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by Kristine Penning, AgCareers.com Creative Marketing Specialist
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A
g
& F
ood
C
Areer
g
uide
AGRICULTURE:
something that means
so much to so very few. Keegan Kautzky,
Director of National Education Programs
for the World Food Prize Foundation,
posed an excellent question at the
2016 AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR
Roundtable: “Agriculture is key to solving
the world’s greatest problems, and it is
not revered as it should be. How do we
change that narrative?”
Those who work in agriculture or
aspire to, know the countless benefits
it produces and the fulfillment it brings.
Because those of us who are employed
by the industry are so passionate about it,
it can be difficult to have an effective
conversation with an individual that
doesn’t understand agriculture without
emotions getting involved. How can we
set the record straight? How can we
encourage others to pursue agriculture
as we have (and we so desperately need
others too as well) when they are
uninterested or misinformed?
Treat this AgCareers.com Ag & Food
Career Guide as your toolkit for being an
Agvocate. Understand why it is
important and beneficial to advocate for
both the agricultural industry and
agricultural careers, how to go about
advocating, and the best resources for
sharing agriculture with others.
WHY AGVOCATE
Have you ever overheard conversations
that made you wonder if more people
today think their food comes from the
grocery store than the farm? Or have you
had someone tell you that your favorite
food is not okay to eat because of the
chemicals or antibiotics they’ve been
“contaminated” with?
“Most of today’s population is at least
three generations removed from the farm,
yet we have seen an influx in interest
in the food we eat,” said Riley Pagett,
Director of Advocacy and Government
Relations for the National FFA
Organization. “We know that when this
Agvocate
B E I N G W I L L I N G T O