SCFFA Public Relations

November 2010

National Farm-City® Week Kicks Off Nov. 18 with Symposium:"Agriculture: A Growing Story"

Mark your calendar! Don't miss the live AgriTalk broadcast of the 2010 National Farm-City® Symposium, which kicks off National Farm-City® Week this Thursday, November 18, starting at 11:00 a.m. EST.

The Symposium, which will be held in Lancaster, Pa., will feature a lively panel discussion on how the media portrays agriculture, and how the agricultural community can better communicate the story of agriculture to the non-farm audience.

Listen to the broadcast live!
Even if you can't attend the Farm-City symposium in Lancaster, Pa., you can still take part in the event!

The nationally syndicated radio show AgriTalk will broadcast live from the Farm-City Symposium on November 18, 2010, and a podcast will also be archived on the AgriTalk website.

Host Mike Adams will moderate the discussion on the topic of “Agriculture: A Growing Story” with a panel of distinguished experts representing the traditional media, social media, agriculture and consumers.

Listen to AgriTalk's live podcast on Thursday, November 18, starting at 11:00 a.m. (EST) at www.agritalk.com

Symposium panelists
MEDIA: Charlene Shupp Espenshade, currently Special Editor at Lancaster Farming, a newspaper widely circulated in the Eastern United States. She and her husband Matthew operate a dairy farm with Matthew's parents in Elizabethtown, Pa.

As a colleague of urban journalists at Lancaster Newspapers, Espenshade is in the unique position of being able to describe how agricultural issues can be accurately communicated to urban journalists in communities not unlike those where many local Farm-City units are attempting to tell the growing story of modern agriculture.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Chuck Zimmerman, social media expert, blogger, and AgChat Foundation Board Member.

The AgChat Foundation (www.agchat.org) was created with the mission to "Empower farmers and ranchers to connect to communities through social media platforms." Chuck serves on the founding board of the organization which was built from the highly visible "#AgChat" Tuesday night Twitter conversation. This weekly, moderated chat has served as an international meeting place where the people of agriculture can discuss difficult issues, tell their farm stories and identify ways to connect with people outside of agriculture. More than 2,000 people from seven countries have participated in #AgChat since it started in April 2009.

The AgChat Foundation was started earlier this year and has already conducted a two-day training session in Chicago for 50 farmers interested in becoming
"AgVocates" for their industry.

Chuck is also president of ZimmComm New Media, parent company of several on-line agricultural publications including Agwired.com.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCER: Chris Pierce, President of Heritage Poultry Management Services, Inc. in Annville, Pa., and an egg industry spokesperson.

Pierce works with local businesses and the Pennsylvania egg industry to support the rural way of life so important to Pennsylvania. Pierce is committed to ensuring that the Pennsylvania egg industry provides for the care and well-being of the egg laying hens in their care and has served on various state organizations dedicated to helping producers and the egg industry meet consumer expectations for responsible care.

CONSUMER: Jean Menapace, retired attorney, educator and former food activist and founder of Housewives Against Higher Prices (HARP).

Starting from a small group of picketing housewives in the Baltimore area, HARP grew to nearly 1,000 as it moved to Washington, D.C. to picket the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She then testified before a Congressional subcommittee on food shortages. Menapace said she eventually realized the media only reported on the high food prices, but did not appear to engage in any investigative reporting as to causation.

Thank you, Sponsors!
A special "thank you" to New Holland Agriculture, United Soybean Board, and
American Farm Bureau Federation for their generous sponsorship of the National Farm-City Week Symposium and Kick-Off Luncheon. We appreciate your support in fostering better understanding between urban and rural residents!

What is National Farm-City Week?

Since 1955, the National Farm-City® Council has supported educational programming to build interdependence between rural and urban citizens. The President of the United Sates has annually proclaimed the week leading to and including Thanksgiving Day as National Farm-City Week.

Farm-City activities are grassroots in nature. Communities across the nation hold Farm-City events ranging from banquets to tours to job exchanges.

Farm-City committees throughout the United States have used the resources and information provided by the National Farm-City Council to cultivate greater understanding between rural and urban people while fostering an appreciation for the interdependence of farmers, ranchers, and other businesses. These efforts have largely centered on the dissemination of general farm facts and the hosting of local events aimed at creating an opportunity for farmers and ranchers to interact with their city neighbors.

With fewer and fewer people having a farming heritage, issues like animal care, environmental stewardship and food safety are becoming points of conflict between rural and urban residents. As a result, the National Farm-City Committee has committed to focusing Farm-City activities on a major issue each year. This year, that topic is the communication of agriculture’s story to the public: “Agriculture: A Growing Story.”

This newsletter is sponsored by a grant from New Holland Agriculture.

© 2010 National Farm-City Council, Inc.
P.O. Box 6825| Reading, PA 19610
Phone: 877.611.8161 | Web Site: http://www.farmcity.org/ | Email: contact@farmcity.org

The National Farm-City Council is a 501(c) (3) charitable organization under the Internal Revenue Service Code.