The best defense is a strong (and data-backed) offense

With a year behind me as president and CEO of the Animal Agriculture Alliance(time flies!), I spend more time than ever thinking about how to most effectively spread the good word about meat, dairy, poultry, eggs, and seafood – and how to set the record straight to counter misinformation. This online community has the reach and power to play an important role, so I’ll be sharing some articles here from time to time and hope you’ll join the conversation.

The more active those of us who are passionate about the future of animal agriculture are in sharing these messages far and wide, the more I hope we can cross paths with others who are interested in open, informed dialogue and reaching shared goals – especially for healthy diets and sustainable food systems.

By way of introduction for those who might not be familiar with the Alliance, we play a unique role in the animal agriculture community. Our mission is to safeguard the future of animal agriculture and its value to society by bridging the communication gap between the farm and food communities. We connect key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. We engage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. We protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation.

These aren’t three separate concepts or workstreams for us; they are integrally related. And achieving the full scope of our mission is more important now than ever. That requires increasingly proactive mindsets and an energetic commitment to seeking new opportunities for engagement. I’m definitely not a sports expert (even though I am a Buckeye – surprising, I know), but the old cliché seems appropriate here – the best defense really is a strong offense.

At the Alliance, we take pride in supporting a community of people dedicated to feeding a hungry planet. While responding to issues is important and remains a key part of our work, we are confident that taking a positive, goal-oriented approach will best position this community to continue our contributions for generations to come.

That’s a key reason we support and partner with the The Protein PACT for the People, Animals & Climate of Tomorrow. Each Protein PACT partner makes its own contributions within its organization and with its stakeholders and together, we further strengthen these contributions by uniting and amplifying a positive message that animal agriculture drives solutions and sustains the future.

For example, founding Protein PACT partner the North American Meat Institute (also an Alliance board member!) has pioneered a data collection and reporting effort that completely changes the game for transparently measuring progress up and down the value chain. The Meat Institute’s first annual continuous improvement report, published in October 2022, lays out sector-wide targets and provides snapshots of current achievements.

The Alliance’s own 2023 Sustainability Impact Report documents animal agriculture’s considerable achievements over recent years – providing objective data about animal care, nutrition, environmental sustainability, and more.

Achieving further progress and earning our place on the plate of the future really relies on connected ambitions and actions from everyone – farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, animal feed companies, animal health companies, processors, allied associations and others – all aligned and working together. Our 2023 Stakeholders Summit, held last month, illuminated this notion with a theme of  “Partners in Progress,” highlighting the need for us to join forces along the food supply chain. This belief is also emphasized through Protein PACT. You can find information about the principles, practices, and proof behind the Protein PACT partners’ efforts here.

These efforts are designed to proactively drive animal agriculture’s own agenda, and I encourage everyone in animal agriculture to share them broadly and seek out constructive dialogue outside the barnyard.

Animal agriculture makes critical contributions to nutrition, food security and all aspects of sustainability – economic, social, and environmental. Yet, influential and extremely well-funded campaigns against animal agriculture continue to drive common misconceptions about our practices and the food we produce.

While animal agriculture has made considerable progress over the years in understanding and anticipating extreme activism that seeks to eliminate animal-sourced food production, we need to see continued investment and commitment to making the positive plays that will redefine the debate. If you haven’t already, I invite you to join us as a partner in progress on this journey by becoming an Alliance member here.

Read the article on LinkedIn.