Allie Card Resume & Portfolio

My Story

I graduated from the University of Missouri (Mizzou) in December 2024 with a degree in Agricultural Education, specializing in communications and leadership. I have a deep passion for resilient agriculture and food systems and desire to have an impact on consumer decisions. My path to finding this purpose was out of the ordinary, but I am thrilled to be persuing this today.

I did not grow up surrounded by agriculture. I grew up in Denver, Colorado where I fostered a profound love for animals. When I got accepted to Mizzou’s Pre-Vet Scholars program in 2021, I was confident that I would one day be a small animal veterinarian. My first three semesters largely focused on livestock animals. Although I had never been interested in becoming a large animal veterinarian, I was deeply invested in learning more about these animals. Through various field trips to different cattle operations in my first semester, I began to form a love-hate relationship with the livestock industry.

I vividly remember the stark juxtoposition between Mizzou’s beef cattle confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) and Greg Judy’s grazing operation. Stepping onto the slick, manure covered concrete of the CAFO made me feel sick. I didn’t feel this way because of the smell, the unattractive appearance, or the constant loud clammoring of heavy machinery. I felt ill over the living conditions of the cattle, crammed into small spaces and slipping when they had the ability to move.The luscious grass of Greg Judy’s farm, where calves and cows lay munching on grass, undisturbed by our presence, excited me. This field trip was the first time I learned about sustainable agriculture land stewardship.

As I began to realize that becoming a veterinarian was not something that would fulfill me, I had a hard conversation with my dad about what to do next. He said, “do something meaningful for something important.” That statement stuck with me as I revisited memories of the CAFOs. I switched my major to Agricultural Education, still unsure of my career goals. I remained somewhat aimless until I took a sustainable food systems class at the beginning of my junior year.

In this class I learned about sustainable livestock-rearing and crop production as well as ethical, resilient food systems. I was so intrigued by this concept and why, in the US, we still largely rely on CAFOs and biennial crop rotations to feed our country. While there are so many valid answers to that question (uncertainty, tradition, lack of funding, etc.), I was determined to be a part of a systemic change towards sustainable production.