By Katie Pratt

“You do know corn is evil, right?” said the food blogger sitting across from me. He leaned in and searched for an answer. “You understand that, right?”

I honestly don’t remember my answer, but am as dumbfounded today as I was six years ago when this confrontation occurred. A small group of farmers from across the country had gathered in Chicago to learn how to “tell the farm story.” We put our new skills to the test at a breakfast with food bloggers. That breakfast was just the first drumbeat of this greater movement connecting farmers and non-farmers.

A year later, I was named to the first class of the “Faces of Farming and Ranching” for U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, along with Chris Chinn, Missouri; Wil Gilmer, Arkansas; and Bo Stone, North Carolina. USFRA was new on the scene. It was the first attempt at uniting all of agriculture — crop, livestock, big, small, organic, conventional, urban, rural — under one baton with one focused mission: putting a voice and a face on American agriculture.

We were in front of a lot of people. From grocery store owners and food manufacturers to nutritionists and dietitians, we traveled and talked and listened. We were on TV, radio and social media. We addressed GMOs, antibiotics, hormones, trade, conservation, pesticides … and were often the only farm/ranch voice in the din of food fear bombarding the everyday consumer.

Back to one on one
The food-and-farm discussion has certainly evolved in five years. What started as a repetitive rhythm of “ask a farmer” now includes “ask a scientist, nutritionist, dietitian, food company, commodity group or agribusiness.” Sharing the real story about our food has truly become a symphony of diverse voices.

While USFRA continues to name “Faces of Farming and Ranching” — now on its third class of ambassadors — the entire agriculture community has stepped on the stage. Social media has certainly fueled the stream of information we deliver and receive. But even how we deliver our message has changed. In the early days, everyone was encouraged to start a blog and be everywhere online, all the time. Now, workshops about hosting “banquets in the field” or “harvest dinners” dot winter farm meetings. Certainly online engagement is important, but we’ve circled back to connecting one on one, face to face.

Our audience has changed, too. We have all learned more about food, about how we raise it, process it, consume it. The conversations about health have become more nuanced. In some respects, we have grown smarter … in some respects. We have learned to tailor our message and directly answer questions asked by people who genuinely want to hear the answer.

What hasn’t changed in five years is what truly makes a pleasant melody: the food and the people with whom we break bread. Trust is a hard-won battle but worth every effort to win. We must continue to listen and learn from each other; share and respect our individual experiences. People will never stop talking about food. Therefore, farmers should never stop talking about farms and ranchers should never stop talking about ranches and scientists should never stop talking about science and … the beat goes on.

Pratt farms with her husband near Dixon, Ill. She blogs at theillinoisfarmgirl.com and is the Lee County Ag in the Classroom ag literacy coordinator.