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Has it all become too complex?

Have we lost so much manufacturing capacity that we will need 10%, 20%, 30% rules ad infinitum to provide Australian consumers with the knowledge that the key nutritional ingredient is produced by Aussie farmers and it doesn’t go overseas and back in some form or other in order to be sold in this country?

Let’s take a look at some of the complexities as I understand them (and apparently there a buckets and buckets of them)

1. The 5% rule – where ingredients do not have to be declare if they make up less than 5% of the product…..problem for country of origin and for those avoiding certain foods
2.  Take a look at some prominent milk manufactures skim milk which is Skim milk + Skim milk powder. Apparently that’s to make it look whiter amongst other things. There is nothing wrong with skim milk powder. It is wonderful stuff to drink when you want skim milk and don’t have access to fresh milk and add to other food stuffs but should the liquid skim milk in our supermarkets be labelled ‘fresh’
3.  Another dairy example. This time the 10% rule apparently Australia exports salt from SA to NZ to be processed for cheddar salt it is then returned to Australia for cheddar production – and cheddar is at least 10% of this salt – and the proposed changes would exclude Australian cheddar being labelled as such…ie the “imported” salt would be reclassified to represent imported. Please dont tell me we can’t process salt in this country?

I am putting my consumer hat on today and what a funny bunch of consumers Australians are. The current conundrum has been driven by a Hepatitis A outbreak currently attributed to frozen berries produced in China and Chile and packed in China.

The government’s answer to voters concern about providing safe food in this instance is Country of Origin labelling

On other hand we recently had a child die and others become very ill from what is believed to having consumed E.coli (a very nasty bacteria for young children and the frail) from raw milk produced and packaged in Australia milk yet there is a furore from some consumers and suppliers of raw milk that the government is mandating all milk should be pasteurised.

Professor Bill Bellotti makes some excellent points here  including

The unfortunate reality is that the big retailers can often source food cheaper from imports than from domestic farmers. The big retailers defend this practice by pointing out consumers benefit from cheaper food. While it is true that price is a major determinant of food purchase behaviour, it is not the only one. Other drivers include taste, convenience, and ethical considerations. One of these ethical reasons is a desire to support “local” farmers, however local is defined. So on the one hand many consumers want or need cheap food, on the other, for some at least, there is a desire to support local farmers and rural communities with their food purchases. This ethical dilemma is brought into sharp focus by the Hepatitis A contaminated berry crisis.

I often make high protein, good carbs and good fats smoothies for lunch with frozen berries

Ingredients:

•  Fruit – most often banana and mixed berries
• Milk – full fat
• Plain Yogurt – no added sugar
• Whey protein powder
• Linseed
• Bran – Note to self don’t add bran if you are not going to drink it straight away

I have traditionally kept frozen berries in the freezer for when I don’t have fresh fruit Yesterday I was cleaning out my freezer and found two boxes of these 

The box proudly declares on the back McCains have offices in Australia and NZ

On the side of the box it tells me these berries are a product of Chile.

Like the many naive Australians I had always made the assumption McCains sourced and packed Australian berries in Australia.

As I have regular booster shots to top up my original Hep A injection I decided I would risk putting the berries in my smoothie. Don’t start me on people who don’t vaccinate their children. How serious will this situation get before we have to have a law to save the naïve ( and their children )  from themselves

As Bill rightly says

Contaminated berries are obviously not good for our health (although in principle snap frozen food retains nutritional quality). Imported berries most likely have a greater environmental footprint than locally produced ones…  and the current market and policy settings are clearly unfair to Australian producers, although presumably Chinese producers benefit.

Becoming food literate entails acquiring knowledge across these issues, forming an ethical stance, and making deliberate food choices.

As a consumer I want greater transparency without the need to take my magnifying glass to the supermarket and putting 1 day a week aside for shopping and reading labels on every side of the box

As a farmer I look forward to a labelling system that meets needs of the consumer as well as mine.

