Just had an excellent session with three engaging, interesting, and social media motivated "Mommy Bloggers" here at Agvocacy 2.0 in Nashville, TN.
This was a great session. We as producers (both organic and tradition, pick your own, and farmers marketing to larger wholesalers) we given roughly an hour to talk and ask questions of the three ladies above. One who has turned her social media blogging experiment started when her baby was napping 6 years ago into a job utilizing public speaking and social media and another who is still learning about healthy foods and how to share this information and information about her faith to others, and a third who is dealing with life threatening milk, egg, and peanut allergies in her youngest child.
These women were awesome and really interested in what we as producers are doing. They let us into their issues and concerns and by doing so are helping to shape a new outlook on interactions with other "Mommy Bloggers" and society in general. The issue that these three women face in their daily lives mimics the same issues faced by many of us in agriculture today as well. We all want good food from healthy sources - regardless of our individual food issues, whether this means a vegan lifestyle choice or severe life threatening allergens in food. We all want to be able to have a back and forth educational conversational discourse about these common issues. They want farmers to be the source for information, they want to see our farms, and they want our information in a positive manner.
The overall outlook that I am getting both from this time with the "mommy Bloggers" and with the other social media attendees here at Agvocacy 2.0 is that it is time for agriculture to stop the war with persons with a far right outlook on agriculture and time to move to a progressive stance about the positive things modern agriculture is doing.
The talk from Jennifer Dahm from the United States Farmers and Ranchers Alliance was also inspiring this AM. Her whole talk was on being positive and alleviating the FEARs and CONCERNS behind the day to day work in modern farming and to relate the reasons moderns famers may need to implement these practices.
She spoke of using less industry approved wording in our message, because the majority of American Farms are still family owned and factory farming seems to be an emotional buzz word. The need for open and honest conversations are being emphasized. Reaching out to people on social media is as you might expect, is being highly emphasized. As is the need to stop engaging agricultures detractors in negative debates. The need to tell our story in our own words is being emphasized.
Overall, this has been a motivational meeting and I highly encourage anyone with an interest in agriculture and social media to attend future sessions.
Mike Haley (@farmerhaley on twitter) just presented an awesome talk with a letter framed to agriculturist from the average America Consumer... we need to look at these thoughts and start telling the awesome story of modern agriculture to people, Mom's, Bloggers, and consumers who are rally interested in what modern agriculture is providing for them.
The time has come to stop spewing facts at the American Public. They don't need to be educated - that can make them feel smaller and afraid to ask the next time they have a concern, when what we want to have is a conversation on foods, production agriculture, and pubic concerns about agriculture with us and not others who may have very different opinions then we do as a community.
Twitter, Blogging, and Facebook represent excellent ways for us to tell our stories in our own words.
Back to listening and learning now from farmers about social media... learning about #foodthanks
Links to our "Mommy Bloggers" - any errors are mine not theirs
http://www.sububanturmoil.com
http://www.allergenfreeplease.blogspot.com
http://www.sbrawner.com
I have really decided that taking today to come here and work on my agriculture concerns is definatly worth missing two days in the office. Hope my patients can forgive me, but food and agriculture are as much a part of my personality now as medicine has always been.
Showing posts with label farmers Markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farmers Markets. Show all posts
Monday, August 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Learning a bit for YF&R Discussion meet
That's right, as if I don't have enough to do this week. In between getting two girl scouts ready for a Christmas parade, one with a fever no less. Potty training a stubborn two and a half year old, delivering the fruit that the Kindergartner sold for a school project, the 7 am Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee meeting today along with rounds before work and the 7 AM Medical Executive Board Meeting on Friday... I thought It would be fun to fit in a little friendly competition in the Outstanding young women's and the discussion meet.
I admit I love the discussion meet. It was what drew me into my husband's world of agriculture and may me become so passionate about the issues that face the American Farmer. Before my first competition, I honestly thought that "organic" was the only way to eat - never thinking about the environmental impact of that type of farming for large scale production. I never thought about government food regulations, or water regulations. I never realized that most Americans are 4-5 generations removed from a family farm.
I found a great website tonight about maintaining your and my food choices in this country. I have Followed them on Twitter and Liked them on Facebook and hope you will do the same. We as Americans may not like or understand each others food choices - I still don't get veggie burgers - but the great abiding joy of being an America is that I don't have to get it... We have the choice to eat what we like how we like... so Choose2Choose America...
I admit I love the discussion meet. It was what drew me into my husband's world of agriculture and may me become so passionate about the issues that face the American Farmer. Before my first competition, I honestly thought that "organic" was the only way to eat - never thinking about the environmental impact of that type of farming for large scale production. I never thought about government food regulations, or water regulations. I never realized that most Americans are 4-5 generations removed from a family farm.
I found a great website tonight about maintaining your and my food choices in this country. I have Followed them on Twitter and Liked them on Facebook and hope you will do the same. We as Americans may not like or understand each others food choices - I still don't get veggie burgers - but the great abiding joy of being an America is that I don't have to get it... We have the choice to eat what we like how we like... so Choose2Choose America...
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Putting a Face on Farming
Farmers’ Markets Put a “Face” on Farming
By Dal Grooms
The number of farmers’ markets in the United States has grown by more than 300 percent in the past 15 years. If you study that trend from an economics standpoint, you have to wonder why. The dollars and cents value of convenience, low prices and access to a variety of products just don’t add up.
Online grocers are convenient with 24/7 availability. Farmers’ markets are not.
