Women the world over are a lot alike.
They are the primary decision makers in their families when it comes to food and medical care. They want the best for their families, and health and nutrition are their top priorities. Women in agriculture are no different. We work hard to feed our children the best possible food, and everyone else’s children, too.
Agricultural biotechnology is what allows us to produce safe, high quality food for the hundreds of thousands of families who consume ingredients produced on our farms. Not only that, but it allows us to do it in an environmentally sustainable way. We farm moms also want to give our kids the knowledge, skills and resources they’ll need to keep feeding everybody long after we’re gone, and biotech is what will make it possible.
However, there are some major challenges we must address now if we are going to achieve these goals.
There is a loud and growing debate in this nation over food labeling. Activists are waging battles in state legislatures and through ballot initiatives to force the labeling of foods derived from biotechnology and thus attempt to remove them from the marketplace. A 50-state patchwork of labeling policies for genetically engineered (GE) foods will do nothing to advance the health and safety of consumers. What it will do is cause a huge inefficiency in the supply chain. It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for the food industry to meet the requirements, and the cost will have to be paid by consumers. The greatest burden will be on families who are struggling financially, and it will cost taxpayers more for supplemental food programs. The food fight will only continue to escalate in the coming year as competing labeling bills come up in Congress.
This is a daunting situation. Thanks to the relentless efforts of anti-biotech activist groups and activist lawyers who have misinformed and misled the American public about the safety of biotech foods, there is a growing divide between growers and the public. American consumers are much more food conscious than ever before and their favorite activity is social media, with “Food and drink” being a top 5 Facebook search. Fear-mongering activists have made good use of the Internet in their efforts to drive a wedge between growers and consumers.
But here’s the good news. Research by The Center for Food Integrity shows that when it comes to information about GE foods, the American public places the most trust in moms and growers. Moms and growers carry more weight than television doctors and celebrity chefs, and rightly so. If GE foods were unsafe in any way, they would never be sold at all. Technology companies wouldn’t make it, FDA wouldn’t allow it and us farmer moms would never grow it and feed it to our own children.
This is a major “all hands to the deck” situation. It’s time for every farm wife and mom in the sugar industry to stand up to the activists and demand that accurate scientific evidence define this debate. It’s time for us to bridge the gap activists are trying to create between us and our fellow Americans. So how do we do this? How do farm women talk about agricultural biotechnology? The first step is to start connecting with consumers on social media, which is ground zero in this debate.
We must connect with American consumers through our shared values. If our only goal is to persuade activists to change their minds, we will lose. If our only goal is to educate people about agricultural biotechnology, we will lose. Our goals must be to welcome and embrace skepticism, understand that consumer concerns are real and help them understand that we both value the same things. We must use our experiences as growers and moms as starting points when we listen, ask questions and share information about our way of life.
The first step is to be willing to commit to a conversation with consumers, and use social media to invite dialogue. Consumers trust farmers and want to know how food is produced. They want to see pictures and videos of farms and farmers at work, hear that American agriculture is open to their input, and feel that their questions are being answered with authentic transparency. Consumers want to hear our perspective and values, so we must ground our responses to consumer questions in values, beliefs and feelings. We express our common values each time we share photos and talk with excitement about the potential for GE foods to increase nutrition, help feed a rapidly expanding population and enable the next generation of growers we’re raising ensure that all people have access to good nutrition. Each one of us can give consumers confidence in our products and empower them to make up their own minds and make their own decisions.
So now we must have the confidence to stand up and speak out, and I want to help women in the sugar industry use their collective voice. For the past year I have worked with Luther Markwart, executive vice president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, on a slide presentation called “The Sweet Truth about Genetically Engineered Foods.” I gave this presentation at the ASGA annual meeting in Long Beach, Calif., and am thrilled at the enthusiastic response of the women there. The purpose of this presentation is to educate consumers about biotech, food labeling and the differences between organic, conventional and GE farming methods.
So what is the truth? The truth is all food produced by all of these methods is safe, and it’s time for women in the sugar industry to share that message with the American public. This slide presentation was designed so that any woman or man in the sugar industry can personalize the information and share it with the various groups and organizations in which they are involved.
Please join me in speaking out in defense of our industry and way of life, and for the future of our children and the children we feed. Winston Churchill said, “It’s no use saying ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”
We’re going to succeed and we’re going to do it together. Get online with me and use social media to connect with consumers. We’ll write letters to our state representatives. We’ll urge them to ask the United States Congress to clarify labeling standards for foods derived through the use of biotechnology and to provide national uniformity and guidelines for not labeling food containing GE ingredients. We’ll speak out on the need for national uniformity on labeling that preserves product labels for the most important information—product safety—and does not require labels on foods containing ingredients derived from GE crops.
Contact Markwart and myself to learn how you can give this presentation and be a spokesperson for sugarbeets in your area. Every woman who grows beets on her family farm has unique talents and skills that will greatly benefit the American sugarbeet industry. It’s only a matter of being willing to learn how to use them. Knowledge and self-confidence come quickly when we work together. Let’s get started!
Editor’s note: Laura Rutherford and her husband, Roy, are growers for American Crystal and live near Grafton, N.D. Email her at gosugar.lr@gmail.com.