Footnote:

Looks like I am not alone in trusting a system I know little about

According to this story in BRW the Patties’ recall shows the risks of substandard supplies to hospitality businesses.

Jim Barritt used to bake berry muffins for guests staying at his Sebastopol motel on the outskirts in Ballarat in regional Victoria. One afternoon in mid February he logged into Facebook and discovered the frozen fruit he used was subject to a recall.

“The sad reality is that I used Nanna’s products because I trusted the brand implicitly, partially because I lived in Bairnsdale for 16 years before moving to Ballarat when we bought this motel,” Barritt says. “I was sufficiently confident in the company and its products that I didn’t even think to check the source information on the packaging as I foolishly believed that the product was grown and produced in Victoria.”

In fact, the berries were grown in China and Chile, packaged in China and sold in Australia

Barritt’s experience shows how most of the food supply chain still relies upon trust between suppliers and customers. For Barritt, he’s not sure when the berry muffins will be back on the motel’s menu. “From now on the key focus will not be on price, rather the origin and I have certainly learned not to be complacent when it comes to sourcing products for either my guests or my family,” he says. Last weekend he made his first batch of muffins using fresh, locally grown berries.

See full story How to avoid the fate of Patties Foods, the company behind the Hep A berry scare

To me agriculture has made the big mistake of thinking that sympathy sells. Does it?

Here is a little consumer interview snapshot I have edited from the recent Appetite for Change documentary hosted by Lynton Tapp that was shown last Saturday on Channel 10.

It would appear from this snapshot that people feeling sorry for us doesn’t necessarily translate into increased sales of the products we produce. But lets leave that for the moment

I get regular calls from people in rural Australia who would either like to seek my advice or access the talented Young Farming Champions team and/or use The Archibull Prize material to underpin a ‘paddock to plate’ or ‘field to fibre’ appreciation awareness event they would like to run in their region.

I had such a call yesterday and I did what I always do and ask a couple of questions for which the answers are important to me personally. Invariably the answers are the same and they sound something like this

1. I want to be able to explain to people in a way that makes sense to them why I want to farm.  Think back to the consumer comments in the footage above and see my footnote below
2. I want my region to be proud of our farmers and support them.

Interestingly enough nobody ever actually says I want people to feel sorry for our farmers and support them which is how we have too often marketed ourselves in the past

Yesterday I spoke with an education expert who is reviewing The Archibull Prize school entry and exit survey for 2015 and she asked me what was the ultimate outcome I wanted the survey to show. I said I wanted the exit survey to show the students have a much higher level of understanding and appreciation (post participating in the Archibull Prize and meeting the Young Farming Champions) of the challenges and constraints farmers are under to produce safe,affordable and nutritious food for families here and overseas.

Equally importantly I want to raise awareness and create a buzz amongst the students that not only are farmers prepared to partner with the community to overcome these challenges and seize the opportunities that come their way we are actively inviting the community to join us

Before I sat down to write this post I noticed my mobile phone was flat and I needed to charge it. I looked at the phone and my computer that always seems to be at the end of my fingertips. I asked myself  ‘Do I need to understand ( or be educated about) the “Production line to Palm” process to appreciate these devices and buy them?’

And of course the answers was ‘No I don’t –  I just want them to be safe, affordable and available’

Whilst students and teachers participating in the Archibull Prize certainly get a clear awareness of the paddock to plate process it has become very clear to the Art4Agriculture team and the Young Farming Champions that this is not the key essential learning that is going to generate the pivotal partnerships and support for agriculture and our farmers. The success of the Archibull Prize and the Young Farming Champions programs is underpinned by the fact that they are programs that reach out to the community and start two way conversations.  These programs have well and truly started the conversation and farming communities around Australia are embracing the model as the phone calls I receive show me every day

As my previous post found here asked it’s what agriculture as a whole does next that we now need to work on – that’s where the huge gap is and I have no idea who is prepared to put their hand up to fill that gap

Talking about starting conversations. My girlfriend rang me from the supermarket the other day after watching the Appetite for Change documentary and she said ‘it’s taking me three times as long to shop. Every time I pick something up I am checking to see if I am buying Australian made and supporting Australian farmers’

How many Agriculture generated marketing campaigns do that? I know the Archibull Prize and the Young Farming Champions do and this campaign obviously has.

