Turn up the Volume in How we Produce
Our Food

Farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson of WGN Radio in Chicago, IL. and a farm promoter in his own right, says if you eat, you are involved in agriculture. Focusing on the food farmers produce is a great idea. Telling them to tell others who have their mouths full and want to complain about Canada's food system, it is the healthiest, safest, and least expensive food people can eat in the world today.
Crystal Mackay, the executive director of Farm and Food Care Ontario tells farmers to focus on the food they produce when communicating with consumers.
Mackay says monitoring of public attitudes shows 94 per cent of Canadians indicate they know little or nothing about farming and have little interest in learning about agriculture but their food interests them, deeply.
This farmers' advocate believes attempting to educate those who have no interest in learning about farming is a waste of time and money. However, telling them about their food is vital.
"It all starts with food and I think positioning agriculture to say we are in the business of feeding Canadians," says MacKay. "Traditionally we've talked about terms like agriculture awareness, agriculture education."
She says from their work it is very clear, the public does not want a farming education, but are passionately interested in knowing more about how their food is produced.
"That's where we meet the average person, three times a day at the dinner table or at the drive-through, wherever it may be, so anything to do with health or food safety, to questions about how the food is produced is important," says MacKay. "Are there additives, difficult questions around antibiotics or products like chemicals. People are most interested in their health, so health and food safety one and two, then the distant third would be around economics and affordability."
Concern about the environment and animal welfare is important after they know they can afford their food. People in the industry need to reposition their message if anyone has a question about where their food comes from, the food producers are the best people to talk about it.
"That is the absolute bright spot in our public attitude study work meaning the public is really interested in knowing where their food comes from and they want to hear it from farmers," she says. They just don't know who we are or how to find us."
Mackay said there are some amazing efforts across Canada to better communicate with the public but says those communicating that message need to turn up the volume.
Orion Samuelson, with almost 55 years in communicating how farmers produce this wonderful commodity called food, it is a pleasure serving agriculture, the Basic industry, with a renewable resource. •
— By Harry Siemens