The Public Needs to be Educated About Agriculture Stephanie Stade "In the last 15 years, it occurred to me that the public no longer knows what farming and ranching is all about. The wonderful image we (producers) used to have in this field of just being the best that America has to offer has been lost. One hundred years ago, 25 percent of us were in agriculture. Today, only 2.5 percent of us are," said Lehr.

Consumers A study showed that more than 70% of consumers know little or nothing about farming. The percent was about equal with those who claim their purchase decisions rely on how the food was grown or raised. Since they don’t know much about agriculture, they rely mostly on the media.

Food Prices in U.S. Only about 10% of families budgets in the U.S. are spent on food Over 50 percent of a families budget is spent on food in developing countries

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than 3 million members and supporters. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which they think the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in the clothing trade, in laboratories, and in the entertainment industry. They also work on a variety of other issues, including the “cruel” killing of beavers, birds, and other "pests" as well as cruelty to domesticated animals

PETA Continued…

Yahoo Yahoo posted an article in 2012 rating agriculture degrees #1 for most useless. The public is so uneducated that they don’t understand that no other industry can provide the necessities our population needs to survive except agriculture

Chipotle Played a commercial during the grammys claiming they are anti agriculture. The commercial showed animals running free on grassland and was called “Back to the Start.” According to Chipotle, animals are being mistreated and should be raised like they used to be. They are also against any antibiotics and hormones. Chipotle advertises there food as being from well raised animals.

Little do they know… Indoor housing and medications are cructial in modern swine production. Animals are more exposed to disease outside and pigs will fight with each other when in large groups running free with each other to prove dominance. The system that fed the world 50 years ago is not sufficient to use now with 7 billion people in the world.

Chipotle All together, this commercial was made because people are uneducated about agriculture, they have no idea how it really works. Chipotle, like any company, is advertising a fantasy. Coca-cola has smiling polar bears, Old Spice has manly men and Chipotle has a cartoon farm.

Educating the public If the public does not get educated about the basics of agriculture, there won’t be an end to agriculture but there likely could be an end to how we know agriculture now and how we live it