Agricultural News
It's Time for Farmers and Ranchers to Stand Up to Food Bullies- Michele Payn Tells All
Wed, 06 Nov 2019 05:33:06 CST
Agricultural advocate Michele Payn is releasing her third book this week- Food Bullying- and this past week- Radio Okla Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays caught up with her between meetings during the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. "Food Bullying" Details a six-step action plan to overcome food bullying and relieve guilt.
Payn says, "I wrote Food Bullying because I really felt we needed to identify how people are being manipulated in their choices around food, which of course affects their perception of the farming"
Why the Title Food Bullying? Well she says Bullying operates from a point of fear, and unfortunately we have way too much fear created around food and eating today. Food bullying helps to simplify food choices and it highlights some of the ways that the 6 trillion dollar food business is actually manipulating what choices we make as consumers when it comes to food. In this day and Age we have so many options when it comes to food, and reading food labels. "The Challenge we have is to understand which labels are meaningful and measurable Food Bullying walks you through the labels that are actually monitored by FDA, USDA, and the EPA" I went through pages and pages of documents to try and understand that. also in restaurants So the challenge really is that food bullying has become and epidemic it is a far reaching problem so we have to be able to overcome that."
When it comes to nutrition, consumers have lots of options, Which makes it hard to tell which "experts" we should be listening to. Michele Payn reminds us "Those without expertise in nutrition shouldn't be making recommendations. What I always tell people is to go for the first hand expertise.. the farmer, or the registered dietitian/nutritionist. Those are the types of people who can give you the information you have about your food."
So what is the first step for consumers in knowing how to make good food selections? With all of the different food options available, one size may not fit all. "The first step for consumers, is to know what they believe when it comes to their food choices. She adds the way to help overcome this is to "Know your own health, ethical, environmental, and social standards, because if you know those standards then you can measure all claims against those standards"
Sustainability in agriculture is often hard to measure, but this advocacy veteran says its important that people know that sustainability includes family business, a family business that can survive generations and says "We need to do a better job of helping people understand that farmers are still farmers, ranchers are still ranchers theres still family businesses and those family businesses are defined by those people running them not by their size, and certainly not by the claims the bullies are making."
Food Bullying is available on Amazon, Books a Million, and in most of the major book outlets. You can also listen to Michele Payn's new Food Bullying Podcast that features insight from farmers, scientists, dietitians, and health experts on Itunes, Sticher, or by clicking or tapping here.
You can also check out Michele's website- CauseMatters.Com.
Listen to Michele and Ron talk about the issue of Food Bullying and her litereary efforts by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
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