I turned the first draft of the last chapter of my Master’s thesis in today! I’m sure I’ll share more about my thesis project with you as I get closer to defense time. My project focuses on how beef producers can effectively communicate with an urban public. For now, I’ll share one of my recommendations and a bit of my personal experience.

In my tactical recommendations for producers, I encourage them to advocate for agriculture in a variety of communication mediums – from printed letters to the editor and news media to the online environment and face-to-face communication. Social media in particular is a place I think is a good fit for “agvocacy” (agriculture + advocacy).

In my personal experience, social networking advocacy works. The Humane Society of the United States is an organization that – despite its misleading name – does not operate any animal shelters or spay and neuter clinics but does spend a considerable amount of its time and money lobbying against animal agriculture. From time to time, I utilize my personal Facebook page to share this with others. Below is a screen shot of an interaction where my friend Craig’s opinion of HSUS changed based on my Facebook advocacy. Craig is a law student specializing in administrative law with an interest in politics.  

I had a similiar interaction recently with my friend Tina, a Wichita nurse.