From farm to home

So last month I posted that we would be blogging about a specific tree going from a farm in New Hampshire to my house here in St. Louis. The idea is that it gives insight maybe into where trees come from in order to get to your living room. There are still a handful of misinformed people out there who think Christmas trees are just harvested from the wild. And, there are many people who don't realize that you can order a tree online.

So, to enlighten folks on these two subjects, Nigel Manley, the manager of a tree farm in New Hampshire, and I brainstormed at the Christmas tree convention this past summer. We weaved together the idea of blogging about a specific tree this year with plenty of images and video. You can see some older posts about it below.

I've purchased a tree online from Nigel's farm before, so I'm familiar with how they do it. Anyway, Nigel posted a video about our inanimate subject recently just following their first snowfall of the year. click here to watch the latest video. And stay tuned throughout this Autumn to watch the tree get harvested, boxed up, shipped to me, and put up in my living room.

The tree I ordered this year is a Balsam fir.

The "debate" that won't die

Interesting discussion with Chelsey this week about our Christmas tree myths page. Here is a sample:

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From: Chelsey
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 4:06 PM
To: info@realchristmastrees.org
Subject: Christmas Tree Facts Page

Hello,

Just so you know, I got on your site for information on real trees. I’ve always had a fake tree, and have never had a problem. However, since they’ve lately gotten more affordable, and we just bought our first home, I thought a real tree would be nice this year. Now I’m not sure because reading your “10 myths about real Christmas trees” piece was a real turn-off for me. You are incredibly derogative to “fake tree people”. Really?? Just state the great things about owning a real tree instead of insulting the very people that you are trying to convert. There are plenty of ways to say the same thing in a positive light. When your goal is to persuade someone, you want to convince them, not offend them. Left such a bad taste in my mouth that I think I am reconsidering my decision. Just FYI

Thanks for the feedback Chelsey. We’ve gotten some interesting and varied responses to that section from all over the world.

From: Chelsey
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 4:26 PM
To: Rick Dungey
Subject: RE: Christmas Tree Facts Page

You’re welcome. I work in advertising, and studied a lot in persuasion through college. And to persuade someone, you want to cater more toward them and give the benefits of the other view point, without “demeaning theirs”. It’s much more effective! Facts are always the best, without using too much personal interjection - not that you can’t have fun with it! If you cater to the people that already buy real trees, you won’t increase your business…which really is the whole point, right?? :)

Thanks for the response. Always nice to know when someone actually reads the “contact us” emails…

Yeppers, I’m certainly a real person. This will be my 13th season working for the Christmas tree association. One thing to keep in mind, NCTA is a non-profit association, and not a for-profit business. Our members of course are business owners. Our budget to fulfill our mission of promoting the use of farm-grown Christmas trees is certainly small, as many non-profits’ are. And certainly MUCH smaller than any fake tree companies’ marketing budgets. We do the best we can to do just what you suggest, which is to get facts to families so they can make informed decisions about a farm-grown tree versus a plastic tree. While I am glad to hear your take on the mythbusting page, I would steadfastly submit that all facts on the page are proven facts and are clearly distinguishable from any editorial writing on my part. It has clearly been effective too, as you can see from a fake tree company’s copy-cat site put up shortly after our myths page appeared. http://www.christmastreeassociation.org/

It’s a struggle the tree farmers and retailers have been engaged in with plastic tree importers for almost 40 years now. Fake tree ads for years have included things like “real trees can burst into flames” and “buying an artificial tree saves forests” …totally false claims like that. Much of the feedback on the myths page has been in the vein of “it’s about time the farmers started fighting back”. …like I said, it’s been interesting.

Good luck in your search. I would recommend maybe a 1- year get a fake tree, and the next year get a farm-grown tree approach, so you can make a comparison and decide for the future. But I simply can’t in any capacity recommend using a plastic Christmas tree. My opinion is biased, and I make no bones about it.

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Thanks Chelsey. And just to clarify, it's not "fake tree people" that bother me so much, it's the fake trees that bother me. What do you all think of the Christmas Tree Myths page?



This?

or this?

Not much of a debate in my mind.

http://www.refresheverything.com/treesfortroops
Well, the Trees for Troops program did not get the Pepsi Refresh grant in September, but it did make the top 100, so it rolls over into the October contest. Woohoo! That means you need to VOTE EVERY DAY the rest of the month.

Interesting news story this week about struggling plastic tree factories in China. Apparently they are struggling partly because they don’t want to pay their workers.

Little Cheer in China's Factories

In late summer, production lines across China's "world factory" usually crank up to meet a surge in Christmas orders. Activity this year, however, has been relatively modest on weak Western demand.

