So If Feeding The World Isn't Good Enough, What Do You Want Us To Say?

Our country is in a crisis. 

And I'm not talking about the government wanting to shut down (that's a rant for another day) and various other problems. 

The crisis I am talking about is we are not only seeing a disconnect between farmers and consumers, but a disconnect between people in general. It seems that people no longer care about their fellow man. Not only have we seen a massive cut to the SNAP program at a time when people need assistance more than ever, but a recent story on NPR really caught my attention.

According to a recent survey by the Center for Food Integrity, only 13% of Americans strongly agreed that the US has a responsibility to feed the world. 

I'm sure you have seen infographics similar to this. To those in Agriculture, this is the ultimate fact. It shows that we have improved our practices and technology to the extent that each farmer is now helping more people than ever before. 

Here's another fact for you...and the fact I'm not showing you is that as the world's population increases, more arable land is being worked up for farmland. That includes the destruction of the rainforest and other important ecological systems (which nobody wants to see disappear). So is it really such a bad thing that American farmers are so efficient?

According to American consumers it is. They don't want us to feed the world because they see it as industrial farming. And I will agree that corn is not a good source of nutrients for humans, but exported soybean meal being fed to pigs allows people to buy affordable sources of protein. 

Agriculture has heard that people want to see that the land is being cared for, the animals are being cared for, and for farmers to show that they are being responsible caretakers. There are many farmers out there trying to show this in every way possible, just check out the list of blogs I have (which is only a drop in the bucket) to see for yourself. 

Does the American public want farming to revert to the way things used to be done? In every other industry there is always progression...so why should Agriculture regress? 

If the public doesn't want to hear that American farmers are feeding the world, then what slogan would you like to hear?? "Caring for our land, animals, and communities since the beginning of time!" How bout that? Let me know what you would like to hear from Agriculture!!