UncommonGround

I was recently perusing the CommonGround message boards and I found the following:

And this:

This is my response:

From a purely capitalistic point of view, Chipotle is catering both its menu and its advertising to its consumer base. Most of the farmers I know stopped eating at Chipotle years ago because they didn’t agree with their message. Therefore, these farmers are not their consumer base. Chipotle is doing what every other capitalist company is doing. McDonalds does not base its advertising choices on what foodies are looking for. That isn’t their market. Chipotle knows who their market is and they are catering to them specifically.

Secondly, there are farmers who, for various reasons—whether those were financial or ethical—have chosen to farm organic or non-GMO. Those farmers are trying to survive and make a living just as much as any other farmer. These farmers are your professional colleagues. They, too, are responding to a growing customer base which is concerned about transparency and long-term safety and sustainability of our food systems in this country. Now let me make it clear that it is more or less irrelevant whether or not this growing customer base is “right” or “wrong.” Their views are fueled by a belief that we ought to work with nature rather than work around it or against it. It is a BELIEF SYSTEM, much like religious and political views. I feel that when we as farmers say these views are “disturbing” or that we “feel sad for” or even "dump as friends" those who subscribe to them, we are not really hearing what they are saying, and we are de-valuing their beliefs because they are not in lock-step with ours.  Dierks Bentley, in his song “Home,” sang the words:

“Free, nothing feels like free
Though it sometimes means we don’t get along
Cause same, no we're not the same
But that’s what makes us strong”

We are not the same. And that is okay. But it is not okay to shut down the channels of communication between us and those with whom we might not agree. In a recent reply to a fan who decried his association with Glenn Beck—with whom the fan vehemently disagreed—Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs (and one of the biggest supporters of the farming industry), replied with the following words:

“To be clear, I'm not here to tell you what to think or whom to hate. Like everyone else, you're free to pick your devils, choose your angels, and attach the horns and halos accordingly. But the guts of your question - even without all the name-calling and acrimony - reveal the essence of what's broken in our country. You want to know "how I can associate" with someone you don't like? The short answer is, how can I not? How are we ever going to accomplish anything in this incredibly divisive time if we associate only with people that we don't disagree with?”

In addition to the way we speak to non-farmers, we should also be mindful of how we speak to each other as food producers. Farmers are rapidly shrinking in numbers. We cannot really afford to spend valuable time fighting amongst ourselves when a growing number of people are unaware of the most basic facts of food production. CommonGround should not simply be a platform we use to tell the world what to think or believe. We tell our stories, and that is all we can do. CommonGround states on its website that: 

 

“CommonGround is a program to increase awareness among urban and suburban consumers of the value of modern production agriculture in their lives.  As the name implies, the program emphasizes that urban and farm families share the same values and concerns and that urban consumers can trust the process and the people that provide their food…[Common Ground] is built upon broad messages that promote modern agriculture of all kinds.” [Emphasis Added]

It should be a platform we use to open conversations between consumers and producers about who we are and what we do to bring them the food they choose to eat. We are putting a face on Agriculture. All kinds of agriculture. Conventional, Non-GMO, Organic, Urban, Local, Natural, and Hydroponics.

In summation, I encourage you to rethink the way you approach disagreements both with individuals and groups who think differently than you do. We might find that being respectful, asking questions, and responding to differences with kindness rather than defensiveness will move the conversation along to a place where name-calling and demeaning comments are no longer necessary to get our point across.