The Marengo Trailblazers 4-H club makes meals to deliver to farmers during a busy season. The project started a couple years ago and has evolved to be a box of cooked meals including a beef sundae with potatoes, corn and rolls.
There are times during harvest when getting a good meal can be hard to do in the combine. The Marengo 4-H Club is taking part in a project to help where they can.
The 4-Hers are preparing and hand delivering meals to farmers around eastern Iowa and have fed more than 700 workers in the fields since the project started.
“We did it a year before COVID, took a year off and have done it ever since,” said Sara Mohr, who leads the 4-H group named the Trailblazers with Sarah Smith.
The project started with sloppy joes and green beans with potatoes and water. This year, the meal evolved a bit. “This is the first year we did a hot beef sundae,” Mohr said. “We did that with corn and Hawaiian rolls. That was good because the buns didn’t get soggy. I think we’ll continue with that next year.”
Mohr said many times the 4-Hers will sit and have lunch with the farmers and might even get a ride in the combine for a few minutes. The goal is to teach social skills and also educate kids who may not have a farm background.
“This is a great way for kids to connect with people,” Mohr said. “We have a lot of kids who aren’t farm kids. Farming is such an under-appreciated occupation that it’s really important to get the kids to see everything firsthand. The stories the kids can learn from the farmers are incredible. And there is pride for farmers seeing the kids take an interest in the hard work they do.”
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Talk about a win-win, two-way street, then this is it. The wonderful 4-H youth making sure farmers in their area are fed well during harvest, and in return farmers teaching the young people about agriculture. This is the type of story that brings a smile and warms your heart. This symbiotic relationship can pay huge dividends in the future, as these young folks are thinking about the career they would like to pursue. Perhaps, just perhaps, they might consider farming or some occupation related to agriculture. Once again, we urge you to support 4-H clubs in your area. Make a difference by keeping the youth connected to agriculture and vice versa. After all, these are all potential future customers!
