U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) & Missouri Farmers Care brought the Food Dialogues to Columbia, Missouri. Expert panelists discussed animal welfare, livestock handling, conventional vs. non-conventional farming and much more. The purpose was to simply start conversations with consumers about where their food comes from and how it is produced.

Dan Kleinsorge, Executive Director for Missouri Farmers Care, spoke with me after the event and shared that the goal was to bring the consumer and the farmer closer together. That goal was met and the hope is consumers will have a better understanding of the food system. Dan also shared that they are working on some exciting things that will be unveiled in the upcoming year.

“I think there are two take home messages from the food dialogues. One is we’ve got to keep having these dialogues. We’ve got to keep promoting ourselves and keep talking about what we are doing, why we are doing it and how we are doing it. And do a better job explaining agriculture to the public. The other take away is that the conversation is not going away. This is something that people have really keyed in to these days and it’s going to be a big issue from years to come.”

Listen to my complete interview with Dan here: Interview with Dan Kleinsorge

Don’t worry if you missed the live stream of the event. The archived videos can soon be found on Missouri Farmers Care & USFRA’s YouTube Channels. You can also search the hashtag #FoodD to find out what those who watched it live had to say.