Why Vegetarians Are Winning
By Andrew Campbell
Farms.com Media
A few weeks ago my fiancée’s cousin from New Zealand came for a visit. Like many other families, a cousin coming half way around the world called for big meals, drinks on the deck, and lots of story telling.
But what made this even more interesting – was the fact this cousin is very vegetarian, all in the name of animal rights. When it comes to eggs and dairy, free-range and organic is the only way to go. And the same organic policy is in effect for most other foods.
Now being the farm kid of the group, you can bet we don’t see eye to eye on a few of these issues. To avoid a family fiasco though, neither of us brought up the subject and kept things as content as we could. However, just being around her, I was able to learn a couple of tough lessons fairly quickly. Lessons that I think each farmer and farm organization needs to realize.
First of all, as farmers, we must realize the consumer is always right. Now in the case of the belief of the mistreatment of animals, of course we know it’s not right – but the consumer believes they are and they prove that by where they spend their dollar. In the case of this cousin, she believes she is right by not buying any meat.
Second. There are more and more people who are getting so far removed from the farm they can’t even say they spent the summer at Grandma and Grandpa’s. This classic line from politicians works for the middle-aged population. It doesn’t work for those just wrapping up their college or university educations who have known nothing else but the suburbs. This is proven by a recent study asking urban-dwellers about agriculture. One of the numbers jumping out at me put 56 percent of respondents believing beef farmers properly fed and watered their animals. Does that mean 44 percent believe they don’t? That’s a real issue of people simply not knowing.
And third, this trend is only going to continue as these young consumers start their own families, sharing their traditions and values of the importance of an organic pine-nut salad versus a thick and juicy steak.
So how do we turn this around?
Education is one of the most used terms and can work in this situation. But who are we educating? Are we educating young teens or their parents that need it just as much as their children?
A marketing campaign might also be a good idea, but can one work with a few hundred thousand dollars versus the hundreds of millions of dollars that animal rights organizations hold?
It’s time to take issue with attacks against our industry. In any other business, lawsuits and government crack-downs would stop false claims in their tracks. Why doesn’t this happen for agriculture? Merely lobbying for science-based rules isn’t working. Each of us can think of a handful of examples where a local government went against science and instead in favour of public perception. Yes, action will cost a lot of money. But how much does it cost when we lose producers and are regulated to eating an organic pine-nut salad?
What do you think we should do?
By Andrew Campbell
Farms.com Media
A few weeks ago my fiancée’s cousin from New Zealand came for a visit. Like many other families, a cousin coming half way around the world called for big meals, drinks on the deck, and lots of story telling.
But what made this even more interesting – was the fact this cousin is very vegetarian, all in the name of animal rights. When it comes to eggs and dairy, free-range and organic is the only way to go. And the same organic policy is in effect for most other foods.
Now being the farm kid of the group, you can bet we don’t see eye to eye on a few of these issues. To avoid a family fiasco though, neither of us brought up the subject and kept things as content as we could. However, just being around her, I was able to learn a couple of tough lessons fairly quickly. Lessons that I think each farmer and farm organization needs to realize.
First of all, as farmers, we must realize the consumer is always right. Now in the case of the belief of the mistreatment of animals, of course we know it’s not right – but the consumer believes they are and they prove that by where they spend their dollar. In the case of this cousin, she believes she is right by not buying any meat.
Second. There are more and more people who are getting so far removed from the farm they can’t even say they spent the summer at Grandma and Grandpa’s. This classic line from politicians works for the middle-aged population. It doesn’t work for those just wrapping up their college or university educations who have known nothing else but the suburbs. This is proven by a recent study asking urban-dwellers about agriculture. One of the numbers jumping out at me put 56 percent of respondents believing beef farmers properly fed and watered their animals. Does that mean 44 percent believe they don’t? That’s a real issue of people simply not knowing.
And third, this trend is only going to continue as these young consumers start their own families, sharing their traditions and values of the importance of an organic pine-nut salad versus a thick and juicy steak.
So how do we turn this around?
Education is one of the most used terms and can work in this situation. But who are we educating? Are we educating young teens or their parents that need it just as much as their children?
A marketing campaign might also be a good idea, but can one work with a few hundred thousand dollars versus the hundreds of millions of dollars that animal rights organizations hold?
It’s time to take issue with attacks against our industry. In any other business, lawsuits and government crack-downs would stop false claims in their tracks. Why doesn’t this happen for agriculture? Merely lobbying for science-based rules isn’t working. Each of us can think of a handful of examples where a local government went against science and instead in favour of public perception. Yes, action will cost a lot of money. But how much does it cost when we lose producers and are regulated to eating an organic pine-nut salad?
What do you think we should do?
Comment