The Disconnect

Have you ever finished doing something, taken a moment to feel proud of your accomplishment, and then realized, "oh shoot...I'm not done"?  I just did that.  I wrote out a whole long blog post, posted it to Facebook, and then realized that I left out a huge part of it.  Maybe it's okay that I did, though.  The part I left out is pretty long and that post was already getting to be too long to hold people's attention .  As a result of my mental fumble, this new post will cover what I left out of the other post.

In the previous blog post, I discussed social license and the fact that the general public just doesn't know a whole lot about agriculture.  What I forgot to say is that this lack of knowledge isn't your fault.

Today, only about 2% of Canada's population works in the agriculture industry.  Just one short century ago, agriculture employed a far greater portion of the population.  People who grew up in towns and cities knew people - friends and relatives - who lived and worked on farms.  They knew where their food came from.  Today the amount of people growing up in towns and cities who personally know farmers is much smaller.  There is a disconnect between the people who grow the food and the people who eat the food.  Because of this lack of personal connection, people just don't know how their food is produced.  For example, I have a cousin who, for many years, thought that potatoes came from a can, and when she first saw her mother peel a potato, she didn't know what it was (for the record, this was before my cousin spent time on a farm).  My cousin isn't stupid, and neither are the other people who don't know where their food comes from.

People are just ignorant.  Now that I've typed those words, they seem awfully harsh to me.  What does ignorant mean?  Let me check the dictionary: "ignorant adj. 1a. lacking knowledge or experience. b. (foll. by of, in) uninformed (about a fact, subject)" (Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English, 2005).  That's not so bad.  It just means that ignorant people don't know.  In fact, I think it's good for one to know if one is ignorant.  If I know that I'm ignorant about a subject, I can work on learning about it.  That's a good thing!

My earlier blog post focused on how people should go about learning more about agriculture.  I'd like to use this blog post to further discuss that topic.  People growing up in cities don't know where their food comes from because they don't personally know farmers.  Therefore, they have a hard time getting first-hand information about their food.  Now, before I go any further, I'd like to say that I am not advocating for the local food movement.  If you want to only buy food from local producers, be my guest.  But I raise beef and beef is a major export for Canada, so I rather like it when people don't exclusively buy local (although I also really like selling beef to nearby family and friends).

To get back on topic, if you want to learn more about where your food comes from, talk to a farmer.  If you don't know a farmer, ask someone who does to introduce you to their farmer friend.  Farmers aren't so rare that you can't find us.  You just might have to look further than your regular circle of friends.  Talk to people with farmer relatives.  Talk to college students you know, because they have probably met a farm kid at school (farm kids need an education, too, you know).  If all else fails, go to a farmer's market and talk to the people there (just be aware that they are probably big fans of the buy local movement, and maybe of the organic craze, too).  Whoever you find to talk to, remember that we all have a bit of an agenda, whether we know it or not: we want you to like us.  Ask sincere questions.  Ask about the things that worry you.  Ask about the latest food marketing strategies.  Talk to more than one expert (refer back to the earlier blog post).  Do not rely solely on what you see and hear on the media and from other uninformed persons.  In short, if you choose to educate yourself about the agriculture industry, make sure you get a well-rounded education.

It is possible to overcome the disconnect between producer and consumer, but it will take a bit of effort from both sides and a genuine interest in each other to close the gap.