Sometimes I'm flabbergasted by what people will post and how people will attack another group on the Internet. Recently, an article from peta2, an offshoot of PETA, surfaced about the Future Farmers of America (FFA), and how it's “Lame AF.” When I read the article, I honestly didn’t believe what I was reading. Not in memory can I recall something so full of lies, slander, and misinformation.
For those of you who haven’t read the article, it basically calls the FFA a group of heartless murders who support animal abuse. And while of course I was hurt and angered by the post itself, I was more angered by the fact that people were sharing it. The article blames the FFA and agricultural industry for animal abuse and what they call “animal slavery.” It's obvious this article is using the FFA as a scapegoat to support the cause of peta2. It's offensive, unprofessional, and just repulsive. This is in no way an attack on the writer of the article, but a response to the slander that was thrown at the FFA.
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I have been a member of the FFA for all of my middle and high school career. It was the only club I ever joined. I held office, I competed, and I believed in what the FFA stood for. It's an agricultural-based organization across the United States. The National FFA Organization is one of those organizations that truly changes the lives of young people. I, for one, would not be the person I am today without the FFA. As someone who really devoted so much of their life to it, my first reaction to that article is that whoever wrote it has never been in the FFA, has never met anyone in the FFA, nor have they done valid research about the FFA. The things the article says are simply not true.
The National FFA Organization promotes leadership, personal growth, and success for its members in the future. The FFA offers so much for its members, so that they may become better leaders and develop as a human and hopefully have success in the fields of agriculture.
Agriculture is such an important part of life. Agriculture gives us food, clothes, provides jobs, stimulates the economy, and so much more. Students in the FFA develop an appreciation for the art that is agriculture. The students of the FFA are taught to be the leaders of tomorrow in one of the most important industries of life. I hardly think that that's "lame."
The competitions in the FFA are regulated and conditioned so that they are completely safe for the animals and plants used in them. The FFA celebrates and appreciates livestock. In the FFA, we certainly don't murder these animals for fun or for kicks and giggles, nor do we mistreat the animals in anyway. I have seen firsthand how the animals are treated for competitions. These animals are pampered. They are given baths and brushed and combed regularly. It's basically a spa for these animals while they are in use for competitions. They are fed well and adored by everyone in the competition area. There's no mistreatment of the live animals. Also, the FFA does not promote the mistreatment of animals on farms. The FFA teaches that an animal should be treated with the utmost appreciation and respect, because, after all, they are a source of our food. In the FFA, we're taught that without these animals, we wouldn't be able to survive. In fact, the FFA itself is against animal abuse of any kind.
The FFA is not what that article makes it out be. Speaking as someone who participated in the FFA wholeheartedly I can honestly say I understand what it really means to be a member of the FFA. In the FFA we are well-dressed, respectful, future leaders that will make a difference in the world. I hope that after people read this rebuttal, they'll realize that the FFA is an organization to celebrate, not to attack, and those students who wear their national blue and corn gold proudly are the ones that are doing their part to make the world a better place. Those students, past, present, and future are showing what it truly means to be a member of the FFA. It's not an organization of animal abusers or part of some animal slavery ring, but instead, it exemplifies what we should all strive for, whether in the field of agriculture or not.
