Perception is reality

December, 2012
by Chris Holcomb, RSA & Ext Agent 1, Dairy/4-H, UF/IFAS Polk County Extension

I have often been a believer in the phrase Truth is what people perceive and not necessarily fact. To many people this is a way of life. With so much conflicting information available to people, it is often hard for them to tell what is fact and what is fiction. Under these circumstances, it is hard to blame them for their beliefs, or “misbeliefs.” This is a huge hurdle for many of us in the agricultural industry, whether it be in the beef, dairy, swine, horticulture, or any other field. I believe that we must get to know some of these detractors and try to understand what they are saying in order to be prepared with facts of our own to counter any false claims. There are two main types of groups that I try to keep an eye on. One of them being the extreme activist groups and the other being those within our own industry that often attack us from within.

The extreme groups are pretty well known and because of their sometimes over the top tactics, may lose some of their credibility with the average consumer. Many of us know who PETA and HSUS are, and probably some of what they stand for and believe. These are the ones that I consider extremists. Their followers however seem to believe about everything that they say and are hard to convince of anything else. While I do not feel that they should be ignored, I feel that it is important to try and educate the ones who are considering joining their ranks and more on the fringe. There are however many other groups that work under the radar and produce a multitude of inaccurate works, publications, and misinformation.

The beef industry has done a relatively good job in preventing those inside their own industry from becoming a large part of the problem, but in the dairy industry we have not fared quite so well. The organic producers are constantly attacking conventionally produced milk and in doing so, negatively affect public perception of milk in general. There are also many groups producing raw milk that are now attacking regular milk. Groups such as Realmilk.com and others are attacking conventionally produced, pasteurized, and homogenized milk as being unhealthy and cruel to animals. These are often some of the easiest groups to overlook but can have some of the most negative influence on consumers. If you look at milk consumption over the past two decades, you will notice that per capita consumption of milk is declining but that organic and specialty sectors are increasing or remaining the same. Conventional milk sales have dropped by much more than the gains taken by organics. I am not against organic products, but such producers should not attack their own products, that are in a different form.

I would suggest that you investigate the many groups TARGETING your industry and moreover your livelihood. As Mario Puzo wrote in The Godfather Part II, “Keep Your Friends Close but Your Enemies Closer”, it is important for us to keep tabs on our detractors and help to make available information containing correct and accurate facts that are science based and available to consumers. For fun, look up who said this and see the multitude of different answers and discussions that you get and decide for yourself who said it. We must make every effort to promote our industries and livelihoods in everything that we do, whether it be at a show, a livestock market, or the grocery store. We are being watched with everything that we do.

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