Throughout the 1990s, two issues weighed more heavily on the minds of Canadians than any other: the economy and unemployment.
That all changed near the beginning of the new millennium.
Suddenly, people were preoccupied with social services, health, education and the environment, said Allan Gregg, founder of Decima Research, one of the leading pollsters in the country.
While fewer Canadians are facing the economic future with dread, more people in the post 9-11 world are paying closer attention to family life and other esoteric issues.
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They are worrying about the war on terror, greenhouse gases and trans fatty acids.
“What we’re detecting here is something tantamount to joyless prosperity,” said Gregg.
That trend represents both a threat and an opportunity to the agricultural community when it comes to new hot button topics such as the environment and nutrition, he told delegates attending the annual meetings of Saskatchewan Agrivision Corp. and the Saskatchewan Ethanol Development Council.
Gregg is stunned that environmental concerns have come out of nowhere to become the most pressing topic of the day, according to a January 2007 poll.
In large part, he attributes it to popular culture.
The third highest-grossing documentary ever made is former U.S. presidential candidate Al Gore’s climate change film, An Inconvenient Truth.
Agriculture needs to recognize the Canadian public is in the process of making up its mind about what to do about this nagging environment issue.
“If I’ve got one message for you, it’s that you’ve got to get into that debate and pre-empt those who might otherwise say you’re the bad guys,” said Gregg.
Farmers should position themselves both as victims of climate change and as part of the solution.
Obvious areas to emphasize are beneficial production practices and the move to grain based biofuel. The public overwhelmingly supports governments forcing consumers to switch to alternative fuels.
The Canadian population ranks alternative fuel use next to setting higher fuel efficiency standards as measures they are willing to undertake to improve the environment.
“This augurs incredibly well for ethanol,” Gregg told delegates attending the convention.
Farm groups and agribusiness leaders attending the conference accepted the pollster’s advice.
“We have to tell that story. I think he’s right,” said John Cross, vice-president of Saskatchewan Agrivision.
He said agriculture has done a poor job of informing the public about the positive steps it is taking, such as the moves to no-till farming and nitrogen-fixing pulse crops.
Ken McBride, president of Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, was struck by Gregg’s comment that agriculture is responsible for 30 percent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re 30 percent of the problem and 70 percent of the fix if we get involved,” he said.
And the way to get producers involved is by offering them value-added incentives for undertaking environmentally beneficial projects.
Jim Mann, president of Farmers of North America, said government regulators also need to do their part to make environmental solutions more of a financial opportunity for growers.
“No matter how good a solution you have, you still have to get through those gatekeepers in policy development,” he said.
