A Food Marketer’s Take on the Sustainable Agriculture Summit

I’ve spent nearly 30 years at MorganMyers helping our Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands and retail clients in the food industry navigate and succeed with their B2B and B2C communications. It’s no surprise that social responsibility and prioritizing sustainability are becoming increasingly important for food companies. To continue leading in the food space, I have to keep learning, which is how I found myself at the 2022 Sustainable Agriculture Summit in Arizona.

We have great agriculture expertise at MorganMyers. However, this was my first deep exposure to the agricultural side of food chain sustainability. My goal was to listen, learn and network with food companies, retailers, suppliers, ag commodity groups, and farmers who share a passion for sustainability.

I was intrigued and unsure of what I would hear, what would dominate discussions, and how the Summit would impact my opinions and perspectives. Here are some of the most pressing topics covered and my reactions:

1) An inspiring way to look at sustainability

The Summit is a provocative, informative, and inspiring look at the state of sustainability in agriculture. There were global perspectives, sharing of innovative on-farm practices for tracking progress against objectives, and a focus on diversity of our next generation of farmers.

My biggest takeaway as a food marketer: A quantifiable focus on sustainability, from an environmental to a social equity standpoint, continues to grow. Can CPG brands do even better? According to what I heard, absolutely. But as someone who has always counseled clients on building on and highlighting meaningful sustainability initiatives, this gives me hope that those efforts will only get stronger.

2) A measured response to Climate-Smart programs

Coming on the heels of the recent announcement of USDA investing more than $3.1 billion in Climate-Smart Commodities programs, I anticipated a great deal of discussion around this topic. I was wrong. While there was some mention of these recent developments, my take is attendees and those receiving grants, often one and the same, consider those programs still in early stages of gestation and not ready to be the focus of in-depth conversation and debate.

My biggest takeaway as a food marketer: The overall energy and mood ran the gamut of unbridled positivity around future potential to very sincere and pragmatic analysis and reflection around the challenges of our current state, recognizing the very real need for change and yet struggling to define its catalyst. The Summit platform spotlighted very real issues we face. Issues like climate change, the critical link between social equity and environmental challenges, and water shortage.

3) The future of water scarcity

Given the location of the event in Glendale, Arizona, it should not be surprising a great deal of discussion was paid to that final issue, including conversations related to water scarcity, ongoing droughts, wildfires, and labor shortages. A dire picture was painted of the near-term ramifications of these challenges and the short supply of solutions, leading to expressions of frustration and concern.

My biggest takeaway as a food marketer: We know the issue at hand and it’s going to take the whole supply chain getting in sync to effectively respond. Future generations and our current population need us to get this right.

4) U.S. impact on global ag markets

Dan Basse with AgResource Company closed out the event with a compelling overview of ag markets. He outlined shifting focus areas and talked about America’s position and role in a larger global market. It was an engaging session I would liken to an emotional rollercoaster, a rollercoaster ag professionals likely know all too well. As an audience, we were confronted with stark facts leading to a precarious feeling of despair only to be resurrected by inspiring data that paints a strong picture of thriving domestic ag markets and a healthy American food system.

My biggest takeaway as a food marketer: Despite recent food price increases, we know Americans spend a smaller percentage of their income on food than people in other countries. We’ll really have a point of pride if we can reduce the environmental footprint of that food, so we remain leaders globally.

Was the 2022 Sustainable Agriculture Summit what I expected? No. Did it deliver? Yes! I listened. I learned. I met passionate people and I left inspired to find answers to challenges and issues shared throughout the food chain, from farm to table. American agriculture is aware of the issues we face; this is nothing new. And as always, we’re up to the challenge of finding ways to innovate and adapt to the needs of our food chain’s ever-changing landscape. What’s good for the climate is good for agriculture.

MorganMyers has deep roots in the food and agriculture marketing spaces. We’ve helped brands adapt to change and create it. We’ve reached audiences that seem unreachable. We’ve built groundbreaking ideas from scratch and re-energized the familiar. We know how to create movement that is authentic, resonates with target audiences, and drives exceptional results. We’d love to hear about your communications challenges and discuss how we can help – reach out to our team here.