the center for public issues education in agriculture and natural resources 2011 uf/ifas regional...
TRANSCRIPT
The Center for Public Issues Educationin Agriculture and Natural Resources
2011 UF/IFAS Regional Advisory Council
Origins of the PIE Center• 2005 - AEC Department received Ag Awareness Grant
– Goals included:• Examine current awareness efforts• Lay Groundwork for long-term awareness effort
• We learned…– Several groups (statewide and nationwide) have Ag
Awareness Programming– Few are well coordinated and sustained on a long-
term basis– Despite efforts, we are losing ground in creating a
more agriculturally informed society
What Others are Saying…• When asked what are the most important agriculture and
natural resources issues affecting Floridians, stakeholders have consistently indicated that, regardless of the specific context, the most important priorities that need to be addressed in order to achieve successful resolution of these issues are:
– Lack of knowledge of agriculture, our natural resources and the connections between the two;
– Lack of civic engagement due to complexity of systems within the agriculture and natural resource sectors.
Bridging the Green Divide…• Need to equip ANR organizations to
educate, communicate, and lead more effectively in order to span the divide between industry and Florida citizens.
• There is often a divide between consumer perceptions of ANR practices and the reality of those practices.
Amendment 4 Public Perception ResearchFlorida Farm Bureau Federation
Benefits and Barriers of Membership in FCAFlorida Cattlemen’s Association
Consumer Perceptions of Agriculture Images, Issues and Phrases Ag Institute of Florida
Organizational Strategic Planning FNGLA and FSCF
Consumer/opinion leader trend panels IFAS, WLI
FCA Magazine Readership Survey Florida Cattlemen’s Association
Communications Campaign Planning and Group FacilitationFlorida Farm Bureau Federation
Social Media ResearchHeartland Ag Coalition
Fertilizer/Red Tide Issues Management Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Past and Current Research Projects:
• Using the PIE Center– Collaborated with Ag Institute of Florida on a qualitative study– Goal of research was to understand how members of general public
perceive words, messages and images used to communicate and inform audiences about agriculture
– Held 4 focus groups in two areas (Orlando & Sarasota)– Total participants – 36– About 7 to 8 participants in each group
18 females, 18 males Ages ranged from 18-80
– Random number selected (random phone numbers in certain zip codes)
Florida Consumers’ Perceptions of Agricultural Words, Phrases and Images
Focus Group in Action
Activity:What do you think of when you look at the differences in these two photos?
Proper health and living conditions
California, Montana, or Iowa
Positive associations
Not receiving proper care
Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida, or desert
Uncertainty
Focus Group Results
Words
Farmer
Stewardship
Green IndustryFood Safety
Locally Grown
Family Owned
Organic
Sustainable Agriculture
Animal Rights
Animal WelfareFarm Worker
“Farmer” and “Farm Worker”• Farmer = Positive & Farm Owner
• Farm Worker = Migrant Worker or Someone who works on a farm
• Farm Worker = Negative (migrant workers)
“When you sort of attach illegal migratory words to farm worker then you get negativity, but not when you see the word.”
“Animal welfare” and “Animal rights”• Both words = indecisiveness, unsure
meaning, questionable positive/negative nature
• Animal abuse and identification of organizations
• Personal stories
“Family owned,” “Locally grown,” and “Food Safety”
• Family owned = favorable
• Locally grown = positive and not from “somewhere else”
• Food safety = distrust, rules and regulations
“Food safety is a misleading term because of large corporations who have powerful lobbies. Even if the meat you’re purchasing has grade A on it , it’s meaningless.”
“Food safety is crap.”
“Green industry,” “Sustainable agriculture,” and “Organic”
• Green industry = marketing word, not agriculture
• Sustainable agriculture = confusion, negative with corporate farms, agricultural practices
• Organic = skepticism“When I see organic, it’s being used everywhere, in a week or so there will be organic coca cola. Who is monitoring these crops to make sure they are really organic? That’s what comes to my mind.”
Stewardship• In a related study in which the PIE
Center partnered with Florida Farm Bureau, the word “stewardship” was tested.
• It was discovered that none of the participants in the focus groups had never heard of stewardship as being related to the agriculture industry.
Messages and Phrases
“Best Management Practices”• Failure• Distrust
“I’m really biased about best management practices. I guess I’ve been around them so long that I’ve come to distrust them. If it comes from that high up in the tower, it probably doesn’t work.”
“Farmers were the first environmentalists”
• “Farmers were the first environmentalists” = they were not–Many respondents remarked that Native
Americans were the first environmentalists
• 2011 Legislative Budget Request (LBR)– LBR partners are PIE Center and Center for Landscape
Conservation and Ecology (CLCE)– Entitled “Florida’s Green Jobs, Sound Science and
Policy” in order to place focus on jobs/economic value of the green industry
– Need to equip the green industry to educate, communicate, and lead more effectively in order to span the divide between industry and Florida citizens.
– There is often a divide between consumer perceptions of ANR practices and the reality of those practices.
Future of the PIE Center
INSERT SCREEN SHOT OF BRIDGING THE GREEN DIVIDE –PREFERABLY PAGE THAT HAS TALK TO TALLAHASSEE BUTTON ON IT
• We will unify ANR sectors around a process that provides a comprehensive, research-based, collaborative, and sustained effort in creating greater public and policy maker understanding of agriculture and natural resources, ensuring a sustainable Florida in the decades ahead.
If We Are Successful…
