How to Respond to Those Who Seem to be Against Agriculture in Every Way

Recently there has been a post on TikTok (a video app all the kids like to use today!) by a young lady who calls herself an animal rights activist. In the video she is wearing a shirt from PETA (People For Ethical Treatment of Animals) that said "4-H and FFA Teach Kids to Kill Animals". She began to describe, wrongfully as most of us know, that members are assigned an animal to raise, show and then kill. If anyone who wasn't familiar with 4-H or FFA watched this they would think that both of these organizations exist for the sole purpose of teaching kids to kill animals. Obviously this isn't the first time that agriculture has been on the receiving end of some pretty hateful talk. In fact it's not just animal agriculture that gets all the negative talk, just about every aspect of agriculture has false claims associated with it. However, this is where we as producers and advocates need to step in!

The first thing that we need to do is realize that we can't change everyone's mind and beliefs. No matter if you state the best facts, have the best points, or pour your heart out in a testimony, their minds can't be changed. For some people, the only thing that can change their viewpoints is their own experiences. However, that does not mean that we should stop sharing our message and give the real facts! We have to understand that the large majority of people don't have any connection to agriculture whatsoever and it may be hard to know for certain what's true and what's not. When only one percent of the U.S population is involved in agriculture, we need to educate people on the true facts before they receive false information and also educate those giving out the wrong information!

There are two ways that we can do this with the first being having meaningful conversations either in person or on social media.Taking the time to have a conversation with someone even if it's a short one on any given day is enough to make them feel heard and valued! Whether it's a coworker, your best friend, a family member, or a stranger, keeping the conversation calm and civil is always a must! Responding to their strong feelings with your strong feelings does not solve anything and only makes things worse. Like I said before, some people may not be willing to have any conversation at all and it's best to just leave them be. In order to have a good conversation with someone who may not agree with you, I think that it's important to have some topics and responses to bring up when appropriate. Having one or two talking points shows that you know your stuff and can talk more about the subject. What if you can only have a short conversation? I once learned about a little trick called the elevator speech. The idea behind it is that you only have a minute maximum to have a conversation with a person and you want to say the three most meaningful things before that person gets off the elevator. This tool definitely comes in handy and I highly suggest trying it out! When you are talking to someone, it is just as important for you to LISTEN as it is to talk! You need to see the other person's point of view and why they believe what they do in order for them to be part of the conversation. If a conversation only had one person talking, then it would be a speech!

The second way is to use social media to our advantage! About 45% of the population uses social media and most of those people have little to no experience with agriculture or farming. For every four social media posts that shine a negative light on agriculture, there is only one post that educates the truth. When people who aren't involved in agriculture think about a farm, most of them probably think about a big red barn, a holstein cow, and Old MacDonald. Most people don't understand that agriculture provides us with many of the resources we need like food, shelter, clothing, fuel for our cars, and much more! The agriculture industry is huge and everyone has a unique place in it! Across the U.S, agriculture differentiates so much from raising oranges, cattle, strawberries, goats, potatoes, you name it! If consumers saw pictures and/or descriptions of how the food products they ate that day got to their table they'd be able to have a much better understanding on what farmers do and how important agriculture is. My point is that everyone has their own unique story to share and that if we all share that story with the world, we have incredible potential to shine a positive light on the agriculture industry!