Water is a hot issue this year and makes it the perfect topic for the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). The organization is partnering with the Farm and Food Alliance of Minnesota to  host a Food Dialogues next week in Minneapolis called “A Celebration of Minnesota’s Waters.”

“We’re addressing this as a celebration of water but also working to try to communicate to a new audience,” said USFRA CEO Randy Krotz. “We’re really focused on young people this time.”

Krotz says they feel there is a real need to communicate with high school and college age people because each generation becomes a little further removed from food production. “They’re very distant from agriculture but they have more interest in how they’re food was grown and raised than they ever have,” he said.

Water issues may vary from one region of the country to another, but Krotz says whatever they are, it’s important that farmers are part of the conversation to educate the rest of the public about “the incredible strides that agriculture has made in the area of sustainability and water quality over the past several decades.”

“A Celebration of Minnesota’s Waters” will be held July 26 from 2:00-4:00 pm with registration and networking beginning at 1:00 pm at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis.

Learn more in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/usfra-fdmn-krotz.mp3″ text=”Interview with Randy Krotz, USFRA”]