"The U.S. market has not come back and the European market is dropping," said Leona Lam, CEO of the toymaker firm Leconcepts, which does around $250 million of business annually. "I don't see a good Christmas this year for factories."

Lai Xiao Wen, who runs a 50-worker plastic Christmas tree plant, sees bleak times ahead as production costs and wages rise. "It's very tough," said Lai. "I want to change businesses."
Another maker of Christmas trees in Guangzhou noted a 30% rise in orders, but said it was proving tough to find skilled workers to manufacture more trees. "The only way to find more workers is to pay them a lot more," said Frank Shang of Pretty Xmas Tree Manufacturing, producer of 400,000 trees a year. "But we can't afford that."

A recent survey of 60 manufacturers by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries showed a third saying they could only withstand a wage increase of 5%. Wages have doubled in some places after minimum wage increases, spreading labor shortages and a spate of strikes at multinationals like Honda.
Source: Reuters

On a totally unrelated note, we got an email from Lesle about the essay contest (which unfortunately we no longer have). She writes:

My daughter is a senior in high school and was given the assignment from her English teacher to write an essay for a scholarship. She searched on line and found your contest. After turning in the assignment we learned you no longer offer this scholarship. As a parent who has always tried to install the holiday spirit I was thrilled to read her essay. I hope you can share it with others and it will inspire them to also create special family memories.

OK, I’m happy to share this essay written by Allise. Read it and find joy.

My whole childhood revolved around one holiday. Christmas is my mother's world, her cherished celebration, her admitted obsession, and her joyous occasion. December 25th and the surrounding weeks have always been special to me: a time for family, fun, and faith. What symbol is better for Christmas than a marvelously decorated natural fir tree sitting in the living room?

During the first week ofDecember in 1986, my parents picked out, cut down, and brought home a beautiful tree. The next day, my mother went into labor and gave birth to my older brother, Daniel. From that year, until 2005 our family cut down our own Douglas fir tree. A family tradition that continued for 20 years has always been a special trip to the Christmas tree farm in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. After buying a tree my mother immediately makes sure the entire family takes part in finding their ornaments and placing them on the tree.

Each Christmas, she buys us a special ornament to represent what we have done throughout the past year. A car for Daniel's 16th birthday, a glass blown cat for my first pet. Our family tree sits proudly in the living room. My collection of porcelain Barbies mingle with the superstitious German pickle. While Noah's ark rests next to a baby bootie from 1993. The lights illuminate the living room from dusk till dawn, a source of light both literally and in a figurative sense. The tree is a nightlight during midnight snacks and a lovely compliment to the glow of candles as we reminisce of Christmas' past after a traditional meal with family.

In my household, Christmas has always been a month long celebration as a time to enjoy the Christian faith which moves my soul. Our family Christmas tree has always reminded me ofthe peace that comforts me in times oftrouble, the hope I will always have in people, and the joy that comes with everlasting life through my faith in Jesus Christ. I have always loved coming home to see the tree glimmering in the living room.

A Christmas tree is more than a decoration to me. Yes, it is a place to stow presents until Christmas Eve, and yes, it is a lovely clubhouse for my pet cat, but it is so much more than that. It is a symbol of memories, family, and faith. Nothing could replace my childhood memories of searching out the perfect real tree.

Very nice Allise. You’ve inspired me. I hope you keep that spirit alive throughout your life and continue to share it with others.

On another totally unrelated note, someone emailed me this newspaper clipping. It’s a sad and funny, but really sad, illustration of just how disconnected some people are from agriculture. It doesn’t have anything to do with Christmas Trees, but it illustrates the point.

reminders

Don't forget to vote...every DAY!!! The Trees for Troops program is still in the top 100 for the Pepsi Refresh grant contest for September but needs a late month push to get the money and provide more trees to service men and women and their families this year. http://www.refresheverything.com/treesfortroops


We watched the preview clip of a short film by Susan Sfarra and put it in our youtube favorites. Watch it here. Susan writes, "my short film THE GROWING SEASON, which was inspired by my early life on a Christmas tree farm. The film continues to screen at film festivals. It screened at a few more film fests in the US and recently finished screening at the Salento International Film Festival in Italy and will screen in Hamburg, Germany next month."

It's a fascinating look into farm work during the summer at Christmas tree farm. It's particularly good for those few misinformed people who think it's a shame to cut down Christmas trees because they come from a forest.

September tidbits

A few interesting things going on this week.

First, don’t forget to vote for the Trees for Troops program in the Pepsi Refresh grant contest. You can vote once per day online AND once per day by text. That’s 2 votes per day. USE THEM!! Click here.


