One exhibitor at Agri-Trade last week was encouraging farmers to stand up and speak out about Canadian agriculture in order to bridge the gap between consumers and producers.  

Agriculture More Than Ever is an industry leading cause who began five years ago after they noticed a lot of consumers were misinformed about the industry.

“People in the Ag industry are the best people to share the information that they have, and we want to really be a present here, and show people that we’ve got resources for you to help you engage with your audiences,” Brand Strategist Debbie Bailey said. “There’s a lot of great facts that we have available on our websites and it’s really giving people that kick start to say here’s the right stuff and just take it and go with it.”

Bailey added there's a lot of information that can get shared at the click of a button and people aren't doing their fact checking.

“We do hear a lot that people are drenching their fields with chemical products. There are some great groups out there that share information about how costly it is to put that on your fields. So farmers are not going to put any more of a product on their field then they have to, to fight off the diseases and pests that come along with what they're growing.”

Bailey said it’s important for consumers to know that agriculture is a forward-thinking industry and farmers care about the environment, animal welfare and producing safe, healthy food.

According to its website, 98% of Canadian farms are family farms and one in eight Canadian jobs are in ag or agri-food.

Agriculture More Than Ever has close to 3,000 “agvocates” and 470 partners that promote the industry and create a positive dialogue about Canadian agriculture.

For more information or to become an “agvocate,” you can visit their website at www.agriculturemorethanever.ca.