CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — In an effort to let non-farm families know where their meals come from and to feed them some of that very food, the Ross County Farm Bureau hosted a "Food Factor" event, which involved a four-course progressive meal served on four different farms in the county. Farm Factor is in its third year.

"This was a wild thought one night at a board meeting," said Mark Crosier, president of the Ross County Farm Bureau. "Everyone unanimously agreed that we could pull something like this off and after some trial and error the first year, we have a really great event that we are quite proud of."

This year’s event covered more than 50 miles of rural roads in this county, which features hills, fields and miles distant from any city lights.

The first stop of this daylong tour was Paint Creek Whitetails in Bainbridge. The first course of this meal was a fruit and vegetable plate. While dining, visitors learned about deer breeding and marketing. Paint Creek Whitetails, under the ownership of Brian and Megan Brumfield, have been raising whitetail deer on their deer-handling facility for seven years. The farm rests on 650 acres, with 15 acres under fence.

Stop No. 2 was Williams Farm in South Salem. Farm equipment greeted the guests as they arrived at this farm, which is the home to Black Angus cattle. Second course dining included soup and salad.

Stop No. 3 was Ratliff Farms, located in Greenfield. Guests were served baked steak, ham loaf, chicken and noodles, green beans, sweet corn and a roll. This farm, owned by Ron and Nancy Ratliff, is a Century Farm that had its origin in 1892. The couple’s son, Grant, is a sixth generation on this 89-acre homestead.

At stop No. 4, dessert was served up at Weaver Farms back in Bainbridge. Visitors enjoyed homemade ice cream created with the help of a hit-and-miss engine. Live music was performed.

At all four stops, members of the Ross County Farm Bureau were on hand to field questions about farm practices used in agriculture.

"From what we can gauge, we think that guests at this year’s event were about a 50-50 mix of ag people and non-ag people," Crosier said. "The goal is to relay what agriculture is all about and how the farm world lives. We aren’t really all that different from our urban neighbors, as we too have great families and strong values, but we just like to work crazier hours and do stranger things than most folks."

The third annual Farm Factor hosted more than 400 guests, and the Ross County Farm Bureau is already making plans for another tour of county farms and meals for 2015.