Where a Majority of Americans Get Their Ag News

It is difficult for those of us who live out West among vast expanses of agriculture to comprehend that the closest many fellow Americans will ever get to a working farm could be their local farmers market. I for one find it a travesty that the majority of in the US are now generations removed from farming. The direct result of this demographic shift means that issues affecting the livelihoods of people dependant on production agricultural now fail to make the front page or business section of many metro papers. Instead today's consumers learn about food in the weekly food section of the newspaper or lifestyle magazines from a small "elite" group of food editors typically trained in an urban environment. In fact one activist lobbying for fewer farm chemicals was thrilled to receive a barrage of support after being mentioned by one food writer. Incidents like this concern ag industry professionals who fear this new media coverage may negatively impact future farm policy in Washington. I'm Susan Allen and this is Food Forethought.