In just 10 months, the Real Pork Trust Consortium (RPTC) has conducted 26 listening sessions, held 18 trainings, impacted 420 students, reached 1,714 pork producers and allied industry partners, and had 865 website visits along with 13,942 social media impressions. It’s the beginning of a concerted effort to increase trust and confidence in pork production and provide the tools and knowledge to protect the industry’s freedom to operate.
As director of the RPTC, Nicholas Gabler, professor of animal science at Iowa State University, is leading the charge to meet the ever-growing need for training, extension and outreach, research, science education and communication. The RPTC puts these important priorities under one umbrella.
Gabler and other leaders of the consortium shared their priorities with producers at the 2024 World Pork Expo, and discussed how they plan to provide the tools and knowledge to protect producers’ freedom to operate.
“There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about pork so we’re doing gap analyses to see if there is evidence to support the information or if they are, in fact, myths,” Gabler says. “Is the research [behind the information] peer-reviewed and published? Feeding this information back to the National Pork Board will help us develop research targets.”
The consortium has launched a social media platform but it’s presently more producer-focused to make sure industry players are aware of what RPTC is doing on their behalf.
“We’ve conducted listening sessions with consumers on both coasts, specifically around food safety concerns and how healthy pork is for them,” says Alexa Lamm, professor of ag leadership, education and communication at the University of Georgia.
There are loud groups that have a lot of influence with consumers, she adds, but that’s understandable because “the food we eat is the most personal choice we make every day and we have to communicate effectively about food. Doing that in a scientific connotation is not an easy task.”
Consumers around the world are diverse, says Lamm. “We’re creating consumer personas so we can find the best way to reach different groups of consumers and make information personally relevant to them.”
Pedro Urriola, assistant professor of animal science at the University of Minnesota, is also involved with the RPTC. He says consumers want to know about food safety and antibiotic use.
“We have different areas of research that follow the WeCare ethical principles because the industry will continue to evolve,” Urriola says.
Katie Sanders, assistant professor in animal science at North Carolina State University is focusing on training the next generation. She works with the National Pork Board’s Real Pork Scholars program, noting that in the fall of 2023, “We primed our scholars around the WeCare principles and started to ground them in scientific research and training.
“Students are passionate about the research they’re doing,” she continues. “But we really have to connect with folks to make sure the science resonates with them.”
To address that issue, she brings in the foundations of communication through speakers who work closely with the industry to implement sound communication practices.
“We’re plugging into educational opportunities,” says Sanders. “We’re looking at the trainings taking place and the gaps where the consortium can offer support.”
Context is Important, notes Urriola, and consumers need to understand the complexities of pork production. “We’re trying to improve our way of thinking about the issues in pork production,” he says. For example, producers have eradicated important diseases and consumers need to know that.”
The consortium has held listening sessions in Iowa, Minnesota and North Carolina. Producers are concerned about public perceptions but generally speaking, they’re hesitant to lead the charge due to occasional negative feedback.
“We’re giving them ideas for ways to share their stories,” says Sanders. “Farm tours, both physical and virtual, will help get them into urban settings. We’ve held training meets to help them interact with journalists and we help them develop stories that are relationship-building. There are concerns about animal welfare and we’re working to simplify the research findings.”
It’s not an easy solution, says Lamm. “Public trust in science is at an all-time low but trust in the ag industry is rising because people trust farmers. When we ask consumers where they get their information, they say they Google it, or they get it from their family doctor. Doctors aren’t nutritionists… so we need to work with that community.”
The consortium has an advisory board that is independent of the National Pork Board, explains Gabler. “We’re entrusted with producers’ checkoff dollars so we want to make sure producers are involved. We bounce questions off them regarding research and/or training programs.
“We want to be responsive to industry needs,” he continues. “We have a clear direction but if something comes up that we need to address, we have that built-in flexibility.”
We will be uniting together June 3-8 for PORK Week across all of our Farm Journal platforms to elevate the important role the pork industry plays in feeding the world. Share your stories and post photos on social media using #PORKWeek to help us honor the pork industry. From “AgDay TV” to “AgriTalk” to “U.S. Farm Report” to PorkBusiness.com and everything in between, tune in and join us as we acknowledge the most noble profession there is: feeding people.
