PUBLIC ISSUES EDUCATION CENTER SERVES AG AND NATURAL RESOURCES

By Barbara Wunder, FFVA communications manager

When a major agricultural organization wanted to know how best to use social media with its members and the general public, it called on the PIE Center. When the animal agriculture industry wanted to gauge the effectiveness of its recruitment efforts, it called on the PIE Center. And when the Florida Farm Bureau wanted to know how people reacted to certain terms and phrases used to describe agriculture-related topics, it put the PIE Center to work.

The Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources, or PIE Center for short, has an interesting and difficult job to do. It finds answers. Then it passes the word along.

Conceived about three years ago during a strategic planning session of the University of Florida’s Agricultural Education and Communication Department, the center seeks to provide research and program solutions for agriculture and natural resources. It was designed to help resolve contentious public issues by providing solid research, education and outreach.

“We’re here because there is a lack of awareness and understanding of agriculture and natural resources and how those two things are connected. There is a real need to promote civic engagement and to provide stakeholders with tools to get out there and talk about what’s important to them and spread a positive message,” said Dr. Tracy Irani, the center’s director.

The center has had a recent growth spurt. Thanks to federal stimulus funding, Irani hired two staff members, Christy Chiarelli and Becky Raulerson. Both are University of Florida graduates with industry backgrounds and master’s degrees from the Agriculture Education and Communication Department.

Dr. Tracy Irani serves as director of the Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“We have a lot of expertise, which I think distinguishes us from other kinds of centers that start out in the academic setting. We have two professional staff members conducting the business of the center,” Irani said.

The three have been busy. They have worked on behalf of the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association, the Heartland Agriculture Coalition, the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and others. They also have partnered with the Wedgworth Leadership Institute and will be conducting a workshop at its annual meeting this summer. They also are partnering with the Florida Natural Resources Leadership Initiative on developing public issues training for county extension faculty across the state.

Something a little different

An opportunity to educate the public about agriculture and natural resources presented itself in April at the Florida Food Summit, held at the university and sponsored by UF’s Office for Sustainability. The center took a somewhat different approach by creating a media retrospective featuring images of Florida agriculture. Using archival photos and the work of photographer Carlton Ward, the exhibit conveyed a positive message in a way that conventional research presentations can’t.

“The idea of utilizing art and photography to tell the story of agriculture is a powerful, emotional thing,” said Irani. “We tend to utilize rational, science-based information when we talk about ag and natural resources, yet the emotional aspects are equally important. If we can convey some of those emotional aspects through something like art, I think that’s a great thing.” The exhibit was a hit, and Irani said the center may take it on the road for display at venues throughout the state.

Spotlight on agriculture commissioner candidates

Another effort underway is an interactive issues guide featuring the candidates for Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The center interviewed four major candidates using research-based questions to gauge each candidate’s perspectives on agriculture and natural resources issues. View the guide here.

“The candidates are also responding to a second round of questions that will be used for an accompanying blog. Each candidate will get a week of blogging that will be set up off of our website,” said Irani. The participating candidates have agreed not only to post their answers but to engage those who comment on the blog.

“We don’t think that an interactive voter education project such as this one has ever been tried with a race like the one for agriculture commissioner,” said Irani. “We’re pretty excited about that, and of course we will be disseminating information gathered through various channels. It would be great if the various associations and other industry groups could help get the word out by linking the issues guide to their websites and using it to help educate their members and others,” she added.

Looking toward the future, Irani says she hopes to work with funds from USDA/FDACS specialty crops grants. “We applied for two grants – one would be for efforts to help small farms and the other is focused on nutrient management public education. We hope they will be funded,” Irani said.

She is upbeat about additional projects, especially those focused on natural resources. “We are very excited to have a great deal of support from our stakeholders. People are becoming more and more aware of what we are doing and how important it is to be able to have the facts behind the story of agriculture and natural resources. It’s a great story and we’re honored to be a part of it.”