Real people need to share real stories if livestock producers want to win the PR war being waged by animal rights activists, according to the leading U.S. beef promotion agency.
Most consumers no longer have any personal knowledge or family connection to farming and their understanding of agriculture is “very fuzzy,” Anne Anderson, a member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, said at the recent Canadian Agri-Marketing Association event during the Farm and Ranch show at Northlands.
“Two things happen when you have a lack of information,” said Anderson. “People form their own opinions of what fills that gap. They don’t know, so their mind comes up with something.
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“The second concern is the misinformation that fills the gap. If you don’t know, and inoculation has not been done, then whoever fills this spot when you have no basic understanding is what you embrace.”
“Inoculation” is Anderson’s term for consumer education that prevents people from blinding accepting misinformation put out by activists opposed to the meat industry. She argued both Canada and the U.S. need to develop their own activists and advocates to counteract the efforts of groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society of the United States. These groups are turning people against the livestock sector by convincing them it is nothing more than factory farming, she said.
“It’s eroding our industry and we need to be advocates,” she said.
The solution, she said, is making sure farmers are front and centre into the public discussion.
“One of the things you have to keep in mind is that those of us who work for the industry are believable, but those of us who are in the industry are very believable,” said Anderson.
People who raise cattle and have the ability to act as advocates for the industry earn more respect from the public than those who are simply involved in it, she said. But to be effective, producers need to be media savvy.
For example, the National Cattleman’s Beef Association recommends agricultural advocates hone their message so it’s only 50 words or less, so they can send concise letters to the editors when newspapers and magazines run inaccurate stories. The association also distributes videos, many produced by agriculture college students, featuring producers telling their stories.
Anderson is a graduate of a program called the “Masters of Beef Advocacy.” More than 2,000 Americans have completed the six-week online program, and about 1,600 people are in the process of completing it. She recommends the course not only to people involved in the Canadian beef sector, but anyone in the livestock industry.
“Envision it as the masters of agricultural advocacy,” she said.
Each section of the course takes about an hour to complete, and includes video and audio components on topics such as environment, production, and nutrition. All participants are required to pass tests before moving onto the next module. After passing the course, participants belong to an alumni association and have access to information that can be used in advocacy work. They can also network and share information with other people who have taken the program.
Anderson thinks this program could work in Canada.
“I even went so far as to look for agencies in Canada that can fund this,” she said. “I think you have a real opportunity to create a Masters in Agricultural Activism in Canada and to create a reservoir of people.
“This issue isn’t going away because that distance from where that calf was born to where the consumer stands in front of the beef case, that fuzzy spot, is only getting bigger. And as the fuzzy spot gets bigger, you know what happens. It’s going to take more and more real people telling real stories to make a difference.”
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“Oneofthethingsyouhavetokeepinmindisthatthoseofuswhoworkfortheindustryarebelievable,butthoseofuswhoareINtheindustryareverybelievable.”
Anne Anderson
