Fake news. Alternative facts. Different truths.
With the state the of news lately, it can be hard enough separating facts from fiction and sorting through all the muck. The situation has allegedly gotten so bad that several Internet giants have set up methods of detecting the fake and promoting the real. Facebook and Google are the most prominent websites entering into the mythbusting business.
But agriculture has been subject to the fake news problem for quite a while now. In fact, combating that fake news is precisely why I started writing, blogging, and advocating. We have snake oil salesmen trying to promote alternative therapies. We have activist groups promoting certain production labels over other supposedly “dangerous” methods. We even have cute little phrases like “farm to table” and “local” to imply superiority. As if we didn’t have enough confusion, the food-consuming public is being inundated with these conflicting messages daily.
So, how can consumers make sure they are getting good, reliable information about agriculture, farming and food production? Here are a few suggestions.
Finish reading here.
[This article was originally published on AGDAILY as a guest column.]
