By John Paul Dineen III

My family is in the business of agriculture, helping to feed the people of our state, nation and world. I farm and ranch full time on the Blacklands of North Central Texas.  My wife, Heather, and I and our four children call Ellis County home, where we farm 1,800 acres of dryland crops. We also have a small commercial cow-calf operation.

Texas Food Connection Week, Feb. 17 -23, is being celebrated across the Lone Star State. I would like to talk with you about how we grow that food and the steps we take to ensure that food is safe, wholesome and nutritious.

By Monica Minzenmayer

Like many of you, I wear a lot of hats. Of my many roles, I’m most proud of being a wife, a mom and a farmer. My husband and I raise our two kids on our farm in Rowena, located about 30 miles outside of San Angelo in West Texas.

My days are probably a lot like yours—jam-packed with responsibilities around our farm, shuttling kids to school events, volunteering for activities in our community. And, of course, there are the weekly chores around the house, laundry and grocery shopping… Yes, farmers buy groceries, too.

By Mike Barnett

Get your back up. Mix it up and fight those who use agriculture as a whipping boy.

That was the battle plan advocated by American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman in 2010 during his annual address to the membership in Seattle. I dubbed him the Mad Prophet of Agriculture back then.

President Stallman has mellowed a bit. And so has the tune sung by the organization and others in battling the myths and lies perpetrated about what we do.

By Gene Hall

Regardless of how you feel about the hatchet job ABC News foisted upon a perfectly honorable and legitimate company, Beef Products Inc. (BPI), and the meat business itself, the resulting court case is interesting. BPI has sued ABC News. I don’t know if they can win, but at a minimum, this should embarrass the network.

ABC is defending itself on first amendment grounds. As a former reporter, I understand that free speech and a free press have to be almost absolute in this country, but there are limits. I blogged about this awhile back.

By Gene Hall

Based on some of the questions I received and the comments made on my blog earlier in the week—Rachael Ray’s assumptions on burgers are trendy and wrong—it’s evident that I need to clarify.

Ray, a popular TV food star, said hamburger that is organic or grass-fed could be cooked less and, therefore, served safely “pink in the middle.” This is not true. So much of this debate is pure political correctness, but I’m talking biology.

At the time of processing, bacteria begin to come in contact with the surface of the meat. Most of it is harmless, but some, like E. coli, could be dangerous.