Agriculture and Social Media, Penn State Student Perspective

It's a seriously hot topic is agriculture, how we can promote our industry and target as many people as possible. One of my good friends and fellow Penn State AEE major, Olivia, has done an AMAZING job creating a video about the topic. Check it out!

How can we as ag educators and agriculturalists positively use social media?

Chipotle is Winning, Why Agriculture Needs to Start Paying Attention

This past Saturday, I was traveling from Minneapolis-St.Paul to State College, PA with a quick stop in Philadelphia. As my flight landed, my stomach started growling, yelling at me to get some food, and fast. The first thing that captured my eye was Chipotle, and while I was interested, I hesitated.

As an ag girl, eating at Chipotle would have been a cardinal sin. Most college students are probably appalled by that statement. Many have seen the marketing campaign that Chipotle has released late this summer, and nearly everyone has an opinion about it. While I will admit that I do not agree with the message that the advertisement conveys, given that it is whole-heartedly incorrect, I won't hesitate to say that it is genius. Riddled with ethos, picking at the heartstrings of those who watch, who would not begin to rethink where their food comes from and the motives of the individuals who produce it? 

The ad is old news to most in the agriculture industry, there have been scores of blogs before mine bashing the motives of Chipotle and the misinformation they are spreading to the uninformed public. When I read that letter that was printed on the to-go bag above, I was angry, annoyed, and confused.. Why would a company that sells food to make a profit, bash those that produce it?

But to be totally honest with you, I was more frustrated by the way that my fellow agriculturalists handled the situation than with Chipotle itself. 

Bashing the company and more importantly fellow consumers who purchase it is not the way to make friends. Consumers buy food every single day. Consumers are agriculture's livelihood. We are given misinformation every single day about how our food is produced. Imagine reading this the bag pictured above and beginning to question the practices of agriculturalists. Afterwards, you go online just to find a blog from a farm family that makes you feel as though you are stupid for believing such an idiotic marketing campaign. 

And we wonder why agriculture gets a bad name?

By no means is anyone bashing the consumer on purpose. It is hard to keep cool when someone spreads straight up lies about your passion and livelihood. But simply telling people "you're wrong" on social media makes the problem worse. It makes it look like agriculture has something to hide.

So instead of getting on the defensive when things like this happen, let's move to offense. Have conversations with people, with real hard facts. Explain that organic products have an advantage in with biodiversity, but they often cause more soil erosion than conventional agriculture. Explain that dairy cows treated with rBST, a growth hormone that is already present in ALL cows, show no measurable difference to cows not treated with rBST. Talk about how you care about your animals, why certain animals are raised in the fashion that they are.

Let fellow consumers know where their food comes from, because it is important to everyone. Instead of only swearing off places like Chipotle or Panera Bread, explain to others why they should not support companies with such misguided goals and agendas.

If we begin to be our own advocates, instead of our own worst enemy, maybe someday we all can once again enjoy a beloved burrito bowl with a clear conscious.