All Involved in Agriculture Have Roles to Play in Building Consumer Trust

The Executive Director of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan suggests by getting the message of agriculture out to consumers farmers and the organizations that represent them are helping strengthen public trust in our food system."Trust in Our Food System is Imperative: What Can We Do?" is the focus of an article circulated through Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan's June eNewsletter.Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan Executive Director Clinton Monchuk suggests everyone in agriculture has a role to play in building trust.

Quote-Clinton Monchuk-Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan:

We have really four different organizations that are trying to do this work in different aspects.If I look at the national side of things, the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity provides a lot about the market intelligence of what consumers are thinking, what they're saying, does in-depth dives on how we can better communicate with them, which then relates to the organization of Canadian Food Focus.

That really is a great online initiative that started here in Saskatchewan, Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan, to tell consumers about these things, these great stories, tell about farmers, how they grow everything from strawberries to ranch cattle and have that discussion with Canadians online.You kind of get a little bit more fine-tuned when you get into the farm and food cares that pair up the agriculture industry and consumer and then to a younger level with agriculture in the classroom.

All of these organizations work together and coordinate their messaging to make sure that we're using the industry dollars to the best benefit but second of all, focusing on our target audiences and doing what we're supposed to do to build that trust with these different audiences.It really is working in terms of getting the message of farming and ranching and just the general message of agriculture out to consumers.

Monchuk says, when it comes to building the public's trust and understanding, it's about telling the truth and being transparent about what farmers do and why.The article can be found at farmfoodcaresk.org.