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Simon Sinek--Start With Why-Maggi's Falls Short On Twiiter With Their Food Safety Crisis Response

I've been saying it--we are all media companies now and we all need a "damage control strategy" for social media because anyone can be publicly shamed on the web. Part of that begins with knowing our big WHY.

Maggi's has a great brand with a great history but has a bit of food safety crisis that's been complicated by a bit of a flat footed social media/twitter response:

Maggi's Social Media Woes

There is a big lesson here, if you can check out Simon Sinek's great YouTube clip on Start With Why it becomes clear why they are having big problems on Twitter.

As he would say,  everyone can tell you what they do, a few people can tell you how they do what they do, but great leaders and the companies they create can tell you WHY.

In their damage control, Maggis' says what they did to make safe food, they certainly said how they do it, What they didn't to is the most important--the thing their customers want to know-- they didn't say WHY they make food safe? Why do they make safe food? Why are they going to fix this?

Hint--AS Sinek would say, "WHY-HOW-WHAT"Because we are passionate about producing healthy safe foods, and we want to be worthy of your trust because we care and make safe food and we are employing our best technology and knowledge to create healthy food, and we are recalling the product and examining our processes to make sure it doesn't happen again and you can eat our food.

WHY--HOW--WHAT

Start With Why Simon Sinek Ted Talk

That might have worked..

 

 

Fenway Hits A Home Run With Organic Rooftop Garden

Modern Farmer recently reported that the largest rooftop organic garden in the lineup belongs to Fenway Park.
Fenway Has Largest Organic Rooftop Garden

Runner up kudos go to the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies. But, at 4,320 square feet it appears Fenway has so far hit it the farthest.

Since California and water have been much on my mind as of late, I have to point out 2 out of 4 of the Majors rooftop gardens are in California--go figure.

What's The Difference Between A Farm And A Factory? NPR Story On The Peach And The Food Revolution.

NPR's story, The Family Peach Farm That Became A Symbol Of  The Food Revolution is truly powerfully illuminating.

NPR The Peach And The Food Revolution

 So what's the diff between a farm and a factory? A farm has a soul that can be saved or lost. It's a living system that breathes and drinks water and from life produces life that sustains us all.

This is the story about a family with a lot of soul and the farm they created. It's about a Japanese-American family that was interned but bought a farm and kept it in a country that wasn't sure whether it wanted them or not.

 These were tough folks indeed. And they had a lot of soul. So, it bears repeating, The difference between a farm and a factory is that a farm has a soul that can lost or saved, and things with souls mean something, and the fact they have souls means something.

Factories make a lot of things, but they don't make  much meaning because meaning requires soul and few factories have souls. And that's the difference that makes all the difference. In fact, I bet you can taste it in the peaches.

New York Times Grass Fed Beef-- White Oaks

The New York Times article on grass fed beef is a great article that covers all the high spots:

New York Times Grass Fed Beef

It has all the essential elements of the great debate on grass fed, and talks about the most important issues--processing.

Granted these people solved their processing problem--great---more power to them. They also had millions of dollars in an asset base. How do I know that? Because a bank was willing to lend them money so that means they don't fit the profile of "the starving artist farmer" they talk about.

But, given all that, it's still a success story for local food because compared to the Cargill's  of the world White Oaks is a "starving artist type". The ante for the Cargill-Smithfeild game is billions with a b, not millions with an m. 

So, the real point is that despite it all, White Oaks is in the processing game. When the ante to be a food purveyor like a Smithfield is 5 billion, and you can get in the game for less than a 100 million that is just as much a success story as being able to drive your pickup from Woosung, Illinois to Chicago to sell organic "taters". The only difference is the zeros. The issues are the same.

 

 

 

The New York Times Covered Gabe Brown And Soil Health

Need I say more than the title--The New York Times Covered Gabe Brown And Soil Health.

There's news, and then there's news, and then there's news because its news.

When the New York Times covers soil health, the news is that soil health is news.

Really, those in food and ag may know nations rise and fall on their top soil but when mainstream urban ag covers food and agriculture (when it's not a crisis), that's news.

