!

I hope you and yours have a lovely day! 🦃
Honestly, what is she even doing?? #Mischa #dogsl Honestly, what is she even doing??

#Mischa
#dogslife
She's got me. #dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime She's got me. 

#dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime
Some of you see this picture and appreciate the vi Some of you see this picture and appreciate the view. Our grain cart driver (mom) just sees that scary hill to drive up. 🫣

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #harvest23🌾
Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today. 🤣

Oh, lawyer jokes. Listen, if you can't make fun or yourself and have a little fun, what are you even doing?
It's true. My puppy. 💜💜 It's true. My puppy. 💜💜
The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the b The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the beans still have very high moisture content. It's so high the granary won't accept them. So we'll have to dry them.

The big concern with soybeans is that the pods won't pop open. If that happens, they'll be discarded  out the back of the combine with the other plant material. Obviously not what we want to happen. After testing a bit, enough were opening that we felt like we should just get started.

Slow going, but at least it's going!

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #fearfree #cleanfood #foodsafety #dietfads #FactsNotFear #cleaneatingdiet #foodlabels #truth #cleaneating #Harvest2023
We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture content.

We're currently about 4 weeks behind. But we can't start because our crops are still too wet. The moisture content is the amount of water in each kernel or soybean. If there's too much, they can spoil in storage. If it's really too high, then combine has a hard time handling it.

For corn, the sweet spot is about 15%. We have a dryer system on the farm that can help finish the kernels to the correct moisture level. But the dryer takes a lot of energy to run, so its cost prohibitive if the moisture content is too high. And if we try to sell the crop when it's too wet, we'll take a price hit at the grain elevator. So either the granary dries it, we dry it, or Mother Nature dries it. Right now, it's still too wet for after-harvest drying.

The other complication is that IT. JUST. KEEPS. RAINING. That doesn't help because the corn doesn't have a chance to dry out, and it maintains that moisture. We need some warm, dry days to speed up the process.

So, for now, we're still waiting...

#harvest23
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