Second, now that the schools are back in session, many tree farms are planning out their farm tours with school and youth groups. Harvest season and Christmas season are the most popular times for school tours at Christmas tree farms. Although, I’m sure many would love to have the groups out during planting season in the spring too. Here’s a link to a great article about a tree farm in Virginia that does a fantastic job with tours. They go way beyond just “come visit our farm” and incorporate solid education for the kids into the tours. It’s written from the perspective of teaching other tree farm owners / managers how to do better tours, but I think it reads well for anyone, especially if you are a teacher or a youth group leader interested in taking your group of kids on a farm tour.

Third, keep an eye out for the news around the selection of the White House Christmas Tree. It’s taking place a little earlier this year, September 28 to be exact. Now, they won’t actually harvest the tree selected until just before the presentation after Thanksgiving, but staff members from the White House will be visiting the farm of the Grand Champion and picking out which tree they would like. The Grand Champion for 2010 is Crystal Springs Tree Farm II in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. The farm is owned by Christopher Botek. You can read about him winning the National Tree Contest here .

Lastly, I was talking with a farm manager at the convention last month about purchasing trees online. His farm, The Rocks Christmas Tree farm in New Hampshire, sells a pretty large number of trees via online sales. The trees are shipped directly to your home. I was telling him that, while there had been numerous news stories about this over the years, it’s still somewhat of a surprise to most people that they can buy a tree this way. We even posted a video on our YouTube channel last year showing how the tree arrives and how easy it is to take one out of the box and set it up. Check it out here .

So our idea was to go even further and show a tree from “field to family room” as it were. He’s already selected a tree from one of his fields and tagged it. I can blog about it throughout the season and will post pics or vids of the tree all the way through the process until it’s set up and decorated in my home.

I don’t know....cool idea?

Here’s the photos of the tree selected.

Tree Farms Need Your Help in Supporting our Military

Help us bring an additional 5,000 military families together in SPIRIT this Christmas, just by clicking the mouse a couple times per day.

Trees for Troops in the Running for $250,000 in grant money from the Pepsi Refresh Project! I emailed the Rush Limbaugh show today to see if they would champion this effort by urging listeners to vote for us each day in September. You never know ...

Since 2005, Trees for Troops has reached over 67,000 military families by delivering fresh Christmas trees donated by American farmers to service members and their families across the U.S. We can add to that number with additional funds.

During the month of September, we are competing for a $250,000 grant in the Pepsi Refresh Project that will help deliver an additional 5,000 trees to military families this Christmas.

VOTE EVERY DAY DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER!

Here's the link to vote for the T4T project ...you can also vote with a text from your cell phone. http://www.refresheverything.com/treesfortroops

Making an Eco-Friendly Christmas tree choice

I was asked recently by a magazine editor to sum up in a sentence or two why a farm-grown Christmas tree was better than fake, plastic tree. I struggled to get it down to one or two sentences (because the reasons are so many) but I can expand here.

From hybrid vehicles to water-saving toilets, many companies are trying to capture the interest of the environmentally conscious consumer. The Real Christmas Tree industry has it easy – our product has always been the environmental choice. The question is – do consumers know this?

In the fight for market share against artificial trees, the environmental issue is one where the real Christmas tree industry has the upper hand, but it’s up to us to make sure this message is heard and it’s been an uphill battle.

While they’re growing, Real Christmas Trees absorb carbon dioxide and other gases and emit fresh oxygen. They are grown on farms just like any crop. Christmas tree farmers plant new seedlings every spring to replace those harvested. In 2009, an estimated 45 million new trees were planted by North American Christmas Tree farmers. There are close to half a billion trees growing on tree farms in the U.S. alone. These trees would not exist if not planted by Christmas tree farmers. Christmas trees stabilize the soil to prevent erosion, protect green spaces and support complex eco-systems. And of course, farm-grown Christmas trees can be recycled, whereas fake trees can not.

What about the fake tree? Isn’t it better for the environment if you use something over and over? Artificial trees are a petroleum-based product manufactured primarily in Chinese factories. The average family uses a fake tree for only six to nine years before throwing it away, where it will remain in a landfill indefinitely. The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used in most artificial trees has been boycotted by environmental groups.

Is the environment really that big a factor in consumers’ decisions? Yes, research shows that consumers are getting more and more eco-conscious when choosing products. Even if consumers do not recognize the environment as one of the factors in their decision, it is important that the correct facts about Christmas trees are out there.

Does anyone really still believe that Christmas Trees come from forests? Yes, unfortunately. But those in the business of farming and selling real Christmas trees have made great strides in recent years in breaking down the myths surrounding real Christmas trees.