So Agriculture is time to rethink the way we market ourselves on a grand scale because placards that say #standup4farmers don’t do anything for me as a consumer marketing campaign. We could spend a lot of money and survey consumers as they come of the supermarket to see if it does anything for them.  We could but its time to spend our limited marketing dollars wisely. Let’s look at what works, invest in those programs, and build on the conversations and grow the partnerships

Paraphrasing the words of Ian Plowman

Wisdom and creativity can be found anywhere. All we need to do is create the conditions within which that wisdom and creativity can blossom. You can achieve the solutions through unlocking the knowledge, insight and creative talent that lies dormant in your organization, association or community.

Footnote:  Why do I I want to promote agriculture?

I get  asked this question a lot  and I too used to find it hard to explain.  This infographic does it beautifully and now I smile and say to people – can you guess the bit I haven’t nailed yet.

Brand Australia – how do we promote it?

A question that has been posed so many times by government, agriculture industry bodies and farmers for over 60 years.  A question that we still don’t seem to have an answer for on a scale large enough to have impact. Lots of ideas, lots of in house conversations and lots of bright minds like Craig Davis giving very smart advice.

In May last year Longreach farmer, entrepreneur and founder of Agrihive James Walker and I found ourselves invited to Heron Island to be part of a discussion that would potentially result in a national/ international  Australian agriculture marketing campaign. A campaign prompting our farmers and the food and fibre they produce and the challenges they face, designed by one of the most powerful NGO’s in the world and funded by a major Australian financial institution

A marketing event that clearly could potentially kick-start a very powerful new partnership era and help shine a light on and create a bright future for Australian agriculture

Surely a dream come true for Australian agriculture.  

Ah yes James and I thought BUT we looked at each other with trepidation. The NGO was the World Wildlife Fund and the key question was would Australian farmers see the big picture vision, would they embrace an unlikely bedfellow, cast off previous grievances and be prepared to form one of the most exciting and influential partnerships ever offered to them?

It’s been an interesting year for me and I am confident equally for James.

We had two choices.

Jump on the train and be part of a magnificent journey to help create a bright future for Australian agriculture or stay on the platform at the station and be left wondering what might have happened if we had taken a leap of faith

Well I can assure you the train ride has been one of the most inspirational experiences of my life. It is amazing – absolutely phenomenal what a small dedicated, cohesive, collaborative, adaptive group of people, who never give up no matter what the challenge and how many knockers they have and are completely focused on the big picture can achieve

Agriculture has so much to learn from these people and so much to gain.  Did we take advantage of this once in a life time opportunity?

Who wouldn’t want to work with the clever and innovative a team of people who put this masterpiece together ?

And how clever is this to get attention. Pick something the majority of Aussies cant do without and no it isn’t food

Well I definitely know our farming organisations struggled and many of our research and development corporations struggled. Whilst internally they saw it for what it was – a potentially watershed marketing opportunity – no-one quite knew how their farmer stakeholders would react and no-one quite knew how to broach it with them

What has disappointed and saddened me is most of our farming organisations and industry bodies ultimately decided to put it in the too hard basket and very few of them even let our farmers know the campaign was happening. Effectively failing to give our farmers the opportunity to make up their own minds.  As a testament to farmer enthusiasm there was no shortage of excited farmers very happy to be showcased as part of the Planet to Plate Cookbook 

What is this event I am talking about – of course we all know Its Earth Hour

Today is the Grand Final.

