b"People will want to know about your product if you give them a reason to do so. If you can engage with people rather than trying to educate them and find reasons for them to care, its a lot more productive, Phillips says.He points to the Amazon Prime show Clarksons Farm. On the show, former Top Gear TV show host Jeremy Clarkson shares the struggles he faces trying to run a farm he owns in the United Kingdom. Few people want to just sit down and watch a 30-minute program on the highs and lows of agriculture in the UK. But certainly, put a celebrity in front of it and then people end up watching something for entertainment and inadvertently learn along the way without realizing it, Phillips says.Phillips also found himself learning about the difficulties of balancing the economic and environmental components of agriculture. Theres currently a lot of discussion and marketing (L-R) Nova Scotia Nuffield Scholar Lauren Park and Mark Phillipscampaigns focusing on sustainability in agriculture. However not all inspect potatoes and honey at the Goat Shed farmers market.these sustainability campaigns consider the economics of agriculture.PHOTO: MARK PHILLIPS A saying I heard a lot in New Zealand was Its hard to farm green when you're in the red. Having more farmers involved in those conversations, there's a lot more opportunity to come up with successful metrics to work towards sustainability, Phillips explains.Another aspect of agriculture that could be harming the industry as whole Phillips found during his studies was competitive marketing campaigns. For example, sometimes organic products will be marketed as being better than conventional, which can cause consumers to start doubting conventional farming.The same approach doesnt really exist with large brands, like Nike or Adidas. Nike doesn't start their basketball shoe ad with, You're not going to break your ankle wearing these shoes which you might do with Reebok. Basically, just casting doubt on the other product and saying how bad it is, Phillips says, adding these companies will instead focus on highlighting the positives of their product without casting doubt on their competitors.However, some agricultural marketing focuses on what the product is not, Phillips says. He explains that by doing this it can cause people to feel uncomfortable when they arent able to buy that premium food product they had beforethis can create distrust of agriculture as a whole.There are ways to reach consumers though and create trust though, Phillips found. In agriculture there can be a tendency to preach to the choir by being part of events or online communities with others who work in ag. Phillips instead recommends that to reach consumers those working in ag should be focus on taking part in events and promotions that may not typically feature agriculture.In Ireland, Phillips was able to take in an event called Bloom that draws over 100,000 people annually. Bloom originally started as a flower show but has since grown to include a food component.People arent going to Bloom to learn about farming or experience food or discuss anything to do with food production in Ireland. But its become a big component of the festival. They go to the flower show because its kind of an Instagramable event everyone wants to be a part of and then they kind of unintentionally learn along the way about things like their Origin Green program, which is Irelands agricultural sustainability program, he explains.Mark Phillips stands with Mr. Tayto, the mascot for Tayto brand potato crisps, at World Potato Congress in Dublin, Ireland in 2022.Irelands Origin Green is an established program that explains PHOTO: MARK PHILLIPS sustainability to consumers and includes branding on food 36SPUDSMART.COMWinter 2024"