Reframing in the West.
This page is for a project currently underway. New information, tools, and additional resources will continue to be shared here--please continue to check back to stay connected with our work and our progress as we aim to bring FFNP findings to our peers on the West Coast.
Workshop Opportunity: Innovative Agricultural Communications
When: Tues 7/11, 1pm – Wed 7/12, 4pm (OR)
Tues 7/18 , 1pm – Wed 7/19, 4pm (CA)
Where: Best Western Agate Beach, Newport, OR
Asilomar Conference Ground, Pacific Grove, CA
Application link: application is closed.
Cost of registration: $100 (includes 1-night lodging and meals)
For financial or travel assistance please contact kgosch@redtomato.org.
Calling all ag voices who want to communicate more effectively about farming and food!
Does your work focus on building understanding with people outside the farming community? Do you want to have productive conversations about farming practices – sustainable, organic, conventional, regenerative, ecological – rather than experiencing a standoff or just arguing with people? Are you hungry for effective ways to convey the complexities of farming with people who have little experience with agriculture? Join us for a 1.5-day workshop to learn and practice using exciting new communication tools that can help you address the questions above and more.
This workshop is for Ag professionals, farmers, communicators, advocates, and policy makers who regularly engage with the public on food and farm issues. On July 11-12th 2023 in Newport, Oregon and July 18-19th in Monterey, California, we will share practices grounded in social science research (conducted by FrameWorks Institute and The Farming and Food Narrative Project) that explored the public's understanding of agriculture and effective ways to create understanding about unfamiliar farming topics. You will be able to share your most pressing communication challenges, engage with communication strategies that ‘reframe’ the conversation about good farming practices, and practice on your own materials. You will meet and connect with colleagues from your region facing similar challenges and can choose to join a follow-up community of learning. Our aim is that you leave feeling confident to employ new communications tools in your work.
About the Presenters:
Clare Sullivan,
Oregon State University
Jessica Moyer,
FrameWorks Institute
Michael Rozyne,
Red Tomato
Kelsey Gosch,
Red Tomato
Clare Sullivan is a soil scientist and agronomist with Oregon State University, and is project director for the “Reframing in the West” project. As an OSU Extension Agronomist (2014-2022), Clare worked closely with farmers from a wide range of Oregon’s specialty crop sectors, including: grass seed, mint, small fruits, grapes, cover crop seed, and organic vegetables. She values the diversity of agricultural systems that exist, and is passionate about sharing the complexities of farming.
Jessica Moyer, Ph.D. is an environmental sociologist and geographer who joined the FrameWorks team in 2017. As Senior Principal Strategist, she combines her experience as a civic-minded researcher with her passion for teaching and commitment to social justice
advocacy. Prior to joining FrameWorks, Jess worked with several different social,
environmental, and community arts organizations. She has conducted field research in Costa
Rica, Alaska, and the Philippines, and taught at universities in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Michael Rozyne is founder of Red Tomato, a regional food hub based in Providence, RI that sources from 40 mid-sized fruit and vegetable farms, and distributes primarily to supermarkets, as well as institutions such as schools, hospitals and food banks. RT’s signature program is EcoCertifiedTM, verifying local and sustainably-grown apples and peaches. He is manager of the Farming & Food Narrative Project, a social science research project aimed at effective communications with a public audience. In 1986, Rozyne co-founded the fair trade food company Equal Exchange, a worker-owned cooperative.
Kelsey Gosch is the Development Coordinator and FFNP Coordinator at Red Tomato. She is trained in environmental studies, economics, and engineering, but it is her experience working for a small community farm outside of Boston and as a research fellow in the Food Systems Planning & Healthy Communities Lab at the University at Buffalo that has driven her passion for using food and farming systems as a lever for equity.
Help us build a workshop and Reframing Farming Toolkit that best fit your communication needs.
If you are located in the western U.S. (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming), please consider filling out this needs assessment form so that we can best adapt our resources to the farming and communication contexts of your states. Link: https://beav.es/ShN (takes approximately 4 minutes).
About the Project
Bridging the Communication Gap: Toward a More Informed Public Understanding of Sustainable Farming
This project analyzes the gap between the public understanding of “sustainable farming,” and that of agricultural experts. Using a process called “Strategic Frame Analysis,” we create and test effective language and tools, and design trainings to help farm/food advocates communicate more effectively.
To ensure that findings are useful in the Western US, project leaders will engage with Western growers and practitioners to pinpoint current needs and challenges in explaining and elevating sustainable agriculture. Communications strategists and educators will use what we learn to design communication trainings and build a toolkit of communication resources.
Watch the video below to understand more about the Farming and Food Narrative Project:
Background
Resources
This project is nested within the national scope of the Farming and Food Narrative Project. Below are supporting resources to better understand the underlying research and framework that supports the SARE-funded work.
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The Landscape of Public Thinking About Farming: Mapping the Gaps between Expert and Public Understanding (2019)
Understanding the Conversation about Farming: An Analysis of Media and Field Communications (2020)
Reframing Farming: Strategies for Expanding Thinking About Agriculture (2022)
Project Partners
Oregon State University
Red Tomato
FrameWorks Institute
Create | Act
Workshop Cosponsors
University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
University of California Statewide IPM Program
Oregon State University
Funder
Western Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) Research & Education Grant Program
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2020-38640-31523 through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number SW21-928. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.