A survey was conducted of over 1000 consumers to assess perceptions of select, choice and prime beef. Respondents were asked to: 1) rank the three grades on leanness, 2) rank the three on juiciness, and 3) match pictures of rib eyes showing the grades with grade names or match prices of $4/lb, $8/lb, or $12/lb with grade names.
Only 14% ranked leanness correctly and 57% said prime was leanest; but 55% still ranked prime highest on juiciness. Only 14% correctly matched pictures with grade name, an outcome, as the authors stated, “that is worse than would have occurred by purely random chance”. Also, 55% of the respondent’s associated prime grade with the lowest price category of $4/lb. (Note: It appears that consumers tended to associate “prime” with anything desirable to them.) When results were evaluated based on some characteristics of the respondents, the more highly educated and those with greater preference for steak were more likely to correctly match the names, pictures and price categories.
Ag producers from across the globe, no matter their style of farming or type of end product, size of operation or amount of income, are all in the same business: farming. These are the food, fiber and fuel producers who contribute to demands for a local, regional, national and/or global system. We should be proud of that fact and share it.We also have to come to terms with the fact that, in most developed nations, agriculturalists are a minority of the population and are likely to remain as such in the foreseeable future.
In countries like the U.S., individuals involved in production agriculture make up only 2% of the population; that’s two people out of every 100. What about the other 98% who are not involved in agriculture? How can we help them become involved?
Today, we’re dealing with a gap between urban populations and the people who produce food. This has been described as a gap in communication, generations and geographies, but more important, it may be an experience gap.
It’s up to those two people out of every 100 to do their part in correcting that gap. The challenge is for those two people involved in agriculture to reach out and each connect with 49 others and invite them to learn more about our farms and ranches. If we each accept that challenge, imagine the difference that could be made.
Forty-nine may seem like a large number, but once you begin considering it, 49 is actually a tangible number. For example:
* Many small towns may have only 196 (49 x 4) people.
* The church you attended growing up may have had only 98 people (49 x 2).
* Many of you may sit down in a classroom with 25 other people; you’re half-way there.
* Meet a person from each of the other 49 states, and you’re there.
If you reach out to just one person each week throughout the year, even if you miss a month, you’ll have your 49.
How will you reach 49?
We always talk about the need for advocacy in agriculture and the need to preach outside the choir, but how many folks are doing that? Here’s your place to start.
Social media can play a part in this. We have always had opportunities to join in conversations within our communities, join in local festivities, invite grade school classes for a farm tour and meet with customers at the grocer’s meat counter, but today, social media opens up the rest of the world to these opportunities.
People use social media to connect with friends and make new ones through other people they meet. They’re not on social media to be educated or lectured to; they’re there to connect with people.
We can’t try to combat the negative messages from our detractors. We’ll lose and fatigue our audiences if we continue to fight one another with facts, figures and science. We can’t try to outnumber the negative messages. It’s seen as an industry campaign, and we’ll fatigue our audiences again. Some people will always thrive on negativity, but eventually, they will grow tired of it.
What we need is better communication: building relationships, being people, connecting over mutual interests, networking and sharing our stories based on experience.
The agriculture community will not be growing larger in developed nations. We can’t afford to be fighting each other. As I noted, farmers are all farmers. We’re all in it for the same mission of feeding people.
Your challenge is to find those 49 people to connect with so that, when the time comes, they have a person to ask questions of after they see an animal abuse scene on television or online. Write that down: 49 people. Choose a platform where you’ll focus your attention — social media, blogs, community events — and start acting on that plan.
Whether it takes you a year finding one new person a week, or if it takes you only one community event, find those 49 people to connect with. Share your story, and share the experience of agriculture with those who may not have ever had such an opportunity before.
