As anyone who knows me will tell you I have very strong opinions about the way forward for sustainable agriculture.
Today my post reflects on the importance of both talking and listening.
Sadly Australia is complacent about the challenges to food security. There is a lack of appreciation by society in general of the interdependence of environment, agriculture, food and health.
However if we are to progress and fuel the mushrooming food needs of the cities while meeting the community’s expectations for environmental sustainability and animal well being, then both rural and urban communities must have greater mutual empathy and respect.
This I believe is the real challenge facing farmers in the immediate future – how do we fix it?
As I see it we can do one of two things
We (farmers) can sit back and lament that we are victims or we can actively acknowledge that farmers are business people selling a product and successful businesses recognise marketing is the strategic part of doing business.
Marketing doesn’t mean every farmer needs to write a blog, join Twitter or Facebook it simply means being customer focused. This means you have to understand your customer and their values and your business has to BE the image you want your customer to see.
Every sector of the food system whether that be farmers, manufactures, branded food companies, supermarkets or restaurants is under ever increasing pressure to demonstrate they are operating in a way that is consistent with stakeholder values and expectations. Farmers cannot expect to be exempted from this scrutiny just because we grow the food.
Businesses are built on relationships. This means we (farmers) have to get out there in our communities and start having two way conversations with our customers
Excitingly I know that once farmers embrace the concept they will discover like me that it can be very rewarding talking to your customers. They are interested and they do care.
There are so many ways farmers can share their stories. This one is very quirky and I just love it. Check it out you will too
