LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The dialogue that opened a year ago between the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) and consumers, environmentalists and animal rights organizations is continuing.

Bob Stallman, chair of the USFRA and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the discussion is designed to be ongoing so all sides gain a better understanding for the others.

“This is about creating a network and a platform for discussion to take place,” he said. “It creates a connection and shows there is a need to expand this effort in order to get more and more people involved. This is not a campaign, it’s a movement.”

The latest round of discussion took place in late June on the campus of the University of California-Los Angeles. When the USFRA was created 18 months ago, the goal was to spur a conversation about agriculture by having farmers and ranchers tell their personal stories.

More than 80 different farming and ranching organizations signed on to the effort, which led to a nationwide discussion last August at locations in New York City, UC-Davis, and at Fair Oaks Farm in Newton County, Ind. The event in Los Angeles will be followed in November with another discussion in New York City.

Among those taking part in the latest discussion were agricultural researchers, farmers from across the country and environmentalists. “We thought it was important to have this discussion because consumers have concerns about agriculture that go beyond cheap food,” said Stallman. “They are concerned about the content of their food, their health and the impact farming and ranching has on the environment.”

Based on feedback from the initial session, he said everyone involved has more in common than they at first thought.

“We’re making progress. The feedback has been very good. There was some skepticism about what we were doing, and some people still agree to disagree, but what this is all about is creating a connection,” he said.

Stallman explained farmers and ranchers need to realize there is less of a connection to the farm today than there was even a generation ago: “The general public is so wrapped up in their own world, that food is an afterthought today.

“That’s led some to think more about what we do, and some have a philosophy that the way we raise and produce food in this country is wrong. They have questions that need answers.”

And that, said Stallman, is the purpose behind the food dialogues.

“Our role isn’t to respond to each event or every question. We want our platform to create bridges,” he said. “Many of us are setting up ways to allow consumers to make that connection with farmers and ranchers. We believe that once that connection is made, it will create a dialogue that is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Among farmers, the key points they want consumers to know is the majority of farms are in families, that farmers are good neighbors, that the food they buy at the supermarket comes from people just like them and that farmers are passionate about what they do.

Farmers also want consumers to know food is produced in an environmentally safe manner and that they care about the environment and producing safe food.

On the other hand, consumers trust farmers – but view the farming process as one fraught with environmental dangers and believe today’s farms are too corporate and bottom line-oriented and that small family farmers are better that large corporate farms, even when those large farms are family-owned.

Stallman said those views were not unexpected. “Fundamentally, that is the issue,” he said. “We want to reconnect the two – consumers and farmers – because it’s important for farmers and ranchers to know what consumers think about them and what they do.”

He said the one thing consumers want from farmers is an honest answer. “They have a lot of questions about farming and ranching, and they want someone to answer those questions. Once consumers have answers, they move on.”

Stallman, who farms in a small rural county in Texas, said it’s easy for farmers to overlook those concerns because they’re so busy raising crops or livestock. But he said it’s important to take the time to connect with consumers and answer questions because it goes a long way in erasing misconceptions they may have about agriculture.

For more information, visit www.fooddialogues.com or the USFRA’s Facebook page, or sign up for more information at www.twitter.com/USFRA