Linda Rider - Farm to Table

For years the Farm to Table program has taught thousands of 5^th grade students in Kootenai County about agriculture and where their food comes from, and Linda Rider is one of the people that made it happen.

Though Linda lost her hard-fought battle with cancer in December of 2025, her passion as an advocate for agriculture and the family farmer and rancher live on.

Verbatim:

Farm to Table is an event in North Idaho for area 5th graders to learn about agriculture and where their food comes from.

“My name is Linda Ryder and we began Farm to Table.”

Linda started Farm to Table back in 2015 with Joy Crupper, a retired educator from the Lakeland School District.

“I would describe this event as a wonderful field trip that we provide for fifth graders from Kootenai County's school districts that include Post Falls, Lakeland, and Coeur d'Alene school districts. And we give them a full day of stations, different stations, different learning opportunities, plus a hamburger lunch that's monetarily provided by the Idaho Beef Council. And every kid gets to do a horse-drawn wagon ride, which is a lot of times the hit of the whole thing. I would like them to know that farming is important, agriculture is important, and that people in agriculture care about their animals and they care about their land so that it can be an ongoing for however many years. Because we all need to eat, and it truly is important that we do it well so that we have good food for a long time.”

That first year they hosted 335 students, and over the years it has turned into a 4-day event with nearly 2,000 students. The full name is the Kootenai County Farm to Table Agriculture Education Activity Days.

It’s provided via a joint effort of the Kootenai County Fairgrounds and Kootenai/Shoshone Farm Bureau. A wide variety of cooperative partners come from around the state to participate, support and do presentations at the event.

Linda herself was born in 1953, to Clifford and Maxine Bonser. She grew up in the Rose Lake area, where she was her dad’s right-hand man in cowboying. She took to horses young. This her in 5^th grade, the same age as the kids in the Farm to Table program. She was Kootenai High School Valedictorian and the Smelterville Rodeo Queen.

“I was raised 12 miles over 4th of July Pass. So this being at this end side of the bottom of the hill, I was at the other bottom of the hill. And I was an only child, and I was my dad's boy. And my dad was the local cow trader, and he was a cowboy. You know, spent a lot of summers haying. We lived right next to Rose Lake, which is no more than an overgrown mud puddle, but it was fine. It was a good way to grow up.”

Linda met Robert Rider while they were both working on the 63 Guest Ranch in Montana. Later, they crossed paths while going to school at the University of Idaho, where she got her degree in Interior Design.

Linda married Rob in 1974, and together they raised their three daughters – Sharla, Celia  and Cassandra in Wolf Lodge just outside of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Linda was involved in the 4-H program, the Cattlemen’s and Cow Belle’s Associations, Idaho Outfitters and Guides, Leadership Idaho Ag, Farm Bureau and more.

She also spent years showing guests the true North Idaho experience while running Rider Ranch. She took them on trail rides, wagon rides, and held events at the barn. Nearly all these encounters included teaching a little about logging, cattle and agriculture in general.

“I have this passion that people should understand where their food comes from, and Farm Bureau has just been a great avenue for me to be able to utilize to do that, not only because that's what their mission is to a large degree, But a lot of times when you're doing those kind of things, either you need a support crew or you need some funding. And Farm Bureau, our local Farm Bureau has been great about making that happen.”

The Farm to Table program now serves all the school districts in Kootenai County, including many private and home schools.

Though Linda lost her hard-fought battle with cancer in December of 2025, her passion as an advocate for agriculture and the family farmer and rancher live on.