PHOENIX, Ariz. — Farmers and industry must take up the work of convincing the general public about the safety and sustainability of food production.
“There is nothing more sustainable than a seventh generation (American) farmer,” said Jim Blome, president of Bayer Crop Science.
“They aren’t going to leave a mess for their kids.”
He said there are misconceptions about what is happening in agriculture and larger scale agriculture is thought of as abusive to land and animals.
“We believe that connection is the key,” he told the Ag Issues Forum, which Bayer sponsors.
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“Farmers are the villains in climate change and obesity,” he said.
“The same people who want the latest iPhone would have their food produced with a team of mules.”
Blome said it is up to farmers to engage with consumers, food writers and government.
Frank Sensno of George Washington University, who is a former CNN Washington bureau anchor, said he is witnessing a trend toward public acceptance of misinformation about food, which he feels is because of the disconnection between farmers and consumers.
“People are getting further and further from the farm,” he said.
Blome said the average U.S. farmer feeds 155 people, compared to 26 in 1965.
That is a reflection of the positive changes in food production efficiency, he added, but has also added to the disconnection between food producer and consumer.
“The public has lost touch with their food and the reality of where it comes from,” he said.
“There is a need for information out there.”
He said farmers should be finding time to speak to speak in schools and at local pubic meetings, wherever they can reach a few neighbours.
He also believes in agvocacy, the term being used for advocating for agriculture.
“Everything is registered, the science is real and the science is re-newed,” he said.
“We don’t leave things in the marketplace when better (pesticides) come along.”
Mae Carol Jemison, a former astronaut and spokesperson for Bayer’s Making Science Make Sense programming in the United States, said people, including students, need to hear from those who participate in food production.
“We need to reach students directly,” she said.
“It needs to be hands on.”
“The Asset Stem science, technology, engineering and math program in Pennsylvania provided students with a kit from the National Science Foundation and teachers were taught to use them and they could build on that and it was scalable. That worked,” she said.
Farmers need to take part in the process, she added.
