Dinner on the Prairie shines near Minot, North Dakota

Take yourself to a favorite experience, a lifelong memory that takes you back to a fulfilling time in your life. The people, environment, your surroundings, how the experience was created and came together, the feeling evoked during the experience and memories that it continues to hold for you.

A favorite experience for me was Banquet in a Field, held for several years at Peterson Farms Seed, near Prosper, North Dakota. The farm-to-table event brought together North Dakota agriculture and fueled a passion for connecting non-ag consumers to those on the land growing and raising food in my home state.

I was first active with Banquet in a Field for a few years with CommonGround of North Dakota and knew other areas of the state had taken on the idea of creating their own events but had yet to attend one.

This past week, I attended Dinner on the Prairie on Aug. 1 near Minot, North Dakota, at the South Prairie School. I was asked last fall if I could emcee the event, and I agreed to road trip to be a part of what I knew would take me back to a past favorite experience and allow me to see how this farm to table event has grown in a different area of North Dakota.

The event was sponsored by numerous area businesses and organized by the Minot Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Committee.

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Walking into the field, and meeting volunteers who work in agribusiness, as well as area farmers and ranchers, filled me with pride, a connection to people with a shared passion for agriculture.

In ag, we're comfortable talking to one another, but building connections outside of agriculture critically impacts our livelihoods and the future of agriculture.

The real work and extraordinary experience of the evening was seeing non-ag residents of Minot arrive to a new event to them, meet directly with the farmers, eat the food, share in conversation, and ask questions they have about farming, ranching and how their food is grown.

The dry area fields needed rain, and with the outdoor event planned, rain clouds formed. The dinner moved inside to the school gymnasium, with the pending forecast.

I met several Minot Air Force Base members, including a man whose nametag identified him as Chaplain Lt. Col. Ronald, who said he has lived in North Dakota for just one month. This was his first experience meeting anyone involved in North Dakota agriculture. He gave me another reminder why an event like Dinner on the Prairie is critical for agriculture to host and connect with members of our communities not connected to agriculture.

At my table was another member of the Air Force Base as well as people involved in the fields of education, energy and two subject matter experts active in agriculture. The food was fantastic, as we shared meaningful conversations, built connection and created relationships around the food prepared and the land and farmers where it came from. We shared about our families and work, and we found more in common than differences.

Attendees wrote down questions for a farmer and rancher panel that I moderated. The dialogue was rich, informative and engaging.

As the evening wrapped up, I stepped outside to get an iced coffee from a vendor. A few raindrops still fell, renewing the parched soil. Across the eastern sky, a rainbow formed.

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I paused for a moment of quiet thanks to the volunteers willing to build up their community and create connections at a local event, the businesses willing to support, the farmers and ranchers who show up to showcase their livelihoods, and the non-ag guests willing to step out of their everyday lives to attend a farm-to-table event.

Dinner on the Prairie took me back to similar rewarding experience of the original Banquet in a Field I was involved in, renewing connections and building new relationships for me to continue to foster and grow.

Pinke is the publisher and general manager of Agweek. She can be reached at [email protected], or connect with her on Twitter @katpinke.

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