On the Road with Generation Organic

by Leslie Kruempel

What happens when you put a group of young Organic Valley farmers (and a few employees) together on a bus and send them through Montana and down the West Coast on a three-week tour? Lifelong friendships are formed, the young farmers become adept messengers for our coop, and eaters from Bozeman to Stanford get to engage with the people who will be producing our country's food in the decades to come.

As the social media specialist for the coop, I got to ride along with the 18 Generation Organic farmers ("Gen-Os" as we fondly refer to them), and post updates, photos, and videos from the road to the Generation Organic Facebook page and Twitter account. This way people from across the country could follow the adventures of the Gen-Os, and learn about their messages of knowing your farmer, owning your food choices, and driving a sustainable future.

The Gen-Os get a tour of the organic dairy farm at California State University, Chico from Professor Cindy Daley. Photo by Leslie Kruempel

We kicked off the tour at Organic Valley headquarters in La Farge, Wisconsin  on September 26th, and spent three weeks stopping at universities, retail stores and farms, talking to people about our vision for our country's food duture. In a country that has lost approximately 4.5 million farmers since 1935 and has an average farmer age of 57, it's encouraging to see energetic and motivated young people ready to continue their family's farming tradition.

Gen-O farmers and Organic Valley staff celebrate the bus tour kickoff in La Farge on September 26th. Photo by Jim Klousia

The Gen-Os came from all across the country, and each brought their own unique gifts and contributions to the tour. Despite the different backgrounds and personalities, the Gen-Os quickly became a close-knit, cohesive bunch, working together to get the job done. It reminded me what it takes for coops like ours to work.

Hanging out on the bus on the way to the next university stop. Photo by Andrea Holm.

So what does a day on the Gen-O Tour look like? One of our favorites was a day in Portland, Oregon. We started the morning with a few Gen-Os heading to a retail store, where they set up a table, talked to consumers, and bought groceries for one lucky "Shopping Cart Surprise" winner who had an OV product in their cart.

Allison (from Portland, Maine) serves up cookies and milk to shoppers at a Market of Choice store outside of Portland, Oregon. Photo by Johan Doornenbal

Meanwhile, I went with the rest of the Gen-Os to the Oregon Culinary Institute, where we set up the bus and booth next to a food cart their students were manning. Students from the school and passersby on the street got to eat yummy mac & cheese from the food cart (made with OV cheese and cream, of course!), talk to Gen-Os, play games, and join in the music video we were making to post on Facebook.

Playing pumpkin bowling at Oregon Culinary Institute. Photo by Leslie Kruempel

Jake (from Gays Mills, Wisconsin), talk to Oregon Culinary Institute students about the importance of organic farms and food. Photo by Johan Doornenbal.

Getting ready to eat a four-course meal made by students at the Oregon Culinary Institute. Photo by Leslie Kruempel

We later got to tour the school, give a presentation to the students on the importance of organic food, and ended the day with a gourmet dinner cooked by the culinary students. As became our ritual, the nightly group dinner was a time for us to reflect on the events of the day, learn about each other's lives and farms, and talk about the food future we want to see for our country…exactly what Generation Organic is all about.

To see photos and video from the 2011 West Coast Generation Organic Tour, visit www.facebook.com/GenerationOrganic