Advocacy In Action is a series of agriculture advocacy stories, headlines, and resources catching my eye each week. Want to receive these updates in your inbox? Click here to stay in the loop or support my agriculture advocacy efforts via Venmo.
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A few big themes have captured my attention over the past week. One is the questioning of agriculture advocates feeling the need to “educate” consumers. The second part is advocates raising awareness of a recent New York Times article criticizing animal agriculture.
I have lengthy responses to each that many may not agree with, but that’ll take longer to write. In the meantime, here are a few headlines related to those topics. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these. Leave a comment or send me a message on your favorite social channel.
- Answering Agriculture’s Critics (American Farm Bureau)
- The New York Times Makes Video Claiming Agriculture is, “Killing our Planet” (Lonesome Lands)
- [Peter Singer] Is it time for plant liberation? (The Korea Herald)
- Cutting animal agriculture buys time to get off fossil fuels: study (The Hill)
- What Would Happen if the U.S. Banned Factory Farming? (Sentinent Media)
What are those doors at the top of a barn for? (Iowa Ag Literacy) – Here’s a good example of advocacy in a format that can directly answer questions consumers are asking. While this type of post may not get the attention of outrage headlines, it’ll be there when someone turns to Google asking questions. We need more of this.
Agriculture Headlines
Agricultural diversity should be about more than a public relations checkbox (AgDaily) – What do we mean when saying equality and representation matter in Agriculture? It should be more than just words on paper.
Launch of Consumer Food Insights (Jayson Lusk) – Purdue economists launch a new tool for tracking and reporting insights on sustainability and food purchases. “With the survey, we seek to better understand changes in our national food environment and help businesses navigate their supply chains. Consumer Food Insights reveals where, how, and what food U.S. consumers bought and ate, with a focus on the implications for food systems at the national scale.”
RD Farmers: Sustainability from Farm to Fork (Animal Ag Alliance) – Registered Dietitians share their perspectives on agriculture sustainability and how they use their experiences from the farm to reach consumers asking questions about food.
Minnesota Farmer Brings Cattle to the Classroom (KELOLand) – While we may be busy during calving season, technology can still allow us to bring these experiences to kids in the classroom.
Additional Agriculture Headlines
- Guide to mental health help released (Farm Progress)
- USDA’s Efforts to Promote and Support Urban Agriculture (National Ag Law Center)
- USDA: No Reason to Worry About Pesticide Residues in 2020 (The Farmer’s Daughter USA)
- Guide explains differences in inherited, gifted property (Western Farmer-Stockman)
Agriculture Podcast
Got millet? How marketing could improve the lives of African farmers (Ted Talks Daily) – a different perspective on techniques for increasing adoption of foods in our diets and a look at the role of food marketing.
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