Communicating With Consumers
November 10, 2014 Election night, I was watching not only the returns on the battle for Congress but various issues results that could impact agriculture. Among these were ballots issues to require special labels on foods that contain biotech crop materials in Oregon and Colorado. Both failed, which, coupled with similar proposals last year in Washington State and California, means biotech crop opponents are 0 for four. Still, you know new biotech labeling proposals will be in the works for 2015.
Which brings us to the larger issue at work here – communication with John Q. Public. For the most part, agriculture has performed pretty well in this area recently. But more can certainly be done.
Loading ...At a recent industry trade event, I heard Randy Krotz, CEO of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Association (USFRA), speak on this very topic. He will also address this issue at the upcoming Agricultural Retailers Association meeting in early December.
“Our goal overall is to build trust back in agriculture,” said Krotz. “We are a solely consumer focused organization. We create emotional connections to people, which makes us unique among agricultural trade groups.”
For much of its time, said Krotz, USFRA spends a lot of its time and money on consumer research, and the results are somewhat mixed. “Based upon our research, over 75% of consumers trust farmers,” he said. “But less than 40% trust the way farmers produce their food. Most of them don’t understand agricultural technology and don’t believe farmers are educated. That’s the gap we are trying to address.”
To accomplish this, USFRA is working hard to promote as many of the positive aspects of farming to consumers that it can. “We know that messaging alone will not rebuild this trust,” said Krotz. “We have to go back to telling our story. We have to help farmers be heard.”
I agree. Because as long as the general public doesn’t understand U.S. agriculture, it is likely to fear any breakthroughs the industry may employ to better itself.
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