I’ve had a couple of e-mails from people in the beef and pork industries in the last couple weeks. The gist of their gripe is that the local, pasture-raised beef and pork I sell is causing damage to animal ag industries. They have some legitimate points: “Negative campaigning” against traditional agriculture is an oft-used marketing method for foods bearing labels of alternative production methods. All too often at the Farmer’s Markets, I hear that food from the grocery store is not safe, is loaded with chemicals and hormones or is causing everything from global warming to early puberty to worldwide hunger. I hear all sorts of exaggerations of reported ill-effects, many of which fall into the realm of urban myths.

It is these very issues that are part of the reason I blog. We’ve barely scratched the surface here with posts on early puberty, organic honey and free-range chickens, cloning, food labels and a variety of other topics. There is never a shortage of material; just a shortage of time to do the background research to provide a balanced and accurate review of the issue at hand.

So, by promoting our locally raised meats, am I contributing to the downfall of American Animal Agriculture? I maintain that I am promoting it. Here’s why:

• There is no better spokesperson for agriculture than a producer. Consumers and producers are usually separated by multiple companies. When I sell local, I reconnect the consumer to agriculture. I remind them that ultimately all our food is produced by PEOPLE, not corporate conglomerates.
• When I hear wildly exaggerated claims and misconceptions, I can correct them. The same quirk of human nature that causes people to believe their neighbor before they’ll believe a corporate expert works in reverse too.
• I have customers eating meat that wouldn’t otherwise. For their own reasons (whether I agree with them or not), many of my customers are willing to buy meat from me, when they buy much less or none otherwise. How can this be hurting the industry?
• The products I sell DO taste better than run-of-the-mill grocery store items. They also cost more ($2-$4/lb more). Most people agree that homegrown tomatoes taste better than (even organic) grocery store tomatoes. Why does it seem so surprising that homegrown, individually managed, top genetics beef tastes better? If this creates a demand for higher quality products, isn’t that a good thing?

There is a knee-jerk dislike of movements like local, grass-fed, or organic among many of my more traditional Animal Industry colleagues, and a similar distrust of corporate agriculture among many of my customers. I hope, in my small way, I am building some bridges.

1. Suzanne Says:
   May 22nd, 2008 at 12:37pm

   As the wife of a former organic restauranteur, I well understand the mistrust that some people have about “industrial” food production. But I’ve also learned A LOT in recent years about the “myth” of organic, and how unfairly maligned must of the food industry has been by the rise of organic culture. I think a lot of people in the ag community are just sick and tired of being labeled as bad guys when they are in fact doing good — growing great food, producing amazing animals. The profit margins are so small that any claim to organic or natural status adds profit dollars. Everyone is trying to get on this bandwagon — supermarkets especially. But who is really policing the organic community? The USDA label is not a SCIENTIFIC distinction, but a MARKETING one, so many very odd things get grouped in that heading. I find the whole thing very confusing. And I am sad that it pits well-meaning people trying to produce great food against one another.