February 15, 2016

2 Min Read
Miss America Betty Cantrell to promote agriculture with platform

Over the weekend, nearly 800 young farmers and ranchers from 45 states gathered in Kansas City to attend the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) Young Farmers & Ranchers (YFR) Leadership Conference. The event features motivational speakers, educational sessions, networking, collegiate discussion meets, agricultural tours, and more.

What makes this year’s event incredibly exciting for attendees is the final keynote session, which will wrap up the leadership conference today, featuring Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell, who is a farm girl at heart and a 4-H alum.

Cantrell has teamed up with AFBF to promote healthy lifestyles for kids through her Healthy Children, Strong America platform.

"AFBF was the perfect partnership to make in helping get us into school classrooms to encourage healthy eating,” said Cantrell in a recent interview.

Her platform will not only focus on encouraging kids to make healthy choices, but it will also highlight the people who produce food across the country.

“Nobody ever sees farmers, nobody sees all the work they do. People just picture Old McDonald,” said Cantrell. ”I don't think the modern farmer and his family are appreciated for everything they do.”

Cantrell grew up on a farm in Georgia, and she plans to use her platform to connect modern farmers with kids in the classroom. She wants to teach kids where their food comes from and build a better understanding and appreciation for the healthy foods that are grown on farms and ranches across the country.

Cantrell is a breath of fresh air in a world of liberal celebrities who are chasing one food fad or another. I believe she makes a strong voice for the agricultural industry. I look forward to hearing from AFBF members on her speech at the YFR Leadership Conference, and I will be watching how she develops her platform in classrooms to promote healthy food and America’s food producers.

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Penton Agriculture.

 

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