Conversations, not comparisons, create opportunities to agvocate

Don’t confuse consumers with negative comparisons. Instead, create confidence with positive conversations.

It’s a simple but powerful strategy used by Ontario dairy farmer Tim May, more widely known on social platforms as Farmer Tim, to teach his 150,000 followers about the dairy sector and agriculture.

May was a guest speaker at Farm and Food Care Ontario’s recent conference, which also celebrated the organization’s 10th anniversary.

Building trust is the most effective use of social media, especially regarding agvocacy, and it requires addressing misinformation with facts and positive messaging rather than fear-based comparisons, said May.

Why it matters: A social media presence can help farmers connect with consumers but taking the proper approach is key to making a positive impression.

Fear-based comparisons and marketing sway consumer perception and buying habits, and agriculture is just as guilty as anyone else for employing those tactics, said May. He suggests the sector can do better by providing compassionate, transparent and positive messaging while showing the reality of farming, rather than trying to dispute misinformation or false, fear-based claims. 

“Blueberries are one of nature’s most perfect foods, next to milk, of course. These are the ingredients,” he said, pointing to a long list of multi-syllable scientific words. “This is the chemical composition of blueberries, so you can make anything sound scary if you want to.”

May pointed to the non-GMO label used to sway consumers, even on produce like peppers, which are all non-GMO. Discussion gets more heated when the stand-off is between dairy and dairy-alternative beverages and meat and plant-based alternatives, and both sides are just as guilty, he said.

“We’re not much better sometimes. We need to do better. We need to take the high road.” May recently posted that he used a plant-based beverage in his Starbucks drink because he’d been having gastrointestinal issues. He said the simple acknowledgement that he enjoyed it, and was pleased those with dairy issues had an alternative available to them, garnered tremendous response and comments from the demographic who support dairy farming but can’t consume its products.

That moment of connection, compassion and open conversation changed perceptions more effectively than links to fact sheets about dairy purity would have, he said. It also connected plant-based alternatives and farming because farmers produce those beverages too.

“Why not promote your product on its merits instead of bashing other industries?” 

Most consumers are in urban settings with few ties to agriculture outside of the occasional visit to a farm market. Few can visit a farm today, given biosecurity and activist concerns.

May said that it’s increasingly difficult to offset the images and videos people see, especially if they google animal abuse and dairy or livestock. 

“Once you see that information, it’s really hard to unsee it, even for me. I can’t watch that,” he said of the videos people send him. 

“As agvocates, we need to get people either before they do that research and get them educated, or after the fact, give them the tools so when they see (misinformation) they know what they’re actually seeing.”

May said it’s producers’ responsibility to speak with consumers “but in reality, it’s two per cent of us trying to get that message out to the 98 per cent.” 

However, as some former urbanites document their rural lives on one acre of land and learn about food production, farming has gained social cache. Hashtags like #ActualLivingFarmers also help.

“It’s [farming] now cool again, and we can make a difference,” said May. “All of us, as individuals, make a huge difference, and we may not always know it, but you will.” 

He warned that if farmers don’t share their own story, someone else will, often with unwanted messaging.

May shares the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of being a dairy and crop farmer, as well as his interests outside of agriculture, so followers can see him as a person. 

“People need to understand the unique stressors that farmers have, but they also need to know that we love what we do,” he said.

May reminds his followers that farmers are consumers too. They don’t have a secret stash of food and don’t produce anything they wouldn’t feed their own families.

“Ninety-seven per cent of farms are family owned. We’ve got to remind people of that,” he said. “We talk about that all the time, but people need to see that.”

Compassion is another critical component of healthy and productive conversations between May and his followers. He addresses how he makes a living from his animals, but says that makes him care more about them, not less. His posts of wild animals, like baby bunnies moved safely out of the way during harvest, or milkweed left standing so monarch butterflies can develop, connect to his audience and show the importance of the farmer-ecosystem connection without lectures. 

He said compassion extends to answering questions and correcting misinformation around dairy farming and agriculture in general. 

“Being nice gets you way farther than you think. I’ve had a lot of people turning the tide because of a nice conversation I’ve had with them and being professional,” May said.