Despite terms, ag and food largely united on stewardship priorities
Across farm country, new environmental stewardship commitments are sprouting from the soil like freshly emerged corn plants. Yet unlike uniform rows, those goals often seem variable and aimed at a vast spectrum of outcomes — reflected by a cornucopia of terms including “conservation ag,” “regenerative agriculture,” “climate-smart agriculture” and “carbon farming.”
But are these descriptions really as different as they sound?
To answer that question, we scanned publicly available websites, news releases and online resource hubs across several food and agriculture categories. We reviewed information from agribusinesses, food manufacturers, food retailers, universities, government agencies and conservation nonprofits. To be clear, this isn’t a scientifically valid analysis, rather a snapshot capturing commonly used language at a specific point in time.
What we learned might surprise you: More often than not, despite variations in the words they use, these organizations are largely united in the key environmental pillars they prioritize. For example, soil health, water quality and biodiversity are included almost without exception. Less common are grazing-specific initiatives, forestry efforts and animal well-being programs, though they’re certainly not uncommon.
AN EVOLVING DICTIONARY
The fact that so many phrases are used to describe many of the same conservation ag activities is unsurprising to Ann Kronrod, a language expert and assistant professor in the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
“We need to understand that terminology and language is a living organism,” Kronrod explains. “First, you have just one term,” Kronrod says. “Then you have a plethora — it just explodes with so many terms, and [then] they kind of converge a little bit. Maybe we’re right here at the expansion of all the terms, and they will converge, either by themselves or with some help.”
The conservation ag community isn’t alone: Even among researchers spanning many disciplines, she points out, environmental words often are used interchangeably. Kronrod isn’t suggesting that’s wrong or bad. It simply underscores the fact farmers should ask industry organizations to use precise language so its clear what different sustainability terms mean.
TRUST AT STAKE
To be fair, each organization we surveyed has its own proprietary programs, services and resources. Just because each uses similar words doesn’t mean each has the same farmer customers or desired outcomes. The investment by farmers—and industry organizations—in natural resource stewardship is enormous and growing at a rapid clip.
Consumers trust farmers and a majority actively seek out environmental attributes in their purchases, notes Kronrod’s research colleague, adjunct professor Debra Lee Surface. Yet language confusion can breed mistrust, and that’s a risk farmers want to avoid. In her studies of consumer behavior, Surface has found environmental labels can lead people to question the truthfulness of those labels. On the other hand, environmental labels can produce a false sense of security, suggesting the product is inherently good without supporting evidence.
Rather than accepting existing words or labels, these researchers say, agriculture must continue to align around language that conveys the on-farm conservation ag practices behind food, fuel and fiber clearly and accurately.
“It’s important that you communicate what exactly you are doing and what you are not,” Kronrod concludes.
The good news for ag and food is that in spite of a spectrum of environmental terms, the practices stacked beneath them bear remarkable similarity to one another. Arguably, ag and food are farther along that we might have realized at finding a shared industry language to describe a mutual commitment to environmental stewardship.
Scan to find conservation resources, webinars and news.
https://www.agweb.com/americas-conservation-ag-movement
Conservation Ag Definitions Often Overlap
Many of the environmental practices food and ag organizations prioritize are similar, despite the variety of terms in public use—such as conservation ag, climate-smart ag and regenerative ag. An unscientific survey of public websites and documents from a cross-section of 17 prominent agribusinesses, food manufacturers, food retailers, universities, government agencies and conservation nonprofits highlights some of the ways in which terms frequently overlap.
America’s Conservation Ag Movement (ACAM) is one of the largest public-private partnership dedicated to supporting the acceleration of sustainable agriculture in our nation’s history. Find conservation resources, webinars and news.
