Lisa Marie Goodroad isn’t your typical beauty queen. You’ll most likely find her with dirt under her fingernails and a tight braid to keep the hair out of her face. Last month, Goodroad, a resident of Soldotna, was crowned as Ms. Alaska United States Agriculture.
When she applied for the crown in January she had never done a pageant before. While looking up agricultural opportunities for her daughter to get involved with, Goodroad stumbled upon the Miss United States Agriculture Program.
“Immediately as a farm girl it sparked my interest because I have never been much on the beauty side of things,” Goodroad said.
She said the pageant has a strong focus on agriculture, buying locally and giving back to the community.
“I fell in love with it and saw there was a spot in my age group,” Goodroad said.
She said she thought the crown would be a good platform to stress issues with food security and promoting Alaska agriculture.
Goodroad is originally from Idaho. She grew up hunting and fishing with her family and felt right at home when she came to Alaska to work at a wilderness lodge about five years ago. Having a desire to create her own homestead, Goodroad bought 2 acres of land, ordered chickens and joined several agriculture-related clubs.
She created Howling Heritage Homestead, which focused on selling heritage breed eggs, chicks and Alaska livestock.
“It was really important to me that I was keeping those species preserved, as well as helping create a line of poultry or goats or pigs that could do well here,” Goodroad said.
This year, she’s taking a break from her business to focus on agricultural advocacy. She’s the vice president of the Alaska Farmer’s Association and the vice president of Alaska’s Poultry Association. She also just received her state certificate to lead and train 4-H groups, including her daughter who is involved in the youth program that promotes health, science and agriculture.
“I’ve got a lot on my plate,” Goodroad said. “So I took a step back from the breeding and the selling, so I could focus this year on Alaska’s food security and our state of agriculture.”
Goodroad will be competing in the national pageant in June. The pageant features an evening gown segment, a state fashion fun-wear segment and an interview with questions related to agriculture.
The state fashion fun-wear portion encourages state queens to think creatively about dressing up to represent where they are from. With a history of fishing with her father and living on the Kenai Peninsula, Goodroad said she wants to focus on an ensemble that incorporates items like Xtratuf boots or rain-proof coveralls.
The national Miss United States Agriculture Pageant will be June 22 in Orlando, Florida.
