Farmers are losing control of their industry.
The Humane Society of the United States now controls key
animal-welfare issues, and not through legislation, but by bullying retailers.
Tim Horton’s is only the most recent example of a growing list of companies
that are promising to buy only pork from farmers whose sows are not housed in
gestation crates and eggs from farmers who switch from cages to “enhanced”
housing.
The Friends of the Greenbelt control land use in a huge
swath of the province stretching from east of Toronto to Niagara Falls. The
greenbelt is, moreover, likely to expand.
Those who fear pesticides are driving the agenda on where
they may not be used and who may not use them, even on their own properties.
Scientists and pesticide manufacturers used to drive the agenda on pesticides,
usually for the benefit of farmers so they could grow crops with less effort
and expense and of better qualify. Both the scientists and manufacturers have been
effectively marginalized by fearful urbanites who defiantly ignore science and
reason.
Urbanites are driving the movement to buy local, aided by
tax-funded public health units. They are also opposed to “factory farming”,
export market development and free trade. Rational arguments will not persuade
these people.
Farmers are at particular risk in Ontario because the ruling
Liberals were virtually wiped out in rural ridings. Their elected members must
appease urbanites to retain their seats. They gain nothing by wooing farmers.
So what are farmers to do?
They need to rethink all of their policies and tactics,
shaping them to influence urbanites. This will be difficult because it’s so new
and so different from traditional approaches. Yet the rewards are great because
satisfied people will be friends and allies and loyal customers.
Farmers will want to stand firm on some issues, but their
tactics to defend continuation of those practices and policies need to rest not
only on science and reason, but also on emotional appeal.
Emotional appeal is far more powerful than science and
reason. The tactics need to be aimed at developing trust in farmers’ honesty,
integrity, fairness and friendliness. There is no room for cheating, for greed,
for causing any harm to anyone or any animal or bird.
Farmers will need to
become good and skillful listeners, waiting patiently to hear concerns that the
public raises and then thinking hard about how farm practices and policies can
be aligned with those concerns.
So what are some of those concerns? Well, I think people
want their food to be safe and nutritious. They want poultry and livestock to
be safe and content – free from harm. They want to know that farmers care, that
they have not sacrificed traditional values on the altars of corporate growth
and greed.
That may be difficult, but it’s all worthwhile. One
brilliant approach to getting there from here is to embrace value-chain
management as outlined in detail by Martin Gooch and his team at the George
Morris Centre.
Of course, farmers could ignore all of this, stick with
business as usual. And continue to lose control.
