Bikers put their mettle to the pedal to give kids ag facts

Some three dozen wildly assorted bicyclists from all over Illinois gathered in Moline on September 7 to ride clear across the state for the benefit of agriculture and future generations.

Some were long-time enthusiasts with state-of-the-art equipment, years of experience, and many miles of roads rolled under their hard, skinny tires. Others were virtual novices, on a bike for the first time since childhood.

Tiffany Henry, manager of the Massac County Farm Bureau, was the youngest rider on the trip. She bought a bike, helmet and some other equipment straight off the department store shelves last spring when she heard about the ride, and began training. "I also rode a stationary bike at the fitness center I go to," she says, "but I actually slowed down in my training as the time for the ride neared, just because I didn't have the time."

It didn't matter too much anyway, because she went on the ride with Tammie Wiseman and Jim Birge, both managers of county Farm Bureaus in Southern Illinois. They needed a truck to make the 400-mile trip to the jumping-off point, and to drive home in afterward. With that in mind, they decided to use their truck as a backup "sag wagon," and to take turns driving while the others pedaled.

"I had a great time," Tiffany says.

Picture: Above, the bikers set out in the rain. At right is a display of crayons made from soy oil.

At left, an ear of corn talks to the kids: note the Cornverse shoes. Below, Gary Luth, president of the Douglas County Farm Bureau and chairman of the ride, speaks to school kids.

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"I had a lot of fun, met a lot or people, and talked to a lot of school kids. It was well worth the time and effort."

Pat Gustafson, secretary of the McLean County Farm Bureau, is several notches up the scale from Tiffany. She has ridden seriously for about 10 years and always tries to get some 4,000 miles behind her in a season. As a serious biker, she likes serious equipment. "My bike's a Trek," she says, "and that's a good brand. I have their top of the line model, too. It makes a difference." Most of those on the ride were affiliated with one Illinois Agricultural Association (Illinois Farm Bureau) organization or another, but Don Van Houten, field services representative for the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) also got wind of the venture. An incurable romantic and world-class adventurer, Don put his canoe into the Sangamon River near his Riverton home several years ago and paddled to the Gulf of Mexico. He recognized the bike trip as an opportunity to have fun while doing something worthwhile, and took up the challenge with about as much thought as most of us would give to going to the mailbox.

Tiffany, Pat and Don, along with several others, braved rain and terrain to help young people in Illinois understand the importance of agriculture in their lives.

America has changed drastically from days past when most families made a living in the fields. Millions of people just two generations off the farm have no idea where their food comes from. While that doesn't seem to matter, it really does — very much.

Much of the agricultural and environmental legislation now debated in legislatures is thrashed out by people who don't know which end of a cow the milk comes from.

Agriculture In The Classroom is working to remedy that.

Agriculture In The Classroom, or AITC, is a program sponsored by the IAA Foundation to raise awareness of the importance of agriculture. The organization's goal is to provide materials and information to schools to enable teachers to reconnect today's kids with the knowledge of farming's importance to everyone who eats. The IAA Foundation is the charitable foundation of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

The AIEC's Don Van Houten talks to kids about bikes, after completing the ride.

In the past, AITC has spent about $100,000 a year spreading the message through teachers' materials, videos, coloring books, crayons and the like. So far it has reached some 115,000 elementary school kids a year, using occasional fund-raisers to help get the job done. The bike ride was one.

The decreasing awareness of ag's importance to the state's economy is a very real concern to the AIEC too, and it helped Don in his fund-raising efforts. President/CEO Earl Struck sent a letter to electric co-op leaders, explaining the program and its goals j and asking for support. Before long, Don had a fistful of checks supporting his effort.

The group gathered in Moline on Sunday evening, September 7, to get ready for an early-morning departure the next day. They would wind up in Danville, 270 miles away. The ride had been set up so those who didn't feel up to a four-day jaunt could take part anyway, and virtually every county Farm Bureau on the route had somebody ride at least across their county. So while most riders made the whole trip, others attached themselves to the group and dropped away after only short ride.

But this was not just to be a simple bicycle ride. What better way to promote ag in the classroom than to have the riders give presentations in schools along the way?

Gary Luth, president of the Douglas County Farm Bureau and himself a farmer, was chairman of the ride. He gave brief presentations at several schools, explaining to kids that soybeans are used as feed to raise meat animals and that soybean oil is used to cook foods in. He pointed out that corn is also used as livestock feed, and that ethanol from Illinois corn powers cars and trucks, when mixed with gasoline to make gasohol.

Each stop had a bit of "festival" attached to it, as the schools took advantage of the riders' presence to have local law enforcement personnel deliver safety messages to the kids.

In all, the group spent four days on the road. In addition to raising a lot of donations, they also raised the awareness of many children that farms and farmers are an important part of Illinois and the U.S

— Story by Jack Halstead

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