Texas Farm Girl Speaks Out
Clean Eating spoke with Texas farmer, public speaker and author Rebecca Crownover to talk the future of farming, GMOs and her hit children’s book series.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Farming is in Rebecca Crownover’s blood. After spending her teenage years working her grandfather’s farm, Crownover left her small Texas community to pursue a career in business. However, love brought her back to her agricultural roots after she married a Texas farmer. When her husband suddenly died in 2009, Crownover wrote her first book, My Daddy is in Heaven with Jesus, to explain the tragedy to their then 2½-year-old daughter. Since then, Crownover has launched a series of children’s books called Texas Farm Girl, where she teaches life lessons to kids through the lens of farming.
What is the essence of the Texas Farm Girl brand? What can kids take away from the books?
Texas Farm Girl is meant to educate, entertain and engage children through life lessons and farming. When they read my books, it’s about educating, about farming, but then also to take away a life lesson. My last book, Texas Farm Girl: Reap What You Sow, uses farming as a vehicle to teach a life lesson about the decisions you make in life and how those can turn out for you based on whether you made a good or bad one.
Is there an agricultural issue that’s close to your heart?
I believe it’s extremely important to educate kids about farming and agriculture, and that’s why I have my Texas Farm Girl brand and I go to different schools to educate kids about it because the kids of today are going to carry it forward in agriculture for our future. We’ve got a big demand to meet by 2050 when the population of the world is going to be over 9 billion people. That’s one way I am trying to do my part to help that, so it’s just something I’m passionate about.
Where do you see the future of agriculture or farming in the US heading in the next 10, 20 years?
Right now we have tractors that we can drive, and I believe that farmers will be transitioning to driverless equipment. They are already testing that now, so we’ll be having driverless tractors out in the fields. I think there’s going to be a whole lot more advancement with seed advancement and technology, so I think that’s going to relate a lot to the consumer in terms of what we’re going to be able to produce in the future.
What are your views on the future of organic/non-GMO farming?
Based on the demand today, I think it’s going to be bigger in the future. I don’t think farming is ever going to turn completely to organic because I don’t believe we will be able to feed the world and accommodate the world population growth on 100% organic, but I do think it’s going to play an important role for consumers, and the more consumers want that, the bigger a role it will play in our future – on both organic and non-GMO. It’s all based on personal preferences, and also on what people think is best for them. So the consumer drives what we farmers produce.
See alsoWhat is Organic Farming, Really?
How can kids better connect with their food?
When you take your kids to the grocery store – I do this with my daughter – I’ll name several ingredients and have her go look for them in the grocery store. That way she can get an idea of what she’s looking for and what to find. When we come home, I show her how to use those ingredients in different foods we make. That helps them find that connection.
See alsoWhat is the Impact of Limiting Processed Food in My Home?