Tonight more that 6 million Australians will turn off the lights between 8.30pm and 9.30pm to celebrate Australian farmers and the food and fibre they produce and raise awareness of the challenges they face

I have a strong gut feeling that our farmers have been widely underestimated and the train carriages are full of smart farmers who are well and truly on the journey

A call out to all my fellow farmers. Australians care about you – it’s time to say thanks

Have an event – no matter how small – invite friends, cook a meal sourced from great Australian produce and celebrate – turn off the lights and Light a candle

The following is a list of social media opportunities that will allow you to use the power of the internet to reach out and share this event with fellow Australians right across the country

• Hashtag #appetiteforchange
• For the beer lovers –  Save the Ales Campaign 
• Sign up to the Thunderclap to take part in the social media blackout on evening of 28 March https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/23476-earth-hour-2015?locale=en
• Create a food pun and tweet it based on the Food puns video
• Tweet final message of support for Earth Hour events See https://earthhour.org.au/get-involved/

Links that will help you support what others are doing

Earth Hour on Twitter https://twitter.com/earthhour_au

Earth Hour on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/earthhouraustralia

Earth Hour in Instagram https://instagram.com/EarthHour_Australia/

And for all those farmers who jumped on the train a long time ago. I salute you

Project Catalyst farmers, working with WWF-Australia, industry, scientists and Government, are leading the way in reducing the fertiliser and sediment run off that is killing the Great Barrier Reef. Meet the unlikely heroes who show it is possible to take action that is good for the farm and good for the Reef.

Some great reflections on this topic from Milk Maid Marian this morning here

I am just not quite sure what to say about this

MCDONALD’S restaurants in the United States will begin serving meat from chickens that are not raised with antibiotics used to treat humans.

Because the struggling fast-food chain is one of the largest buyers of chicken in the United States – McDonald’s sells more chicken than beef – the move is likely to have a big impact on the way poultry is raised and the type of chicken served by restaurants.

The shift to chicken that was largely antibiotic-free would be phased in over two years, the company said.  See story here

In essence are MacDonald’s saying people are more important than animals?

Are they saying people are allowed lifesaving antibiotics but chooks aren’t?

In Australia the types of antibiotics that can be given to animals are very restricted. It’s always been humans come first.

It’s an interesting world we live in full of first world double standards

I was a community pharmacist once and a farmer second

Yes the use of antibiotics by farmers and veterinarians does need to be tightened up but we have far too many people and doctors who need to have a big rethink about the way they pop and prescribe antibiotics first.

Lets start where the real problem is and don’t punish the animals because the humans stuffed up

I

Are MacDonald’s saying humans are more important than chooks or are retailers forcing industry practice changes because they are both in tune with consumer views and preferences as well as shaping those views and preferences for marketing differentiation purposes.?

I have a friend who is going to do an  Alpine Horseback Safari through the Kosciuszko National Park with her family and she is the one in the family who hasn’t ridden in almost as long I haven’t

So she has found some-where in Kangaroo Valley where she can practice and ensure she doesn’t let the team down

I am assuming it’s this one . Anyway in a moment of madness I said I would go with her. So I got up on the ladder and got my old exercise saddle down from its spot it was sharing with a wasp nest in the garage and decided to clean it up.

Its amazing what you can do with some (a lot) Ge-Wy dressing ( after you have removed the wasp nests)

Not bad for a saddle that’s been sitting on a beam in the garage for 37 years. But I think I will give these a miss

Who out there is my age and did the show circuit when everybody bought their saddles (except when you got snobby and imported them from Germany so you could keep up with the Jones) from D Stuart and Son at Sutherland?

 Its was all so long ago

This post ‘Voiceless – What a farce you are” is generating a huge amount of traffic to my blog but what is important is it is generating some very important comments from a wide variety of people. Not just on the blog, emails to me, and messages on Facebook, DM’s on Twitter and phone calls

At time for serious reflection

By the way I don’t think Voiceless is a farce but sometimes you have to have a heading that drives traffic to get the important conversations happening. What I do think is Voiceless is a well-meaning organisation but not that well informed.  But I wrote a blog about that with that heading and it hasn’t generated anywhere near the same amount of conversations

Its turns out Linda who comments a number of times on my ‘Voiceless – What a farce you are” blog lives quite near to me and is a fascinating person that I look forward to meeting in the near future. BTW some people mistakenly thought Linda represented Voiceless – she does not. She is a very smart woman with strong ideals and there are lots of people out there like Linda and we as farmers must listen to what these people have to say because they care just like we do but sometimes in a different way and we have to get be able to achieve a maintained and respected balance between urban and rural communities

To maintain our social licence agriculture must build consumer trust, proving we share the same values as consumers, and this can only be achieved by actively connecting with the community.

