“Do you all take pride in feeding the world?” she asked a group heavily populated by producers. “Do you do it in an honest way?” “Do you tell people about it?”
Her message was simple in some ways: Those who might oppose agriculture are having a conversation about agriculture via social media with tools such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
“Do you know that 98.9 percent of the people online are not on a farm?” she asked the audience. Michele’s advice and call to action: “Pick one tool (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, a blog) and spend 15 minutes a day talking about what you do on your farm… talking positively about agriculture.”
It seems like a reasonable request. And a good idea.
You can follow Michele on twitter @Mpaynknoper and USB sustainability tweets @ThinkingSoy. Visit Cause Matters Corp on Facebook too.
Very engaging and offered many useful tips. Easy enough to access and participate via smartphone.
I enjoyed, Michele's presentation as well. Every chance I get I share messages about agriculture with my friends and family. I want them to understand what I do for a living and how important it is.
She's right. Nearly all of what the public hears about farming is from off-farm "experts." It's time for the real experts to speak up — and I think the public is eager to hear it.
I am biased since I consider Michele a friend, but one has to look long and hard to find more passion. She has done quite an amazing job in creating an ag advocacy platform.
Michelle's right. We've had great results from social media outreach here at National Biodiesel Board.
Social media has become a very influential tool that can have a major impact on issues. Michele is right everybody in ag needs to particpate and engage on issues such as food v. fuel via social media.
I love your blog. So much useful information. Thank you very very much.