By KRISTA HAYES
Staff WriterOhio FFA President Hannah Crossen addressed Wapakoneta High School FFA members on the responsibility that falls on FFA students to be advocates of the program and agriculture.
“There are always ways to be an advocate of the FFA program,” Crossen said, “For example, I was recently shopping at the grocery store, really taking my time to hold up and examine how the eggs were setting in the carton — so long that it was almost ridiculous — when a young woman approached me asking me what I was doing and what she, herself as a consumer, should be looking for when purchasing eggs. That right there was a perfect opportunity for advocacy and it only took two seconds.”
Using examples from places she has traveled as the Ohio FFA president and the interesting people she has met along the way, Crossen said students shouldn’t aim to change others minds about agricultural but their perspectives.
“I once met this guy wearing this bright floral shirt while on a plane to Hawaii, and after I told him what I was trying to do with my life — with my goal to some day become an ag teacher and work with students — he laughed and said, ‘Agriculture was dead,’ ” Crossen said.