Engaging urban audiences is mutually-beneficial

“I work in climate.”

This statement, or something very similar, was communicated to me by several different people attending a recent Earth Day event in Toronto.

I was at the event – hosted by an environment-focused community group — to speak about regenerative agriculture. It was an interesting experience for someone who has not had regular opportunities to share the complexities of farming with non-farming audiences. The group was welcoming, and seemed to appreciate my anecdotes from farm county.

The “I work in climate” reply to inquiries into their occupation, however, really stuck with me. What exactly did that phrase mean?

Each person I spoke with had a different job with different companies or some sort of professional specialty (the one example I can actually remember is an individual analyzing carbon markets). At any other time, I would have anticipated the same people say they’re in marketing, an economist, engaged in governance or policy development, and so forth.

On one hand, this is quite predictable. Anyone attending an event on Earth Day, set up by a climate-focused community action group, is likely to self-select as someone whose identity is linked to environmental issues.

Still, I didn’t initially know how to take “I work in climate.” If one was to be defensive, I might argue farmers are the ones who really work in climate.

The statement is literally true for farmers and ranchers, and also figuratively true in other respects. How can someone managing business portfolios in a large corporation really argue they work in climate?

“I work in climate” sounds suspiciously similar to the now long-in-the-corporate-tooth term “sustainability.”

Is this just another buzz word for corporate types speaking corporatese?

It might be. However, defining oneself as working “in climate” is also likely a more accurate and honest way for some people to describe what they do for a living.

Upon further reflection, I believe the individuals who told me they work in climate have done a pragmatic thing – that is, separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of what they do. Yes, they might be an economist or marketer by trade, but they see that as a means of working within a larger sector.

Sector or industry are themselves probably not accurate words to use. Saying one works in climate is, I think, identifying the personal values that drive their work.

This might sound a bit highfalutin, but it’s important for agriculturalists to recognize there are individuals involved in creating policies and developing investments – much of which have significant implications for primary producers – that view their trade as a means of accomplishing wider societal goals.

Those individuals want to hear from us – the farmers who are literally working in climate. As one attendee described in a social media post after the event, the interaction was “a reminder that when working to elicit change, never skip hearing directly from the people who will be on the ground actioning this.”

Sometimes we agriculturalists have to go to them. Even if we’d rather not travel to the big city, it’s worth the occasional trip.

Doing so provides opportunities for connection with the non-farming public – something farmers very much need. It humanizes agriculture, putting a face to a sector many climate professionals may not otherwise see.

It also reminds us that those developing environmental programs, policies, and investment strategies also have a face — often, a friendly one.

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