VIDEO KNUTSON: How do you view ag?

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - I’ve always known that a lot of people view agriculture differently than I and many Agweek readers do. But a recent National Press Foundation fellowship on the Future of Food and Agriculture, which I attended, helps me better understand the difference.

Like many (maybe most) of you, I view agriculture through the prisms of economics and science. Like many (maybe most) of you, I wonder whether an agricultural practice is profitable, whether it’s supported by sound science and whether it provides nutritious, affordable food in an environmentally responsible way. If an ag practice makes scientific and economic sense, I support it, or at least don’t oppose it.

But the NPF event allowed me to see more clearly that many Americans view agriculture through a different prism: the food that ends up on their table. If an ag practice gives them the food they want, they support it. If it fails to do that, they oppose it.

The event also reinforced my awareness that a growing number of Americans are unhappy with the food they eat. They say it isn’t as tasty and nutritious as it should be. They want a better selection of fruits and vegetables. They complain about chemicals. They worry about genetic modification. They’re concerned about how producing it impacts the environment.

Yeah, I know, many aggies are thinking, “But our food is cheap. It’s safe. Don’t the critics realize that? Would they be willing to pay more? And what about all the people who couldn’t afford it?”

Good questions. The answers, as far as I can tell, are: They know it’s cheap, but aren’t sure it’s safe. Yes, they’d pay more for what they want. And they think, or least hope, low- and moderate-income Americans could be protected.

Many aggies also are thinking, “But we have our commodity check-off programs. We do marketing.” True - but as a marketing professor told me years ago, the best marketing in the world won’t get people to continue buying a product they don’t like or want.

How does organic food fit in? I believe in free markets and consumer choice. If Americans want different food - and are willing to pay for it -  they should get it. So I’m pleased to see the growing number of organic farmers in Agweek country, even though I’m not into organic food myself. Organic gives farmers and consumers another option, and that’s a good thing.

I used to think a dual-track food system, one offering both organic and conventional, would satisfy the critics, or the majority of them. But I increasingly think many of the critics hope to overhaul the entire food system. They’d love to grab it by the neck and shake it until it gives them what they want. Whether their refashioned system would make economic and scientific sense - well, that’s not the prism through which they view ag.

Doing a better job

Upper Midwest aggies often talk about the “disconnect” between agriculture and our increasingly urban society. Aggies tell anecdotes about folks who believe potatoes are manufactured in a factory and cows and horses can talk. They think urbanites are uninformed and out of touch.

But the disconnect goes the other way, too. Urbanites tell anecdotes about corporate farms and wealthy farmers. They think ag producers are arrogant and out of touch.

There’s plenty of miscommunication and misunderstanding to go around.

I still view agriculture through the prisms of science and economics. I’ll continue to ask if an agricultural practice makes scientific and economic sense. But I’ll also do a better job of asking if ag is giving consumers the food they want.

Ask yourself if agriculture can do a better job of providing it.