As a former 4-H member, Kathleen Merrigan knows where her food comes from — not from the shelves of her local grocery store, not from the local fast food restaurant — it’s from the farm.

Merrigan, deputy secretary of agriculture under President Barack Obama, explained the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” program to a crowd of more than 300 people Tuesday night in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Obama chose Merrigan, a former member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and former director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program at Tufts University, in February.

As a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Merrigan helped organize the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. The act created national standards for organic foods as well as a federal program.

Merrigan was an administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, a program that ensures fair marketing of U.S. crops.

The “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” program is a May 2009 product of the United States Department of Agriculture. Merrigan worked with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, D-Iowa, to develop the initiative that connects producers with consumers.

Merrigan said she came to Iowa State because she wanted to make ISU students part of the conversation about the future of agriculture.

“I want to bring the nation’s college students into the conversation,” Merrigan said. “I need you to weigh in and stay in touch with ideas. The vision of the future comes out of the Leopold Center. I want to look ahead to the future of American agriculture and that will depend on ingenuity.”

During the Q & A portion of the program, students asked what they could do now to prepare for a career as a farmer or person in agriculture.

Besides “science, science, science,” Merrigan advised students to “get out and know your farmer.”

She said internships, farmers markets and garden-based learning programs are opportunities for students to learn.

“Recognize you need the science and ability to produce and the marketing know-how,” Merrigan said.

The “marketing know-how” includes developing a business plan and finding ways to make one’s farm successful.

Anastasia Bodnar, graduate student in agronomy, said Merrigan did a good job skimming the surface of the USDA’s initiative.

“I’m hungry for more,” Bodnar said. “I’ve looked at the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Web site and I thought it was really good, but light. I want more depth.”

Bodnar said she was glad “such an important person in agriculture took time in this lecture series to connect with consumers and college students.”

Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, junior in agricultural business, said she wants to be the Secretary of Agriculture some day.

This lecture was perfect for her, she said.

“I like her views about sustainability,” Burns-Thompson said. “I think sustainability is more the answer than organic.”

She said the general idea that organic food costs more is a reason to look at more sustainable approaches to farming.

Merrigan’s lecture, “The Future of American Agriculture,” was a part of the National Affairs Series and was sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.