By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Illinois Farm Families (IFF) is looking for a few Lisa Douglas types to participate in a new program to introduce a few Chicagoland mothers to “life on the farm.”

For television viewers not of a certain age, the fictional Lisa was the socialite wife of “Green Acres” lawyer-turned-farmer Oliver Douglas, who gave up the New York City lap of luxury to move to a rundown farm near Hooterville, USA.
The moms selected to participate in the IFF program will not be required to move to Hooterville, but they will be asked to visit real farms and ask questions, shoot videos and pictures and share their experiences through social media websites and blogs.

This is the result of brainstorming between state agriculture commodity organizations (the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Soybean Assoc. (ISA), Pork Producers Assoc., Beef Assoc. and Farm Bureau) working together under the IFF banner.

“One of our goals is to engage in conversation with urban moms, recognizing their influence in the Chicago area. Urban moms are a lot like farmers – they are hard-working and they have good values,” said Amy Roady, a spokesperson for IFF, who is also communications director for the ISA.

“They don’t trust that what we are doing is farming anymore, and we’re trying to find ways to connect with them. When people make decisions, they consult their peers, and those peers include other moms. Part of the idea behind Field Moms is to find five moms from the Chicago area who are interested in learning more about agriculture and farming by visiting Illinois farms.”

Those moms will be matched up with IFF members for farm tours and will have their questions answered by the farmers themselves. Roady said IFF research shows firsthand experiences or “field trips” to farms generally leave members of the public who are skeptical about farming with a more favorable impression of modern agriculture.

“The goal of this effort is to connect with people and talk about what is important to us, but also to listen to what is important to them. We want to let them know that we have far more in common with them than we have differences,” said Roady. “Illinois farmers are consumers too, and we share the same problems and goals in life. It will just be people talking to people.”
Though some farm families have stepped forward to open their farms for tours to the Chicago ladies, those who are interesting in hosting groups are still welcome to come forward.

“There are also other ways for them to get engaged. We want farmers to engage in the discussion in ways such as blogging. We’re looking for farmers, farm moms and others to blog every now and then about life on their farm,” Roady explained.

Chicago-area moms interested in participating in the Field Moms program may apply through IFF’s website at www.watchusgrow.org before Aug. 21. Mothers must be at least 18 years old with at least one child under the age of 13 living at home. They must also be able to attend up to five day-long farm tours in the greater Chicago area over the next year.

Grundy County corn and soybean grower, farm grandmother and Illinois Farm Families spokeswoman Donna Jeschke is passionate about showing consumers how Illinois farmers produce safe and healthy food.

“More than 94 percent of Illinois farms are family owned and operated,” she stated in a news release directed to potential Field Moms. “We’d like to show you how we grow nutritious, quality food for all our families, and what it takes to protect our land and our animals.”