All posts by rloughry

Guest Lecture: Ed Kee

Former Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee came in to talk about Delaware’s agriculture.  He spoke a lot about the wide diversity of products that Delaware specializes and is known for. For example, our state used to be bug on canned vegetables with many locations that would can and preserve products for the public.  Now, in 2019, we only have two of those locations remaining.  Another key point he made was the importance of the Agland Preservation Program.  This allows for land to be held in preservation forever and only ever be bought, sold, or used for farming.  This keeps development off of those lands so farming can keep occurring.

Guest Lecture

There is no doubt that social media is everywhere.  We are all apart of it somehow and how we use it determines the kind of outcome we expect to receive.  Keeping clean and interesting profiles depicting to others who we are can create a positive first impression to employers.  When they are able to see the types of interests relating to the job and a respectable profile, they can see a potential employee of the company.  This is very important because almost all employers will look up your profile on various platforms of social media because they want to ensure their investment will benefit the company.

Gergie Cartanza Guest Lecture

Georgie Cartanza is a Delaware poultry farmer.  She locally feeds thousands of families among Delmarva.   One of the largest challenges she faces day to day are the common misconceptions in the poultry industry.  One of the most common beliefs is the belief that chickens are injected with hormones, antibiotics, and are forced to live in confined cages.  This is not at all the case.  Her lecture taught us the importance of spreading awareness of American agriculture and leading the public to make educated decisions.  The more you know before buying a product, the better off you will be.

Poultry Farm Visit

On Saturday, September 7th, our class visited Georgie Cartanza’s poultry farm.   As a class we broke down many common misconceptions of the poultry industry.  Some of the largest being the use of hormones and antibiotics to make the chickens grow larger rather than years of breeding and ideal growth conditions.  We then had the opportunity to explore the chicken houses first hand filled with chicks that just arrived days ago! One of the neatest things I learned during the trip was the constraints of organic vs. ordinary poultry farmers.