Truth from the Trenches by Melissa Hart 

 

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Fort Wayne Farm show in Indiana. I had the assignment of covering the crop outlook seminar. Anyone who knows me knows this is a challenge.

I know what crops are; I’m just not swift when it comes to the marketing of them and all the terminology and situations that affect the cash prices and futures trading. Knowing this challenge would only make me better, I turned my recording device on and made an attempt to understand a foreign language.

 As I sat and listened to the speakers and then the questions from the audience of farmers, my appreciation was renewed at their knowledge and comprehension of something that is incredibly complex. I wish I could somehow capture that and show the world just how technical these farmers have to get when trying to market their crop.

To the farmers, this is continuing education. This is their language, they know it, they speak it, they understand it. To the everyday American consumer, this is as foreign as the Chinese alphabet.

A week ago, I read the headline, “Is Butter Secretly Ruining Your Health?” I clicked on the link and  found myself reading the Food Babe Blog . Remember, Vani Hari? She’s the textbook example of how to use fear-mongering to manipulate consumers into buying into her opinion.

After she offered her fear-not-science-based advice about the different kinds of butter, I read the incredible comments from her readers. Her followers seem to be helpless when it comes to making food buying decisions. They wait on her every word to tell them what to buy and how to buy it.

It appears they can’t form their own opinion on whether they will choose organic butter or butter spreads. They were asking questions on whether Horizon Organic butter was okay or if there was a problem with Costco organic butter.

And then one follower was excited because Smart Balance Buttery Spread was now GMO-free (of course, we know this product is not even butter). So, my point? The American farmer is so incredibly far advanced in the science, technology and economics of crop production and marketing, and yet the consumer is still struggling to know the difference between butter, margarine and what the heck a GMO is. And frankly, some of them just don’t care.

I’m wondering if maybe we need to take a step back and, instead of pummeling the consumer with our facts based on science, we need to simplify our approach – build a relationship and then teach them the basics of responsible food production.

All of us are created with great intelligence, but not all the same kind of intelligence. Let’s keep that in mind when we respond to the questions about our chickens being pumped up with hormones – or if chocolate milk comes from the brown cows.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.