Agriculture will struggle to expand and introduce new technologies if consumers are concerned about the industry’s motivation

Animal activists have clearly identified issues. However, a social licence to operate is not about issues, because issues can change.

Instead, a social licence is about developing platforms and methodologies to have discussions with customers and consumers regardless of the issue. A key component will be having farmers and scientists understand how to explain on-farm practices to consumers and stakeholders in the most effective way.

Industry organisations are resourced to focus on political and policy imperatives. They also handle crisis issues as they arise, but a social licence to operate takes time to develop and resources to maintain. Maintaining a social licence requires daily effort to maintain and enhance.  All industry stakeholders, from farmers, scientists and milk processors have a role to play in securing agriculture’s social licence.

These industry participants need to be identified, trained and supported to engage with consumers and the media on a daily basis. This includes understanding the correct messaging, platforms and strategies for engaging effectively. This is what the Art4Agriculture Young Farming Champions do every day and this is why they are so successful

These are not new ideas. Yet nobody quite understands how to handle them, how to implement them, or how to transform the talk into a walk.

Excitingly there is a group in Australia who have successfully taken the bull by the horns. The Young Farming Champions involved in the Art4Agriculture programs are effectively connecting with the community, sharing their own values and building relationships with consumers, engaging in conversations on climate change, food wastage, and the challenges of producing safe, affordable and nutritious food and fibre with a declining natural resource base.

Like most farmers the Young Farming Champions have the passion, experiences and knowledge to inspire others. What some of them do not have are the sophisticated communication skills to do so in a short period of time. In this age of bite size information and desensitisation through sensory overload, the ability to communicate a message in a way that resonates with an audience is critical

These skills are not bestowed, they are learnt and therefore can be taught. They are not learnt from their peers, university students, farmers and consultants. A specialist skills requires a technical specialist and this is what makes the Art4Agriculture Young Farming Champions program work. We outsource the expertise we don’t have

Agriculture it’s time to listen, it’s time to make sure our practices DO meet or exceed consumer expectations and yes these expectations may become unrealistic if we don’t bring them on our journey.

It’s our job not our industries to ensure consumer expectations are realistic and it’s time to build a cohort of farmers and scientists trained by technical specialists who can have those essential two way conversations with the community

So Voiceless I thank you for starting the conversation the dairy industry needed to have. We do care and as this great blog from Dairy Farmer of the Year Greg Denis – If only it was the Animal’s Voice shows lot of what you have reported is ill-informed and what you have asked for of us is at times unrealistic but we are listening and there are plenty of passionate farmers like me who are driving change.

This video is absolutely fascinating I can see why those who don’t live on farms and know that this is not what happens on family dairy farms would become vegans

Beyond Carnism and toward Rational, Authentic Food Choices | Melanie Joy |

Compelling isn’t she? And I was having bacon and eggs and a latte for breakfast

Special thanks to the bright minds of Sophie Davidson, Greg Mills and Bessie Thomas for so much of the inspiration for this blog

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday Voiceless have recently released a report that doesn’t show the Australian dairy industry in the best light

I don’t know what their agenda is –

Do they want Australians to stop drinking milk?

Do they want to shut down the Australian dairy industry?

Do they want Australians to not have access to the most affordable, safest, nutritious staple food that provides the perfect start to every day?

What I do know is that Voiceless just don’t get it.  I know this because once again I have nominated on behalf of the NSW dairy industry to sit on the national committee whose sole focus is the wellbeing of dairy cows in Australia.

