Basic HTML Version
By tom steve
ROLLING
FORWARD
THE EVOLUTIONOF A FARMLOBBYIST
The role of a farmer is
changing. It is no longer just about pro-
ducing food, but about being an advo-
cate—or “agvocate,” as the agriculture
industry likes to call it—for the food being
produced.
With all the health and diet trends that
exist today and the media attention they
are receiving, it is more important than
ever that farmers become agvocates for
the food they produce on their farms. Ten
years ago, growers were advocating for
marketing and trade opportunities, trans-
portation, higher yields and fair returns
for their crops. While those issues are still
top of mind for growers, new issues have
emerged—food and food safety.
Technology and research have advanced
farming practices to allow Canadian
farmers to become major contributors to
the Canadian economy, with agri-food
accounting for seven per cent of the
Canadian gross domestic product in 2012.
But even with the growing success of the
agriculture industry, it has taken a beat-
ing in the media with fad diets such as
“gluten-free,” “organic” and “non-GMO”
becoming top food trends.
At the same time, farmers’ voices and
images are now becoming marketing tools
for food. When you walk the grocery store
aisles, many food products link the item
back to the farmer who produced it. This
is how farmers are becoming agvocates
for the food they produce. Marketing has
shown people are more likely to buy a food
product when they know who has produced
it. There is a sense of food safety when you
can link your food back to the farmer.
So how do farmers battle media icons
like Dr. Oz, environmentalist David Suzuki
and
Wheat Belly
author Dr. William Davis,
who are sending negative messages to con-
sumers about agriculture, and promote the
benefits of whole grains and the safety of
the food produced on Canadian farms?
Social media is facilitating this discus-
sion and creating a whole new generation
of industry champions. Advocates like the
Healthy Grains Institute are using social
media to get the message out and dispel
myths created by celebrities and so-called
food and diet experts. This group is ques-
tioning the legitimacy of promoting the
gluten-free diet as healthy.
Some celebrities are also joining the
fight and questioning why people avoid
things in their diet that they don’t know
much about. For example, earlier this year
a video went viral on social media when
late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel
asked four people on the gluten-free diet
to explain what gluten is. None of the
“Agvocate”
people interviewed could answer the ques-
tion, and Kimmel proved that most con-
sumers do not even know what they are
avoiding and only perceive it as unhealthy
because of new food trends.
Farmers across Canada have also
played a role in setting the story straight,
using social media, such as Twitter, to
dispel diet myths and promote the good-
ness of the food they produce. Farmer-fo-
cused conferences have speakers talking
about how to become agvocates to rooms
full of eager growers wanting to get the
positive message out to consumers.
Commodity groups are speaking not
only about the importance of growing
better crops and having access to key
international markets, but about the
goodness of the food produced here in
Canada. Grower groups like the Sas-
katchewan Pulse Growers are teaming up
with celebrity chefs to promote Canadi-
an Lentils, Alberta Barley launched the
GoBarley consumer campaign, which
includes a successful cookbook, and the
Alberta Wheat Commission has teamed
up with the Healthy Grains Institute to
promote whole grains.
The message about agriculture is chang-
ing and, while there may be some negative
messages floating around because of
celebrity health experts and social media,
our growers are armed with information
and social media tools to ensure consum-
ers hear both sides of the story. I encour-
age all consumers to get out and engage
in conversations with farmers about the
food they produce, and not take what the
self-declared health experts say as the
gospel for food.
Tom Steve is the general manager of the
Alberta Wheat Commission.
The Food Issue
2014
Grains
West
8