If those in agriculture want to stop the spread of misinformation, they must learn to talk to people outside of the agrifood industry as well as they do one another.
But World Pork Expo panelist Frank Mitloehner offered a much more blunt description of the current lines of communication.
“The most important thing that we really have to change is that we in agriculture need to learn how to communicate with those people who are not because we are great talking to each other, and we suck at talking to people in cities,” said Mitloehner, professor and air quality specialist at University of California Davis and director of the CLEAR Center.
Mitloehner was part of the panel during the World Pork Expo Business Seminar, “Challenging Health and Productivity: How does the U.S. lead the world in sustainable, profitable pork production,” held June 6 in Des Moines, Iowa. Other members of the panel included Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech; Maria Zieba, vice president of government affairs for the National Pork Producers Council, and Dr. Gordon Spronk, chair emeritus of Pipestone. Mark Hulsebus, Alltech sales and portfolio director, served as the moderator.
Speak the known language
Spronk mentioned differing terminology between the two camps. Those outside of agriculture often talk about sustainability, but Spronk said that is a word that had been unknown to the older generations in agriculture. However, he added that while his father and grandfather didn’t know what sustainability meant, both understood what the nearly synonymous term, stewardship meant.
Mitloehner used Spronk’s comments as an example of improving communications.
“I think here we have to be very practical. If people don’t understand what stewardship is, but we know what it is, and they use a different term, then why not use that different term? If they are the ones buying your product, and they are requesting it, why wouldn’t we be speaking their language? Ask yourself that,” Mitloehner said.
Mitloehner said that through his work at the university, he sees first-hand how many young people are concerned with animal health and welfare. This is also an example of speaking their language.
“If they ask questions about any of those issues, and we don’t respond in ways they understand, be assured they will not stop asking these questions,” Mitloehner said.
But if they ask those questions to people who don’t like animal agriculture and have no authority or knowledge of the matter, they will receive answers that are inaccurate and likely unflattering.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m tired about it. We are the subject matter experts in animal agriculture. Who knows more about growing pigs than you? Who knows more about managing manure than you? So, when we get questions, we have to be able to answer them in ways that people asking understand. That’s where we have to change,” Mitloehner said.