I know Voiceless there are practices in our industry we are highly committed to phasing out and every state is working on a set of standards that will do everything humanely possible to meet or exceed consumer expectations about the way they want their milk produced.

Just how do you explain to organisations like Voiceless the way dairy farmers love their cows?

To start with no-one should dairy farm unless they do love cows first and foremost

It should be the first box every dairy farmer ticks when they decide they want to be a dairy farmer

I can’t talk on behalf of all dairy farmers I can only talk about the way my family love their cows

The way Marian MacDonald loves hers

The way Gillian Hayman and Graeme Nicol love theirs

The way Alison Germon loves hers

I haven’t been to Marian’s farm. I haven’t been to Graeme and Gillian’s farm. I haven’t been to Alison’s farm but I know they love their cows because of the way they write about them in their blogs

As my readers know I never wanted to be a dairy farmer but my family did. I wasn’t very good at milking cows and don’t like getting up at three am in the morning. So I did what I do best and one of those things was helping my family show their beloved cattle.

I was a pharmacist for over 25 years and I worked very very long hours to help support the farm and buy those beloved cattle.

But every year at show time I made sure that I was available to clean all the halters, provide the delicious lunch and  work my butt off on show day to ensure our team of show cows went into the show ring looking the very best they possibly could.

The staff in the pharmacy I managed also loved the cows and bombarded me with questions about how we went at the show when I walked in the door for my next shift.

Our family holidays centred around Sydney Show or shows Michael was invited to judge at. Michael’s sister used to help us and there are many many happy memories.

And as it turned out Michael’s son loves cows too

We did our very best to support all our local regional shows

I broke open the champagne bottle this day

Last Friday it was their favourite local show at the beautiful Berry Showground. Berry is a favourite because it provides the best shade and shelter options for the cows

 Nick picking up a blue ribbon at Berry Show 20 years ago

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and of course the highlight is always taking out the tri- colour ribbon at the Sydney Royal Easter Show

Please Voiceless find another cause. Create havoc some-where else. Australian dairy farmers love their cows We aren’t perfect  but our farmers DO get up every day to do it better

We do care about our cows and we do care what the people who drink our milk care about and we can work together to get the right balance. What we don’t need is Voiceless putting out and promoting sensationalised reports for some agenda I am yet to determine

I have been very quiet in the social media space over the last month, in the main because I just wasn’t sure how I could best value add to the discussion. I just sat there shaking my head in bewilderment when people like Lyn White from the animals extremist’s group Animals Australia who is apparently such a saint that multiples of people feel she is worthy of the title of Australian of the Year. This month brings us the report commissioned by Voiceless about the Australian dairy industry that garnered enough attention from the media that I turned my phone off for three days so I wouldn’t have to field calls from the media who wanted to turn the Voiceless agenda into one of the top 3 issues impacting on the health, wealth and happiness of every single Australian Well Voiceless and Lyn White I would like you to meet Michael Strong. A young man I met 40 years ago who at that time was working as a brickie’s labourer whose most likely career option 40 years ago was a professional rugby league player Unbeknownst to the young girl who fell madly, deeply in love with him his lifelong dream was to be a dairy farmer 40 years later Voiceless don’t you dare tell me Michael Strong doesn’t love his cows more than life itself Don’t you dare tell me, he doesn’t wake up every day with the welfare of those cows at the forefront of his mind? Don’t you dare tell me that Michael Strong doesn’t wake up every day with the aim of producing the best quality nutritious, safe, affordable milk he possibly can for Australian families Don’t you dare tell me Michael Strong doesn’t wake up every morning with the aim of giving his cows the best possible life he possibly can? And Voiceless don’t you dare tell me that the person that I most love in the world doesn’t love his cows more that life itself  because I know Voiceless that if Michael Strong was forced to chose between the young girl  who loved him madly, deeply and the the cows – he would chose the cows .

FYI for all those people like me saying where is that man’s helmet? We now have a much safer option to the quad bike

Please if you have read this post – please read my follow up Voiceless – I thank you for starting the conversations the dairy industry had to have