For those of you who don't know, Lynne is the primary driver behind the Archibull Prize. She and her husband and son run a dairy property at Jamberoo, several hours south of Sydney. With her permission I am reprinting here a piece that she wrote for the Weekly Times, as it puts in words better than I can the issues that Lynne is so passionate about.
"There is no denying food is hot.
But all too often, food is viewed by consumers as an end product, independent of the land that produces it, and the hands that grow it.
Today most media in Australia generated around food is about cooking and eating, recipes and restaurants, with little attention paid to the origins of the key ingredients. That’s us – Aussie farmers!!
However, don’t get fooled into thinking that people don’t care. Modern consumers have high expectations that the food they buy will be produced on farms with high standards of animal welfare and environmental stewardship.
Many are well informed – often by the negative images portrayed in the media.
Images that portray farmers as being country hicks, living perpetually in drought and requiring constant hand outs.
They all want farms to look nice … that is - out of a car window at 100km/hr …
But they don’t understand how that relates to the steak on the table, or in my case, the milk on their Weet Bix.
And yet whether farmers like it or not, it is these urban communities that will shape the future for primary producers – as consumers, Governments, and of course as competitors for Australia’s natural resources and future workforce.
We cannot expect the Australian public to trust farmers if they have no relationship with them. The farming community has to do something – and fast!
I believe the cause of this disconnect between city and country is the current food value chain model. If you look at the model farmers are at one end and consumers are all the way down at the other. In between are a vast array of packers, wholesalers, manufacturers, distributers etc – organisations we have been expecting to look after our interests by carry out our farming messages to their customers and the wider community. Generally they have their heart in the right place but the result has been that our urban communities have become disconnected from the consumer base and so in many cases from Australian society.
There is a pivotal link that’s missing in the value chain model – the link that directly connects consumers with the farmers who know and love and work the land.
Essentially through the programs my team and I are involved in rolling out, are remodelling the chain to add the missing link and create, if you like, a value bracelet.
I believe this is the key to locking consumers into lifelong relationships with the producers of their food and fibre.
So can we reconnect the city with the country and bridge the rural – urban divide? Can we use the community’s interest in food and natural resource management to achieve our goals?
From my experience the answer to these questions is “YES, YES, YES WE CAN
I am fortunate to lead an enthusiastic and creative group of young farming people called Dairy Youth Australia. Together we deliver self managed events and activities that focus on youth, career opportunities, the community and the arts – all linked back to agriculture
Under the banner of Art4Agriculture we bring together the young ‘social entrepreneurs’ of the agricultural sector. We tap into their inspiration and create programs that resonate with young people - linking up the city with the country. Our programs challenge the negative perceptions about agriculture, using art and technology to get much more positive messages across.
Our programs provide a means to invite urban and rural communities to visit and get to know each other - share stories, improve their understanding and work through potential issues.
We put real faces to products for our consumers. We give them real farmers they can relate to and use their stories to both engage and inform. Equally importantly our farmers get to learn first-hand about their end customers – their perceptions and needs of their urban communities.
So we now have some tools that can really make a difference. Working with school children is a long term strategy – but I’m not going anywhere, are you? It will take quite a while to re-establish the links between rural and urban communities – possibly a generation – but I think we owe it to our children and the next generation of Aussie farmers to build the importance and reputation of primary production in the community to the level it ought to have.
And I’m not finished.
My Dairy Youth Australia team is working on another project to speed things up a bit. A national project to ‘bridge the rural-urban divide’. We aim to recruit and clone 'farming champions' to be the face of agriculture in their local region. Our farming faces & industry champions will partner with us to deliver our education programs directly into their local primary and secondary schools.
It has always been acknowledged to drive the process of change requires ‘champions’ and ‘leaders’ But to change ‘grass roots’ perceptions we need ‘grass roots’ action. Farming men and women who can get out there and sell the message that agriculture is alive and well. Farmers care about the country, their livestock and the people they provide with food and fibre. Feeding and clothing the world is an awesome responsibility, a noble profession and offers great careers.
Beyond best farming practices farmers today have to be out in their communities, committed to “walking the talk” so to speak – from paddock to plate, from cow to consumer, building TRUST between rural and urban communities.
Just imagine what we could achieve with an Australia-wide network of trained, passionate farmers talking directly with the communities that they supply.
And programs like our Art4Agriculture initiatives show us the way. School students are the future consumers, decision makers and farmers. They hold the key to the long term future of our agricultural industries.
In 20 years time these kids will face many difficult choices - Just how do we both feed and house our burgeoning population in a country with a declining and natural resource base?
We must engage with the urban communities now so they feel connected with the bush, and understand the efforts taken by farmers to protect the natural resource base. They must see responsible agricultural production as a legitimate use of land, water and other resources. We need to show them that agriculture has a future and is a great career for their children.
Strategic investments that finally complete the value chain and add the missing link address many of the issues that currently undermine Australian agriculture.
My experience tells me it isn’t too difficult, it just requires a slightly different way of thinking…
A profitable and sustainable healthy future for the farming sector is achievable – the health and welfare of all Australians, and many people around the world depends on it."
October 2010 - some further thoughts from Lynne..
Lynne believes the Archibull Prize is a wonderful opportunity to show the next generation that individuals CAN make a difference.
From the Archibull Prize curriculum..
How can I help?
Suppose you, as the average Australian, cut your emissions by only 10 per cent. That would save about 55 million tonnes a year, the amount China’s emissions increase every month or so. That sounds like a waste of time.
But suppose that, spurred by our example, we were joined by other people who live in developed countries, say 10 per cent of the United Kingdom, the USA and Japan. That would save almost 900 million tonnes, well above the annual growth not only in China but in all the rest of the world. This would buy time for the developing nations to refine their technology, make the right sort of investments and ultimately rein in their emissions.
We could not do that overnight, but we could do it over, say, a decade if we were serious. Apart from helping with the immediate problem, it would help us get ready for the really serious cuts, 60 per cent or more, that we need to make by 2050 to help maintain our climate
As the leaders and future decision makers, you have a very important role. Using your artwork you can offer an opinion and solutions. Others will see your work and be inspired to act.
