“Um… Excuse me. Why are there only boy cows here?”
… “I beg your pardon?”
Herein lies the issue with showing horned cattle. I’ve been asked this question at least a hundred times, and it still makes me laugh. For nine out of ten people walking though the barns at state fairs, this is the first time they’ve ever seen a cow in the flesh. In their minds, because all the cattle they see have horns, and only male deer have antlers, then these all must be “boy cows”. And, every time, with a selective mix of “There’s a difference between horns and antlers”, “As you can tell by that calf nursing on that cow’s utter”, and all the politeness I can muster, I tell the person that they are very, very mistaken.
Growing up in agriculture, I learned very quickly that ours is a fading profession. The problem is that there is a growing disconnect in the minds of people in first world countries between the food on their plate, the clothes on their body, the energy behind their machines, and the farms where these things came from.
And I’m not the only one that’s noticed this.
In 2012, researchers in the UK conducted a survey where they asked grocery shoppers ages 16-23 questions about the products they were buying. Out of these, 57% believed they were not well aware of where their food came from. The results confirmed this:
· 36% did not know that bacon comes from pigs
· 40% did not connect an image of milk to a dairy cow (7% thought it was made from wheat!)
· 59% did not connect an image of butter to a dairy cow (8% linked it to beef cattle)
· 33% did not connect an image of eggs to chicken (11% connected it to wheat or corn)
· 6% knew that salad dressing can be made from rapseed oil—among all age groups, this was 24%
No matter where a person’s from, what kind of diet and lifestyle they lead, or how aware they are of it, everybody uses agricultural products practically every second of the day. So why is there such a disconnect? Here’s some more statistics:
· Less than 2% of Americans live and work on a farm—in 1900, this was 40%
· Agriculture accounts for 1.8% of Canada’s workforce
· Agriculture accounts for 5% of the workforce in the European Union
· In one year’s time, revenue from Canadian exports dropped 7.6%
· The average American is at least 3 generations removed from the farm
· The average Canadian is 1-2 generations removed from the farm
· The average American farmer is 59 years old
· Over half of agricultural workers in the European Union are between 40 and 65 years old
So what’s the issue? Aside from the fact that 1/50 people are responsible for feeding the entire population, this separation is leaving room for corrupt public interest groups to plant ideas of a false reality into consumers’ heads. The result of this this is causing uninformed buying decisions on massive scales, which is harming the pocketbooks of innocent and honest producers. It is also causing lawsuits to be filed against farmers who obey the law, whether it be over cases of animal rights, persecuting trespassers, environmental issues, or quality control. Unfortunately, because the court cases are often filed or funded by large public interest groups, farmers do not stand a chance, and lose thousands of dollars in settlements, lawyer bills, and from being out of production. In a nutshell: farmers are being blamed for crimes they are not committing.
But what can we do? Educate and communicate! Startup conversations about what we do and why we do it. Be transparent about our processes but make sure consumers know our reasoning behind them. Make people question their buying decisions and their motives. Never be afraid to step in and show people that they have been misinformed. Be an all-around positive representation of agriculture.
Be an agvocate!
… “I beg your pardon?”
Herein lies the issue with showing horned cattle. I’ve been asked this question at least a hundred times, and it still makes me laugh. For nine out of ten people walking though the barns at state fairs, this is the first time they’ve ever seen a cow in the flesh. In their minds, because all the cattle they see have horns, and only male deer have antlers, then these all must be “boy cows”. And, every time, with a selective mix of “There’s a difference between horns and antlers”, “As you can tell by that calf nursing on that cow’s utter”, and all the politeness I can muster, I tell the person that they are very, very mistaken.
Growing up in agriculture, I learned very quickly that ours is a fading profession. The problem is that there is a growing disconnect in the minds of people in first world countries between the food on their plate, the clothes on their body, the energy behind their machines, and the farms where these things came from.
And I’m not the only one that’s noticed this.
In 2012, researchers in the UK conducted a survey where they asked grocery shoppers ages 16-23 questions about the products they were buying. Out of these, 57% believed they were not well aware of where their food came from. The results confirmed this:
· 36% did not know that bacon comes from pigs
· 40% did not connect an image of milk to a dairy cow (7% thought it was made from wheat!)
· 59% did not connect an image of butter to a dairy cow (8% linked it to beef cattle)
· 33% did not connect an image of eggs to chicken (11% connected it to wheat or corn)
· 6% knew that salad dressing can be made from rapseed oil—among all age groups, this was 24%
No matter where a person’s from, what kind of diet and lifestyle they lead, or how aware they are of it, everybody uses agricultural products practically every second of the day. So why is there such a disconnect? Here’s some more statistics:
· Less than 2% of Americans live and work on a farm—in 1900, this was 40%
· Agriculture accounts for 1.8% of Canada’s workforce
· Agriculture accounts for 5% of the workforce in the European Union
· In one year’s time, revenue from Canadian exports dropped 7.6%
· The average American is at least 3 generations removed from the farm
· The average Canadian is 1-2 generations removed from the farm
· The average American farmer is 59 years old
· Over half of agricultural workers in the European Union are between 40 and 65 years old
So what’s the issue? Aside from the fact that 1/50 people are responsible for feeding the entire population, this separation is leaving room for corrupt public interest groups to plant ideas of a false reality into consumers’ heads. The result of this this is causing uninformed buying decisions on massive scales, which is harming the pocketbooks of innocent and honest producers. It is also causing lawsuits to be filed against farmers who obey the law, whether it be over cases of animal rights, persecuting trespassers, environmental issues, or quality control. Unfortunately, because the court cases are often filed or funded by large public interest groups, farmers do not stand a chance, and lose thousands of dollars in settlements, lawyer bills, and from being out of production. In a nutshell: farmers are being blamed for crimes they are not committing.
But what can we do? Educate and communicate! Startup conversations about what we do and why we do it. Be transparent about our processes but make sure consumers know our reasoning behind them. Make people question their buying decisions and their motives. Never be afraid to step in and show people that they have been misinformed. Be an all-around positive representation of agriculture.
Be an agvocate!