Building public trust for the long term

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Canadian farmers still enjoy a measure of public trust. But once lost, it is impossible to regain. All stakeholders – from individual farmers through to the big food companies – need to work at maintaining it

by CRYSTAL MACKAY

Have you heard about the new "s" terms for farming and food? It stands for "social license," followed closely by "sustainability." These are not new to other sectors, but they seem to have taken those who farm or produce food in this country by surprise. Are Canadian farmers really in danger of losing their social license to farm?

Since time began, farmers have been feeding their families, communities and the world. When my great-grandparents were farming (on land now occupied by Pearson International Airport), most people had a connection to the farm and understood where their food came from. Consumers knew farmers and trusted that they were doing the right thing as long as there was food on the table.

Fast forward to 2015, an era of radical transparency and escalating demands. Farm & Food Care studies of Canadian consumers show that 93 per cent said they knew little or nothing about where their food comes from, but their interest in knowing more has never been higher. It makes sense, then, that celebrities and social activists (think Dr. Oz or the Food Babe) can get a lot of attention when they spout inaccurate or scary data about food or farming with more regard to ratings, popularity or fundraising than to facts.  

Compared to other parts of the world, Canadian farmers still enjoy a reasonably good degree of public trust. In the United Kingdom and the United States, public trust in food systems has been eroded by well-orchestrated and well-funded pressure tactics and by negative media, both of which are gaining momentum in Canada.

In speaking to a Canadian audience, Dr. Sandra Edwards, chair of agriculture at the University of Newcastle said: "Canada is exactly where the United Kingdom was 20 years ago on public trust. U.K. agriculture was arrogant and ignored the importance of public trust, thinking 'everyone has to eat and people like farmers.' We took public trust for granted until it was too late and the demands on farmers quickly made the U.K. farmer uncompetitive with other jurisdictions on many fronts."

What does losing public trust or your "social license" really mean? Loss of trust from the public or buyers can lead to increased regulation, burdensome market access requirements, potential loss of customers or freedom to operate. Like a tipping point, once public trust is lost, it may be impossible to regain.

The debate will continue to ebb, flow and ignite around specific questions like food safety, waste, energy and water use, hormone and antibiotic use, animal welfare, fair labour practices and more.

So how should farmers and agri-food businesses respond to public perceptions, media scrutiny and consumer demands? Building public trust in food and farming must start with doing the right things for the right reasons. Farming – and producing food sustainably – needs to be scientifically verified, economically viable and ethically grounded. Millions of dollars in research, programming and countless hours of hard work on farms help make this happen. But the average Canadian hasn't heard that story.  

All stakeholders need to be transparent about their practices and open to communicating with the public because, as other sectors like oil and forestry have learned the hard way, building public trust is not a short-term public relations exercise. It requires a long-term vision and a significant commitment of resources by the entire sector.

Every stakeholder – from the individual farmer through to the CEOs of our country's largest food companies – needs to invest in conversations with Canadians to build public trust. If we want to avoid the mistakes of Britain, the European Union and the United States, everyone who farms or makes a living from agriculture and food needs to create a business plan for the new "s" words and start investing in public trust and their social license. BP

Crystal Mackay is executive director of Farm & Food Care Ontario, a coalition with a shared vision to build public trust in food and farming. It represents farmers and associated businesses with a mandate to provide credible information, expertise and coordination on behalf of the whole agri-food sector.