NFU campaign flies the flag for public image of British farming
UK - A new public relations campaign that will seek to reverse decades of negative publicity for farming has been launched by the National Farmers’ Union.The ‘Why Farming Matters’ campaign will put farmers ‘on the front foot’ as far as their public image is concerned, union president Peter Kendall pledged at the London launch event on Monday.
Negative perceptions of farmers linked to subsidies, perceived environmental damage, disease outbreaks and the GM debate have tended to outweigh the positives in recent decades. This, it is felt, has damaged the industry commercially and politically.
“For far too long the importance of farming in Britain has been at best taken for granted and at worst written off as irrelevant and out-of-date,” said Mr Kendall.
“We believe that for all sorts of reasons, ranging from the security of our food supplies, the quality of our environment and rural economy and the battle against climate change, this is a dangerous notion that needs to be challenged.”
The campaign will aim to show ‘what farmers can do for the country’ in terms of supplying it with high quality, safe food and acting as a ‘force for good in the countryside’.
Source: Farmers Guardian