The Rural Voice, 2003-02, Page 38Am -
Ag News
Build contacts with consumers, Surgeoner says
Farmers need to forge new links
with consumers, perhaps by setting
up displays in supermarkets to say
thanks to the people who buy their
food. Dr. Gordon Surgeoner told beef
producers at Grey Bruce Farmers'
Week in Elmwood, January 7.
Surgeoner suggested in-store
displays would let farmers say thanks
to consumers for buying their
products but also to point out the
added benefits that purchase of
Ontario -grown products allows
farmers to carry out for society from
Environmental Farm Plans to nutrient
management planning. Stores want to
create a uniqueness so would likely
welcome a chance to have consumers
thanked by the people who grow
their food, he said.
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The country has changed since the
days when most most urbanites were
a generation or two from the farm
and knew someone who still lived on
a farm, Surgeoner said. Ontario's
population is projected to grow from
11.8 million in 2001 to 14.9 in 2026.
Already 80 per cent of the population
lives in major urban centres. Every
five years Ontario adds another
million people, Surgeoner said. "It
doesn't even enter into (urbanites)
thought process how we'll feed these
people."
Most of Ontario's growth is
coming from immigration and these
residents don't have a nostalgic link
to agriculture. "They have no loyalty
to you. They don't know you."
Farmers should be paying attention
to the changing face of the consumer,
he said.
"Have we (in agriculture) ever
worked to capture the .loyalty of the
Chinese population?" Surgeoner
wondered, noting that Chinese is the
second largest language in Toronto
after English.
The vast majority of people in
Canada long ago gave up worrying
about having enough to eat,
Surgeoner said, noting that the
number one food safety issue in
Canada is over -consumption.
Canadians pay the lowest
percentage of their income for food
of any country in the world. A typical
consumer has earned enough income
by February 7 to pay for their entire
year's food needs — but only works
until January 8 to earn enough to pay
for the farmer's share of that food
bill. "Is our objective in agriculture to
move this to New Year's Day?"
The farmer's share of the food
dollar is going down as consumers
pay for the convenience of prepared
foods. But do consumers know
they're getting those benefits, he
wondered.
One way for farmers to fight for a
bigger share of the food dollar is by
changing their approach. Greater
profitability can come from three
areas: reducing input costs,
increasing production capacity or
increasing the price per unit. If
Continued on page 35