As of right now, the terms “Swine flu” and “#swineflu” are trending at positions 2 and 6 on Twitter. The term “H1N1” is trending in the 10th spot. I think that shows that as much as we’d like to think that everyone, media included, would call this what it is, it’s not happening. This thing blew up way too fast and is now branded in the public psyche. It has meant serious problems for hog producers. However, we shouldn’t give up and in fact, we’ve got an opportunity to do something about it by taking advantage of our new media tools to “get our message out.” How you might ask? Well, get busy and tweet, post on your blog or website and join in this online conversation and make a difference. Here’s an example of how Trent Loos, Faces of Agriculture, is doing it. He’s launching the “Pork On A Fork” campaign to immediately increase demand for pork and I support it and hope you will to. Pass it along.

Here is my plan. I believe we truly need to connect the dots not only for our overzealous lawmakers but for media and consumers globally. You know it has been said that the best way to anybody’s heart is through their stomach. I am launching a campaign and encouraging all people who eat food to enter the Faces Of Agriculture-sponsored event called “Pork on a Fork.”

Click here (pdf) to find out how you can participate

You can listen to Trent talk about it here: pork-on-a-fork.mp3

The photo above is Trent’s girls Libbi and Lindsi eating a bone-in ham.