The National Corn Growers Association has been working in Washington D.C. on educating lawmakers on where their food comes from. The Corn Farmers Coalition has gotten involved after learning how disconnected consumers and lawmakers are from the farm. Mark Lambert, Senior Communications Manager with NCGA says it's a big job:
“I don’t know that it’s ever been as important to let people in DC that are making so many decisions that are affecting farmers know more about the industry, in fact, we know that that’s the case, because we did a extensive research and focus groups prior to launching this campaign. So, yeah, it’s very critical, and when you find out that even people in DC don’t know that family farmers exist any more, that’s a little concerning.”
So what about the success of the education campaign?:
“Well, we’ve had really good luck with the campaign the last couple of years, and we’ve never done anything like this, I mean, we’re on the radio, we’re in the Metro Stations up on Capitol Hill, and people are seeing large images of family farmers along with key facts. I think the fun part is that those facts come right from USDA and from EPA so it’s their own numbers, and they don’t get exposed to them, don’t think about them. And we’re making sure that that thought process happens, and that they can’t avoid them.”
What was the biggest surprise that Lambert discovered about lawmakers and consumers after launching the campaign?:
“But, when you find out that they like the idea of family farmers, they just don’t think that… even though a lot of them are multi-generational operations any more, even though they don’t realize that that’s who’s still out there still doing it. That’s a great place to start, it makes them feel better about the industry.”
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