Cyndi's Two Cents

Get in the game

Commentary

Agriculture is taking a lot of hits these days – from lawmakers who seem to be tuning us out to yellow journalists whose articles, films and books are rife with misinformation – to animal rights activists and confused environmentalists who believe America’s farmers are polluting the planet because cows belch and we use crop inputs to protect our crops from insects and disease.Friends, I’ve said it a million times and I’ll continue to holler at the top of my lungs until I’m blue in the face: we cannot afford to be spectators. There is too much to lose! If we want the agriculture industry in this country to survive and thrive, we must get in the game.

What does that mean to you?
Does it mean taking responsibility to be an active community member?
Does it mean sacrifices that are given for successful relationships – both personally and in business?
Is it good stewardship?
What does it mean to you, the farmer – who continues to produce a record crop and feed the world year after year?
Does it mean taking a proactive approach in educating the public about who we are and what we do?
It most likely includes all of these things.

Unfortunately, Consumers do not trust us as much as they did just a couple of years ago and we need to get in the game and work together, as a team, to educate those who consume the food we grow on our farms and ranches.

We all know that the face of rural America is changing. . .larger farms, fewer farmers, and more and more people moving to the country to enjoy the rural lifestyle who still want all of the amenities associated with living in an urban area. Many of these people are moving to somebody’s old farmstead, but they sure aren’t farmers by the old definition. Many of them want to get their kids out of the city.

In some cases, simple conversations with your new neighbor will bridge the gap. In other instances, the situation calls for much more serious action.

We should have the phone numbers of lawmakers representing us on speed dial. We should know their email addresses and the names of their aides. We need to reach out to our neighbors, to the general public and to the media. We cannot just “go with the flow” if we truly want to keep our rural communities as well as our towns and cities alive and prosperous.

One of the latest attacks on the U.S. food production system is an article by Time magazine entitled “Getting Real about the High Price of Cheap Food.” Many of you have probably seen or heard about it by now. The article was rife with blatant lies like: our food is “increasingly bad for us, even dangerous.”

Bryan Walsh, who wrote the article for Time Magazine spent hours interviewing people involved in production agriculture but only used one quote (which he managed to get wrong.)

I was happy to see the outpouring of support from so many individuals and organizations in the agricultural community who sent letters to the editor of Time magazine for its blatant disregard for the truth and poor editorial judgment in printing the piece. Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau summed it up effectively when he said, “Time’s contemporary reporters would do well to take a comprehensive lesson in objectivity and good journalism from their predecessors.”

Stallman said Walsh launches a “vicious attack on modern farmers and the processes they use to care for the land, their animals, their neighbors and communities.” Stallman calls it a “full-blown opinion piece disguised as news.”

In his letter to the editors of Time magazine, the AFBF chief wrote that as farmers “we will stand tall knowing that Americans today have once again fallen in love with American food, and due in part to the healthy food we produce, they are living longer than ever before.”

How is the average consumer – who trusts the journalist to give him relevant information – to know what is news and what is not news? In my book, Bryan Walsh is no journalist. If we don’t get in the game and tell those who consume the food we produce the truth, how will they know?

For too many years, we did not to fight back when our industry was verbally assaulted, assuming that right will always triumph.

We can no longer afford to remain silent.

Get in the game!

  • Yes, I agree that we should get more involved in communicating with people espcially in the urban areas. The media is the best way, because most of us don’t have direct contact with the city folk. We need to share all the things we are doing to make sure the food we produce is safe and how we are good stewards of the land.
    Food is Our National Security. We will be dependent on food from other countries just like we are for oil. Raley’s Supermarket in California was buying produce from Mexico presuming the land was pesticide free. After testing the soil in Mexico they found the producer was using pesticides and decided not to buy anymore from them. The USA is very strict in my industry.

    People don’t realize that there isn’t enough land to produce only soybeans, fruits and vegetables for a growing population.
    Thanks,
    Margo Souza

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