At the local grocery store, comparison shopping to find the lowest price is done quickly as similar items are grouped together. That’s not the case at the farmers’ market.
Mega-supermarkets offer food purchases, along with buying your automotive care products and even appliances! Farmers’ markets do not.
So what brings consumers at increasing rates to more than 5,200 farmers’ markets around the country? It’s the relationship that consumers can have with farmers. The Agriculture Department calls it ‘food with a face.’ The popularity of farmers’ markets is the anchor of their current “Know Your Farmer” campaign.
That “face” reminds us that food is not made in the grocery store basement. It is grown and produced with care by men and women who not only have a passion for working with nature to produce food, but also have knowledge on how to produce it in a way that sustains their business at the market.
Much is expected from these farmers. Consumers expect fresh, top quality fruits and vegetables, as well as honey, dairy, meat and grain products. They want these items delivered with a smile and willingness to explain the production methods. If you’ve walked by the vendors’ tables at a market, you know these farmers are delivering on both points.
Other farmers are counting on them, too. Only about 4 percent of farmers use direct sales to consumers as part of their marketing plan. That means their “faces” represent the other 96 percent of farmers who use other marketing methods to sell their products.
While some may think that’s putting too much on the shoulders of those farmers who are using direct marketing, most of them would just smile, shrug and move on, shaking hands and telling customers about ways to prepare their products and what will be available at the market in the coming weeks.
Clearly, the value of a farmers’ market is about relationships and trust, both of which are intangible items that have real value in today’s economy. Economists and marketers have developed any number of models so that relationship value can be measured.
They can run their numbers and manipulate their models. Most consumers already know the value of that relationship. Priceless.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can see this in every aspect of American culture - turn on food TV and all the foodies talk about is sustainable agriculture and locally grown produce, but we in agriculture must continue to advocate not only for locally grown produce but for the opportunity to continue with advances in our field that will enable us to feed a hungry world. Locally grown and sustainable is great but it will not feed the millions of people going to bed hungry every night due to poor irrigation and weed overgrowth. I want people to remain open to this issue in Agriculture and see both sides and yes I love my locally grown hormone free beef from our farm, but I understand then need for hormone enhanced products that have less estrogen than the average birth control pill to be able to provide food for a hungry world.
So, I encourage direct to consumer marketing but I also encourage the American consumer to not be blinded by the honest facts that fact Agriculture today. There is no way that production methods of the 1800's will feed a growing hungry world population and we as a society must face this and realize that farmers are doing better today for our environment than ever before. So, please know your farmer, but please don't be so quick to judge other aspects of modern agriculture.
By Dal Grooms
The number of farmers’ markets in the United States has grown by more than 300 percent in the past 15 years. If you study that trend from an economics standpoint, you have to wonder why. The dollars and cents value of convenience, low prices and access to a variety of products just don’t add up.
Online grocers are convenient with 24/7 availability. Farmers’ markets are not.
At the local grocery store, comparison shopping to find the lowest price is done quickly as similar items are grouped together. That’s not the case at the farmers’ market.
Mega-supermarkets offer food purchases, along with buying your automotive care products and even appliances! Farmers’ markets do not.
So what brings consumers at increasing rates to more than 5,200 farmers’ markets around the country? It’s the relationship that consumers can have with farmers. The Agriculture Department calls it ‘food with a face.’ The popularity of farmers’ markets is the anchor of their current “Know Your Farmer” campaign.
That “face” reminds us that food is not made in the grocery store basement. It is grown and produced with care by men and women who not only have a passion for working with nature to produce food, but also have knowledge on how to produce it in a way that sustains their business at the market.
Much is expected from these farmers. Consumers expect fresh, top quality fruits and vegetables, as well as honey, dairy, meat and grain products. They want these items delivered with a smile and willingness to explain the production methods. If you’ve walked by the vendors’ tables at a market, you know these farmers are delivering on both points.
Other farmers are counting on them, too. Only about 4 percent of farmers use direct sales to consumers as part of their marketing plan. That means their “faces” represent the other 96 percent of farmers who use other marketing methods to sell their products.
While some may think that’s putting too much on the shoulders of those farmers who are using direct marketing, most of them would just smile, shrug and move on, shaking hands and telling customers about ways to prepare their products and what will be available at the market in the coming weeks.
Clearly, the value of a farmers’ market is about relationships and trust, both of which are intangible items that have real value in today’s economy. Economists and marketers have developed any number of models so that relationship value can be measured.
They can run their numbers and manipulate their models. Most consumers already know the value of that relationship. Priceless.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can see this in every aspect of American culture - turn on food TV and all the foodies talk about is sustainable agriculture and locally grown produce, but we in agriculture must continue to advocate not only for locally grown produce but for the opportunity to continue with advances in our field that will enable us to feed a hungry world. Locally grown and sustainable is great but it will not feed the millions of people going to bed hungry every night due to poor irrigation and weed overgrowth. I want people to remain open to this issue in Agriculture and see both sides and yes I love my locally grown hormone free beef from our farm, but I understand then need for hormone enhanced products that have less estrogen than the average birth control pill to be able to provide food for a hungry world.
So, I encourage direct to consumer marketing but I also encourage the American consumer to not be blinded by the honest facts that fact Agriculture today. There is no way that production methods of the 1800's will feed a growing hungry world population and we as a society must face this and realize that farmers are doing better today for our environment than ever before. So, please know your farmer, but please don't be so quick to judge other aspects of modern agriculture.
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