 

Farmers Put Down The Plow For More Productive Soil

Farm Hack Open Source-A Radical Idea/ Who Owns The Technology Owns The Future of Ag

 Its instructive to look back to be able to look forward. Intellectual property ownership in farming technology has always been a flahpoint.

The Open Source Farm Hack crowd is participating in a rich history filled fight over who owns what in the world of farming technology:

Farm Hack Open Source

 

One of the cases that most influenced Abraham Lincoln's career as a lawyer was about a farm reaper:

 Lincoln and the McCormick-Manny Case

 People have always understood on some level who owns the intellectual property, owns the technology and who owns the technology owns the future of farming.

 

 

Which Food And Ag Culture Are You Driving? I Know Which One I Am--Seth Godin On Video And Culture

Seth Godin is to say the least a clever fellow--dozens of books, thousands of blog subscribers, and the "Thoughtleader Global First In Class Gold Plated T-shirt"  to prove it.

 But, He's never been more right than with his last post on the transformative power of video:

 How We Watch Video Now

To quote the master:

"Everything that's watched has always been watched through the worldview of the watcher. And video (and before that, movies and TV) has driven the culture. That culture-driving ability now belongs to anyone who can make a video that the right people choose to watch."

 So what kind of food and ag culture do you want your video to drive on the new "we are the media" superhighway? My thoughts are a food and ag culture that leads to an empowered well fed population on a (more or less) permanently sustainable planet is where we should go.  What do you all think?

 

Congratulations To The Chicago Farmers For Another Good Event--Farmland Forum 2015 Went Off Well

I haven't looked at the numbers or penciled out the break evens yet, but I am counting The 2015 The Chicago Farmers Farmland Forum as a success. People came, speakers spoke, and exhibitors exhibited. And we didn't have a blizzard.

 Jeff Martin, Matt and Eric Rund. Beth. Jennifer and Michelle and the exhibitors and members who make it possible deserve great thanks, as do Bill Johnson and Mary from Joliet Junior. Thanks to Patrick Boland for videotaping as well.

Whatever the numbers look like, I am convinced there is value in the Forum/Fair because it does what The Chicago Farmers does best. As my friend and fellow past President Joan Centlivre put it so well: The Chicago Farmers  has been putting people around luncheon tables to connect and learn about farmland for over 80 years.

 And as I always say, learning about and understanding farmland only matters if you're fond of eating.

Howard G. Buffett Foundation/ Farm Journal Features Martin Family Farms: "Martin Family Farms Saves Soil"

Congratulations to Martin Family Farms for being featured as soil savers in Howard Buffett's Farm Journal collaboration on Harvesting The Potential. Few families I know of have done more than the Martin's with conservation: "The Martins have planted more than 500,000 trees and shrubs and have planted many of the CRP acres in Logan County.

Martin Family Farms

I'm not sure that shouldn't read most of the CRP acres in Logan County--a half a million shrubs and trees is a lot….

Dan Towery, the nationally recognized expert, is working with the Martin's, and things are looking good for their options. These are fascinating options (if you're into cover crops), and the fact that they are planting cover crops is a good thing. I remember a couple of year ago, I was flying over the Midwest in the winter, and looked down over miles of good black dirt completely exposed and unprotected to wind erosion. It was just waiting to blow away. And, I thought that's just wrong. It's like leaving the keys in your car outside a liquor store in a bad neighborhood with a 100 dollar bill on the dashboard--if you liked having it  you should have locked it  down and covered it up better.

 

 

Wired Article "New High-Tech Farm Equipment Is a Nightmare for Farmers"

So how often does Wired Magazine cover farm equipment?

Wired High Tech Farm Equipment Nightmare For Farmers

The article makes a stunningly effective point about ag equipment. Now it's so complex farmers can't work on their own equipment because it doesn't require wrenches it requires proprietary software information, diagnostics and passwords only the manufacturer has.

Here's the quote that sums it up:

“[DIY repair] is cheaper than calling out the technician. But that information is just not out there,” said Dave the Farmer.

 So if the seed is proprietary now and can't be saved, and the equipment can't be worked on because all the software and diagnostics are propriety and the farmland is rented, what does the farmer really get to own at the end of the day?