Comments on: A Disturbing Peek Behind the Curtain of Ag Criticism http://corncommentary.com/2009/09/28/a-distrubing-peek-behind-the-curtain-of-ag-criticism/ The blog about U.S. corn, corn products, and the family farmers behind it all. Sat, 19 May 2012 01:03:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Mike Smith http://corncommentary.com/2009/09/28/a-distrubing-peek-behind-the-curtain-of-ag-criticism/comment-page-1/#comment-2992 Mike Smith Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:16:28 +0000 http://corncommentary.com/?p=2507#comment-2992 Susan: > "Part of our problem might be that the criticism of agriculture fills a void that our industry has left; we have not gotten our story out there. Reminds me of the Alar apple scare." Agreed. Alar is the perfect analogy. "Industrial agriculture" got beat (and apple farmers suffered, big and small), not because it didn't get the message out, but because it got the wrong message out. Agriculture was talking science, economics and medicine, while the attackers were talking ethics, philosophy, "deep ecology." My point is the same is happening today. We are busy talking about how scientifically adept we are, while those opposing the system of modern agriculture are talking about how unjust that system is. We are not speaking the same language. Susan:
> “Part of our problem might be that the criticism of agriculture fills a void that our industry has left; we have not gotten our story out there. Reminds me of the Alar apple scare.”

Agreed. Alar is the perfect analogy. “Industrial agriculture” got beat (and apple farmers suffered, big and small), not because it didn’t get the message out, but because it got the wrong message out. Agriculture was talking science, economics and medicine, while the attackers were talking ethics, philosophy, “deep ecology.”
My point is the same is happening today. We are busy talking about how scientifically adept we are, while those opposing the system of modern agriculture are talking about how unjust that system is. We are not speaking the same language.

]]> By: Susan Winsor http://corncommentary.com/2009/09/28/a-distrubing-peek-behind-the-curtain-of-ag-criticism/comment-page-1/#comment-2974 Susan Winsor Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:01:01 +0000 http://corncommentary.com/?p=2507#comment-2974 I'm curious where you get the impression that "They hate you because you trust science, because you are largely white and male, because they think you are messing with their kids, and because you are perceived to be the next generation of global imperialists who use food as a bargaining chip." I'm not sure it's that simple or black and white. Your blog would be more credible if you cite some examples of the points you're making--quote some of these critics etc. I would argue that many food critics level their criticisms at "our industrial food supply," ie., food and chemical companies and the system in general rather than at farmers per se. I feel that farmers enjoy a pretty healthy image or no image at all in the public mind, due to them being out of sight to most consumers. I have a relative that thinks that seed company signs at test plots are signs of genetic engineering, not simply IDs for various hybrids. Part of our problem might be that the criticism of agriculture fills a void that our industry has left; we have not gotten our story out there. Reminds me of the Alar apple scare. "Mendel in the Kitchen" is a wonderful pro-ag book that doesn't seem to get much play in the popular media relative to Michael Pollan et al. I wonder if ag shouldn't step forward and make the next volley-write letters to the editor of the NYT, schedule debates with Barbara Kingsolver and MIchael Pollan. I’m curious where you get the impression that “They hate you because you trust science, because you are largely white and male, because they think you are messing with their kids, and because you are perceived to be the next generation of global imperialists who use food as a bargaining chip.” I’m not sure it’s that simple or black and white. Your blog would be more credible if you cite some examples of the points you’re making–quote some of these critics etc.

I would argue that many food critics level their criticisms at “our industrial food supply,” ie., food and chemical companies and the system in general rather than at farmers per se. I feel that farmers enjoy a pretty healthy image or no image at all in the public mind, due to them being out of sight to most consumers. I have a relative that thinks that seed company signs at test plots are signs of genetic engineering, not simply IDs for various hybrids. Part of our problem might be that the criticism of agriculture fills a void that our industry has left; we have not gotten our story out there. Reminds me of the Alar apple scare.

“Mendel in the Kitchen” is a wonderful pro-ag book that doesn’t seem to get much play in the popular media relative to Michael Pollan et al. I wonder if ag shouldn’t step forward and make the next volley-write letters to the editor of the NYT, schedule debates with Barbara Kingsolver and MIchael Pollan.

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