Celebrating the farmers

Event educates and entertains

QUINCY - Juan Torres' potato peeler whacks against the table as he speeds through peeling his potatoes.

After two minutes, six potatoes glisten in front of him. The task won him a gift basket and an about 2-foot-long potato peeler.

"I worked in a restaurant six years ago," he said. "(Now, I only peel them) when I'm cooking, and I'm cooking every day."

The contest was one of the events at the Quincy High School on Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day. The idea for the event started when Dennis Higashiyama was listening to Paul Harvey in 1981 when a segment caught his attention.

A woman was complaining about the high price of food. When the grocer explained he had to pay his employees, and part of the money went to the processor and part of it went to the farmer, she said they should get rid of the farmer, because food came from Safeway.

Higashiyama started talking with Chet Pedersen and 27 years later hundreds of people gathered on the lawn of Quincy High School and downtown to celebrate Farmer-Consumer Awareness day.

Don Francis, the master of ceremonies, said the need for the event hadn't decreased. His sister had gone to visit their grandparents.

"When they were leaving, they said, 'Why don't you go and dig up some potatoes to take home with you?'" he said. "She said, 'Potatoes grow in the ground?'"

Pedersen, Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day chair, said education is the core of the event. They help people grasp the realities of farming, he said. The hours are long and the year's income depends on the weather, insects and other unpredictable circumstances.

"A lot of people can't

understand that there are real live people who take major risks (by farming) he said. "There are people who accept that risk every day."

Pedersen said there seemed to be as many if not more people at the event this year, and had influenced other communities to look into agriculture-based tourism.

"The reason why it does so well is because the theme is ideally suited to the area," he said. "The whole purpose is to recognize the producers of our food."

Along with the tours, there were other events, including a parade that wound its way through downtown Quincy. Part of the parade included antique farming equipment and items that hadn't come out yet.

"This is what is, what was and what will be," said Michele Wurl, a member of the Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day committee.

Pedersen also pointed out the produce on sale next to the high school. That's what drew Wayne and Jodie Kingsley to the event.

"We never miss a year," Jodie Kingsley said. "You can't beat the buys on the vegetables."