BRIDGING THE FARM, CITY GAP,
For a start, we have to keep chatting
What i f Roundup was instead called Nature’s Mist ? What if agriculture would trade in its sharply edged, abrasive words for soft, nostalgic terms like, ‘ pioneering,’ ‘ reaping’ and ‘ sowing?’ Would it help bridge the gap?
These would be veils, misdirections, red herrings aimed at building public trust in agriculture on nothing more than the warm fuzzy feeling of a few buzzwords. It would be pure marketing.
There are some in the agriculture sector who have lost faith in the public’s ability to properly understand and digest the realities of farming.
I think you and I have a relationship worth fighting for. I think we can mend the wound. But we need to keep chatting.
How t he public views agriculture is largely indistinguishable from the muck of culture, religion, social status and upbringing. People who move to the city from the farm often harbour resentment and will bring a tainted insider’s perspective to their circles.
Some who have never left the perimeter just don’t know and rely heavily on urban news feeds that, generally, operate as though it is their duty to pounce on agriculture- related stories, assigning them to reporters who have heavily biased exposure to the industry — if any at all — and largely run in circles that distrust largescale farmers to a level far exceeding a healthy, journalistic sense of skepticism.
And then there are those who believe the rhetoric they receive from hobby farms telling them to only eat and buy things that are ‘ artisanal’ and have a picture of the farmer on the label. Rarely do any of these perspectives reflect the truth. They certainly don’t reflect the outcomes of the scientific research being done in the field.
To see a profile of an artist with an accompanying photo gallery of his or her studio and/or living quarters is not uncommon. But, in the same outlet, you’ll rarely see that level of attention given to a farmer on his or her farm.
No. Such pieces are not interesting enough to some papers’ audiences. This is where your food comes from. If it’s not interesting enough, then please stop meddling. If it is, however, interesting enough, start paying attention.
I had the honour of speaking at an event recently. The Manitoba Institute of Agrologists invited me to talk about this column and communicating to the public about agriculture, in general, at its fall conference.
The collective brainpower of the room was impressive and intimidating — table upon table of researchers and scientists. They asked tough questions. They asked eyeopening questions.
I left that event knowing that the gulf between what’s being done on the ground floor in agriculture and the average consumer is wide. And the agrologists in attendance were genuinely perplexed by this. They want to close this gap. I do, too. It’s a problem. More so, it’s a problem that doesn’t have a scientific answer. At least, I don’t think it does.
One question came from someone who had been recently misrepresented in an article written by an urban reporter. He asked me how researchers and others doing important, heady work in agriculture can shield themselves from being poorly represented by the many people who are not familiar with the subject matter.
Excellent question.
Then, someone else asked about how much abuse the industry is supposed to endure before it starts responding. I maintain that farmers and the greater ag sector have lots of room to improve and that we should listen to the concerns coming from our city friends. But at what point does the relationship become just us absorbing the misinformation and not being able to do anything about it that doesn’t seem reactionary or like a rationalization. It was a question that asked for a full unpacking of a very complex relationship.
There’s a bunch of very smart people out there perplexed at the accusations thrown at the ag industry — the industry in which they themselves work.
The role communications plays in this world is paramount. And I’m still trying to figure out how to be better at it. The conversations that I’m able to have through my columns are a great start to bridging the gap, but it’s not a problem with a one-answer solution. If the conversation stops, the gulf widens. If your friend stops calling, the relationship suffers. You and I need to keep chatting.
I think you’re smarter than the false allure of ‘ artisanal’. And, trust me, there are many in the ag sector who are pretty smart, too.