It's scary, but Agriculture needs to talk to consumers

As a consumer, sometimes I feel like a fool for not knowing or understanding what it has taken to get my lunch or dinner to my plate each day. But in being a part of the industry for 3 years I’ve seen that it can be equally as scary for Ag to talk about things the way they are, and the realities of food production. You know, the really sensitive topics that often get a lot of consumer backlash.However, the consumer disconnection and lack of value or understanding for Agriculture is creating significant challenges for the industry; including animal rights, demands for unsustainably priced food and inhibiting potential entrants joining the industry.This in turn is fostering a reluctance from Agriculture to open up and be more transparent - it’s creating a vicious cycle.Sure it’s scary and risky to open yourself up to questions, but the risk of not asking these questions and perpetuating a dysfunctional food system far outweighs the discomfort of asking them.It's also healthy to be asking: what kind of food future do we want to be creating? What are we currently perpetuating? What is our vision for agriculture and can we honestly say we’re working toward it?Change is happening. It’s not longer enough to think that consumers aren’t acting. It’s no longer enough for agriculture to promote themselves in a way that only resonates with farmers and not consumers. It’s no longer enough for agriculture to be forgetting about the consumer and the significant opportunity they present to add value to the farmgate and influence in government policy.It’s no longer enough to think that someone who grew up in city doesn’t want to be a farmer and has no interest in food and ag.Let’s invest in bridging the gap. Imagine if agriculture across the world invested a proportion of its marketing and R & D budgets into understanding and building the capacity of growing the consumer base to support it.Finally, let’s be leaders and not wait for others to lead the way. And let’s start by ardently building value for each other.Image credit: Nikki To from Meet the Maker