The general public has become increasingly less connected to the farm and is exposed to significant negative publicity about agriculture. Current examples include a host of environmental and animal welfare issues, along with the debate over farm support programs. Evidence abounds about the public's lack of awareness of how their food and fiber are produced. Deeply complex agricultural topics - such as the importance and difficulty of farmland preservation, the relationship between farm prices and food prices, and the role of agricultural labor in producing the cheapest and safest food in the world - pose a challenge when educating non-farm audiences about agriculture's needs and problems, as well as its opportunities and positive contributions and successes. In order for agriculture to continue to secure the policy and funding support required to remain competitive, elected officials, government administrators and the general public need to be exposed to agriculture's views on these and many other issues.
Next Meeting - June 23, 2010
RURAL COMMUNITIES AND PUBLIC AWARENESS, Wednesday, June 23, 2:00 EDT, at the Hardin County Farm Bureau Office - 2915 Ring Road (Elizabethtown) - guest speaker, Laura Skillman from the UK Ag Communications department.