KELOWNA, B.C. – Canada’s agriculture industry gets top marks for producing healthy nutritious food but a failing grade when it comes to cultivating positive public relations with consumers.
Bruce Anderson, a senior executive with Harris/Decima, one of Canada’s leading public opinion and market research firms, says Canadian farmers and agricultural stakeholders need to do a better job of communicating with their customers, many of whom are inclined to view mainstream agriculture in a negative light.
Concerns about factory farming, chemical residues, the environmental implications of genetically modified crops and the use of antibiotics and growth hormones in livestock production have left many consumers with a negative perception of agriculture, Anderson told delegates at the Canadian Seed Trade Association’s annual meeting in Kelowna July 6-10.
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The farming industry as a whole has done little to counteract that perception, he added.
“To the extent that what you do improves health and nutrition, it needs to increasingly be characterized that way,” Anderson said.
“People need to understand that the products that you produce and trade in … are things that help them to avoid heart disease, avoid cancer, avoid diabetes, live longer and live more (healthy lives).”
Anderson said Canadian consumers are increasingly concerned with making positive choices at the supermarket. They are seeking natural products that are not only healthy and nutritious but are also produced ethically using environmentally sound production systems.
Growth in the organic food industry illustrates Canadian consumers’ propensity to spend more on products that are perceived to be more healthy and more environmentally friendly.
Anderson said the North American food industry has adopted a new lexicon that focuses on key words such as healthy, natural, organic, free range, whole grain, locally grown and hormone free.
Large food processing companies and stakeholders in the organic food industry have successfully incorporated these words into their marketing strategies, while stakeholders in conventional agriculture have not.
To improve the image of mainstream agriculture, farmers and producer groups should emphasize the positive implications of the products that they grow, highlighting concepts such as innovation, research, environmental solutions and nutritional breakthroughs.
“There’s no question in my mind that impacts of agriculture on the environment will continue to draw attention for the foreseeable future,” he said.
“But when I look at how the industry and how the players in the industry describe themselves on environmental issues, the emphasis is on how we try to minimize harm instead of how we try to fashion environmental solutions.”
