The Managing Director of Canadian Food Focus says it's important for all segments of agriculture to work together to help dispel the increasing amount of misinformation circulating through social media about food. Canadian Food Focus, located at canadianfoodfocus.org, is a national not for profit organization committed to providing consumer education and delivering science-based information to help Canadians understand where their food comes from and how it's grown and raised.
Dorothy Long, the Managing Director of Canadian Food Focus, says the site leads with food and not necessarily with farming because, when consumers are thinking about agriculture, they're really thinking about their food.
Quote- Dorothy Long-Canadian Food Focus:
The level of online misinformation about food and farming, especially around topics of nutrition, sustainability, animal care has really exploded on line and continues to grow and grow. If agriculture is not present on those platforms and not showing up with practical relatable content then somebody else is going to fill that gap.
I would say from a farmer's perspective there's a lot on the line.Public trust affects policy; it affects markets and ultimately their license to farm.So, we really felt that we needed that sustained ongoing credible voice that lives where consumers can find the information that is relatable to them. I think there's lots of commodity groups and companies doing good work in this area but consumers don't necessarily experience the food system in a silo so that's where Canadian Food Focus lets the sector come together and speak with a more unified voice about the whole food system, about the whole plate and not just one ingredient or issue.
Long notes all of the site's content is science based, it's developed and reviewed by subject matter experts and it’s presented in plain consumer friendly language.
Source : Farmscape.ca