QUESTIONS BEING ASKED ABOUT USFRA

USFRA has many skeptics who have tough questions about farming and ranching in America.  Below are some of the most common questions we get about our organization, our funding and our intentions.

Where does your funding come from?

Currently, about 75 percent of our funding is coming from farmers and ranchers and 25 percent is coming from industry partners.

USFRA welcomes support from agricultural organizations of all shapes and sizes – no matter how big or small – as well as individuals to join the effort to lead a two-way dialogue with Americans about their food.  We are a coalition of more than 50 national, regional and state agriculture groups and our partners, including agribusiness companies.

How much money are you spending?

Our current budget, dedicated to identifying and answering questions that Americans have about how our food is grown and raised, is less than $11 million.  Over time, we expect our program budget to grow.

What questions are off limits for USFRA?

The USFRA leadership board came to a consensus that we are focused on listening to and answering Americans’ questions about how food is grown and raised – in general. We are giving our individual affiliates the opportunity to address any issue that may specifically concern their particular commodity. For example, if there is an issue surrounding beef, we will defer to the experts at our affiliate, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.  Since we are not a policy-making organization and we do not lobby, we will avoid internal debate and external positioning on any farm policy, including the 2012 Farm Bill.  And, we are leaving biofuels issues to our affiliates who are directly affected by that topic. 

Aren’t you just a cover for agribusiness interests?

USFRA’s goal is to listen to and answer Americans’ questions about food production and to give farmers and ranchers of all shapes, sizes and operations an opportunity to raise their voices.  USFRA is a farmer- and rancher-led coalition that was founded by and directed by farmers and ranchers.   Some agribusiness companies are at the table as our partners – and we hope others, such as organic organizations and NGOs, will be too.

Do you really represent small farmers?  Aren’t you just promoting big business interests?

USFRA affiliates represent all types of farmers and ranchers, and all types of farming and ranching. It’s not exclusive to large or small; organic, natural or conventional; free range, cage free or confinement. It’s a broad organization with room for many voices all aligned in an effort to better inform consumers about their food choices. We invite all farmers and ranchers to unite in this effort, no matter how they choose to raise or grow our food.

This is just one big marketing campaign to make Big Ag look good, right?

Our research shows that most of today’s consumers have little to no information about where their food comes from.  This represents a huge disconnect.  We think this is a critical issue in our society that goes beyond a simple marketing or image campaign. 

We realize that farmers and ranchers haven’t always done the best job answering Americans’ questions. Consumers rightfully want to know that we are treating animals well, maintaining food quality and safety, and doing our jobs in ways that don’t harm the environment.  USFRA is leading a conversation that will answer Americans’ questions about how their food is grown and raised. All farmers and ranchers are invited to join USFRA in leading this conversation. And, we invite all interested parties, including those individuals and groups who don’t always agree with us, to join this conversation and ask questions because we can all learn from each other.

Who isn’t invited to this dialogue?              

Everyone who cares about how our food is grown and raised is invited to the table.  The only people with whom we won’t engage are individuals or organizations that don’t believe in the right and need for all forms of today’s agriculture to exist, or our affiliates’ right to exist.

This doesn’t mean we’ll always agree with everyone, but we think a constructive conversation is the place to start finding common ground and solutions for providing healthy food choices for people everywhere.

Will you fight back against all of the attacks made against agriculture? If so, how?

We want to turn the current culture wars on the good food/bad food debate into a constructive dialogue. This movement will help farmers and ranchers lead a dialogue in America about how our food is grown or raised. The purpose of USFRA is to give farmers and ranchers a chance to proactively address issues and lead, not just react, to misinformation, attacks and confusion. We hope to invite many parties to the conversation, to listen and to focus on solutions.

We will take actions to correct misinformation and rumors. But most of our communications will be about facilitating positive discussions about the future of food.

Will you correct false information about farmers and ranchers with Americans?

Yes, when appropriate. But most of our communications will be about leading a discussion on the future of food.

When will the campaign start and end? What kind of public activities will be launched and when?

We expect the public movement to launch in early fall 2011. It will be an ongoing, long-term effort. Watch for developments and visit the website for more updates.

Is this campaign in response to a particular issue or crisis?

This is the beginning of a long-term movement about doing the right things to fix the growing distrust of today’s agriculture. We want to answer Americans’ many questions about how their food is grown or raised – and listen to their concerns. These questions span many topics.

This movement is about giving farmers and ranchers a voice in the huge amount of discussion and chatter about our food.

What type of results do you expect from this campaign?

This movement will create a more balanced discussion about agriculture issues – giving farmers and ranchers a chance to raise our voices.

Our success will be measured by:

• Increasing share of voice in key media (national and state, traditional and social).
• Increasing the number of policymakers and government officials (at all levels) who accept the value of modern agriculture production.
• Engaging key customer decision-makers in the dialogue about the value of modern food production.
• Working with leading national influencer organizations (medical, cultural, dietary, environmental, etc.) to create partnerships in support of today’s agriculture.
• Increasing the role of farmers and ranchers as the voice of animal and crop agriculture on local, state and national food issues.

When Did Agriculture Become A Dirty Word?

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