Advocate: (v) to speak or write in favour of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly
Educate: (v) give intellectual, moral, and social instruction to (someone, esp. a child), typically at a school or university.
If you follow any agriculture social media you might be familiar with the term “agvocate”. If you haven’t heard of the term before, to “agvocate” is to be a advocate for agriculture. There has been some debate lately whether we as farmers should “agvocate”. I did an interview recently while I was at FarmTech and one of the questions was how do I feel about agvocating. I initially said that I do it, but it’s not for everyone. As time wore on, I began thinking, do I actually advocate for agriculture, or am I trying to educate people?
My main goal of this website is to do the latter–provide information (educate) to people about what we do. More and more I’m having a hard time with the word “Agvocate”, especially when I think of being an advocate as someone who urges by argument. We as farmers shouldn’t be urging people into information about agriculture by arguing with them. However, I find on social media this is what seems to take place too often, whether it is intended or not.
We need to be quiet and listen to what the person is saying. If they are asking questions, answer them. If myths are being stated, provide the person with data that dispels the myth. If we don’t know the answer to their question, point them in the direction of someone who might. We need to keep people from “Googling” answers because I feel that is how myths and misinformation gets spread. These are just a few simple tips that we can use to help educate people about agriculture.
Not everyone is meant to be an agvocate, but we can all educate.
I agree, as I wrote recently on my own blog, that not everyone should agvocate. Looking at the actual definitions, I guess I just assumed that education encompassed advocacy….certainly don’t want to ‘urge’ or ‘push’ agriculture on anyone, but there’s still a huge disconnect between the farmer and the consumer!
Thanks for commenting, Sarah. I agree that there is a huge disconnect between the farmer & consumer. I’m hoping to reach a few people with my blog, website & being present at farmers markets, listening to what they have to say, answering questions, and dispelling any myths.
Advocate also means to speak or write in support of a cause. It doesn’t have to incite argument. So why don’t why Agvocate and Educate! Education on Agriculture, or any subject matter is essential for growth; weighing options, seeing all sides and perspectives, so that we can avoid misinformation. Nice post, thanks, Jill.
Thanks Deanna! I tend to view the advocating like yourself. But as I said, there are too many out there that are arguing for their side. I totally agree that if we showcase all sides and aspects we can avoid misinformation. Thanks for checking out my blog & commenting!
Great post, Jill! This is such a highly discussed issue – I actually prefer to use the word engage instead of educate. It’s great to have these kind of conversations to gauge what others are thinking!
Thanks Brandi! Yes, engage is another powerful word to use when talking about conversations like this! Thanks for reading & the comment!
This is how we improve and move forward – opening the door to conversations 🙂
I wrote a similar post a few years back about ‘consumer’ and ‘educate’.
http://buzzardsbeat.blogspot.com/2012/05/consumer-is-word.html
Interesting to look at the definitions of advocate and educate. I always have preferred saying advocate because I don’t like it if someone says that they need to educate me. Nonetheless, I agree that people shouldn’t be arguing. Everyone needs to listen!
Thanks for the comment Val! I agree that listening is key and we also need to respect the other side even if we don’t agree personally with it. Not only with agriculture issues, but it’s a great life lesson in general! 🙂
What a nice job on your blog post. I, too, have issues with how the agvocate definition can be turned by opponents into a bad thing. But so can “education” and sometimes I feel like when we (ag community) talk education people tend to get turned off because education means they are ignorant of how farming is done. Does that make sense?
The problem is there’s so much “education” on farming from non-farming types.
I tend to try to use the term “insight” instead of “educate” because I love it when people give me insight into what they do. I know it’s just semantics but sometimes it means a lot.
Thanks again for such a thoughtful post and I look forward to reading more.
You bring up some good points! I tend to think of advocate the same way Deanna does, but totally agree that many argue instead.
I really like what you said about listening. That is so important!