About Activists…

In recent times, Animal and GM activists have targeted agriculture trying to portray them as cruel, immoral and/or greed driven people. Recent claims by PETA and Aussiefarms have been quite aggressive, but are often hopelessly inaccurate when subjected to detailed examination.

So how are we as to view this? Well, it is just my opinion but there are a few items we need to recognise at the start of any such conversation:

1. Agriculture is about producing food in the most sustainable and ethical way possible. Animals are specifically bred (and have been for thousands of years) to provide us with meat and/or fibre. Without that purpose, they would not exist. We do the same with plants. They are bred for a purpose. Animals and vegetables both die with the sole purpose of providing your family and mine with a balanced variety of food to eat and clothes to wear.

2. Farmers are most successful in producing food and fibre when the animals and plants grow stress free, healthy, provisioned lives. Just like us, if you are not healthy and happy, you don’t thrive. The same applies on the farm. So successful farmers are those who spend their working life trying to ensure that their animals and plants are well cared for. If they don’t do that they go out of business. And most farmers care deeply about their animals and plants. Most farmers also care about people and take pleasure in knowing we are helping provide food to those who need it.

3. In any sector of society, there will be those who do not live up to society’s or industry’s expectations of them. And that equally applies to activists and farmers. There are a few activists and farmers who believe they are justified in doing anything. This sad fact applies to any sector of society. And thats why we have laws. So, if you know of someone who has broken the law, contact the police. It is that simple.

or is it?

The older I get, the more I realise that there are a lot of people who have (to me anyway) the oddest ideas. The problem, is that given a video camera and a computer to edit the images taken, I can prove to you that Elvis is alive. Or perhaps show you the moon landings were faked. What ever….

However, nowadays I can put that footage on a website and with the clever use of social media make any proposition, a talking point. All we really need, is for the claims to be controversial and the footage to be graphic (and anonymous – of course because it can’t be verified).

And then we have the media. In an environment where income for media is increasingly under pressure, it is much easier and cheaper to see what is trending on Twitter or Facebook and report it instead of investigating it properly. And then we, the media consumers, take everything we read as fact. We get outraged and express that opinion on social media thereby increasing the feeding frenzy. The cycle goes around and around – in the end achieving nothing, but leaving everyone exhausted!

And a major issue with all this is that there is no requirement for it to be factual – this is trial by media, not by law. And it works well because most people in cities have lost touch with the country. If a horror story is told well enough, factual or not, it will be believed by many.

So what can we as farmers do about it? I suggest that you be proactive. Aim for best practice on your farm. If you are a food or fibre producer, take your own video and put it on the internet explaining how, why and what you do. Show people how you care for animals or crops. Offer to take people on farm tours. Combat generalised accusations about our lack of integrity and ethics as farmers with factual examples of what we do and how well we do it. Be transparent.

Everytime I meet farmers, I am amazed at their knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for the animals or plants in their care. Just share that.

Cheers.

Neilk