St. Landry Parish Student Wins La. Farm Bureau Talk Meet
2022 Talk Meet Contestants, from left to right: Bryson Scott Bonnette of Rapides Parish, Chaire Harrington of Lafayette Parish, Emmerson Lyons of St. Landry Parish, Ali Yvonne Fontenot of St. Martin Parish, Jillian Fontenot of Jeff Davis Parish, Morgan Meaux of Vermilion Parish and Joesph Christopher Hayes of Avoyelles Parish.
By: Frankie Gould
NEW ORLEANS—“You walk into a grocery store passing the fresh produce, meats and then notice the labeling with dates, grades and nutrition information, everything but place of produce origin on the package. This creates uncomfortable consumers and adds to the lack of understanding of our food and fiber system,” began Emmerson Lyon’s talk.
This year’s topic was “How can Farm Bureau work toward supporting a safe and reliable food chain for producers and consumers?
Emmerson Lyons of St. Landry Parish topped seven competitors to win first place in the annual event where Louisiana’s young agricultural advocates compete to highlight their expertise of policies and issues related to agriculture.
Jillian Fontenot, representing Jeff Davis Parish, placed second and Claire Harrington, representing Lafayette Parish, placed third. The judges commented that all the competitors were top grade, making the selection of a winner difficult.
“In order for our consumers to be comfortable with buying agricultural products, producers need to follow an equation that includes trust, education and communication,” Lyons proposed. “We do a pretty good job of trust through our food labeling laws and produce recalls.”
Producers and consumers struggle with education and communications. 86% of Americans have little knowledge of where their food comes from. This is where Farm Bureau plays a critical role to communicate food safety and supply education to the public. We must advocate that the American producer provides a safe, wholesome reliable product that keeps our country alive.
Lyons graduated from Beau Chene High and is a native of Church Point. She will attend LSUE for her first year of college and then transfer to Louisiana Tech to major in Agricultural Business and Mass Communications.
She grew up on a diversified livestock, hay/forage and Quarter horse farming operation. She also has a Nubian Dwarf Dairy goat herd that she milks and is passing that operation on to her siblings.
One of Lyons’ future goals is the run for the office of Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry.
The talk meet is a fantastic opportunity for young men and women to gain experience and show their knowledge of agricultural issues. Many of the talk meet competitors go on to do other work for Farm Bureau, government and teaching, and educating the population about agriculture.
For more information, visit www.lfbfconvention.org.
Founded in 1921, the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general farm organization representing more than 136,000 member families.