Farmer Goes Viral on TikTok After Onion Video
There's been plenty of drama around a musical social media platform known as TikTok. It allows users to share videos set to music. Well, some farmers are finding it’s a great way to share an inside look at their profession with a different group of consumers.
Most people expect to find dances [and other things] on TikTok but this third-generation farmer in Oregon has become a viral sensation.
“We farm 4,000 acres,” says Shay Myers, a farmer from Oregon. “Obviously, onions are a significant part of that.”
Last month, this behind the scenes video of onions in storage exploded in popularity. He’s @shayfarmkid on tiktok.
“The reason that I did it initially is I had made some commentary earlier about how long onions store and how we store onions for seven, eight and nine months,” says Myers. “Someone responded, “Well, you mean my onions are a year old?”
Just how long produce can be stored and why, obviously, struck a nerve. The video surged to 4 million views.
“A few people showed a lot of interest in it,” says Myers. “They showed it to a few more and they showed interest in it. It just exploded.”
Watchers commenting things like "Omg I have literally never thought about these logistics."
Another saying ... "Isn't this supposed to be a secret?"
Shay uses the moment to explain.
“They're not necessarily a year old, but there's lots of fruits and vegetables in North America,” says Myers. “Onions [are] among them that we put in storage so that we have them all the time.”
He's done a lot of videos over the years and says you never know what's going to take off-- what he does know is that interest in food is high.
“For the first time in a generation, at least, people were thinking about where their food comes from,” says Myers.
A pandemic is sparking a new generation's interest and a conversation.
“Ultimately, we're here to feed them and we're here to do a good job doing that,” says Myers. “We'll do it in the way that they want to but if they don't even know how we do it, how do they know what they want us to do and how do we know what they want us to do?”
Discussions he hopes to facilitate--one post at a time.
