Big Agriculture wants to reach millennials, but it started a food fight in the process
By Lydia DePillis
May 14 at 11:14 am
The poster accompanying the Animal Agriculture Alliance's summit. (Lydia DePillis/The Washington Post)
The poster accompanying the Animal Agriculture Alliance's summit. (Lydia DePillis/The Washington Post)
Late last week, hundreds of farmers -- or at least their representative trade groups -- gathered in a yawning Crystal City ballroom in Northern Virginia to figure out what to do about Kids These Days. "Cracking the Millennial Code," the Animal Agriculture Alliance had titled its 2014 conference. And speakers really took the mission to heart.
"Going to get a quick selfie in before the speech," chirped millennial marketing consultant Jeff Fromm, snapping a picture of himself at the podium. "Want to make sure we keep trending! Go ahead, we're at a millennial conference!" In the ensuing presentation, he tried to communicate that this generation is…different.
"You do not have a target audience with millennials!" he exhorted the room full of protein purveyors. "You have a consumer as a partner!"
But wait: Does the livestock industry really have a problem with the 20-something demographic? Are more of them becoming vegetarian than their parents? Do they eat fewer hamburgers and chicken sandwiches?
Probably not, according to recent polls. Young people like their steaks as much as their parents do, it seems.
"This is a generation that, studies would indicate, loves to grill," said John Sticka, president of Certified Angus Beef, which manages a brand supplied by 25,000 cattle breeders. "This could be the generation that solidifies the grill as a year-round cooking appliance."
However, they do want to know more about their food, now that the average person grows up with almost no understanding of how it's grown. ... "
Late last week, hundreds of farmers -- or at least their representative trade groups -- gathered in a yawning Crystal City ballroom in Northern Virginia
What a strange expression. "a yawning Crystal City ballroom"? WTF? Over.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Hey, if you had been to Crystal City, you would know how boring it can be! Best thing about it is the bike path on the river and the rail line that will take you to Arlington and on into D.C.
You mean like the sort of "yawning interior space" that would produce "ideas" like, "the Poles weren't victims of the Nazis", "the British have had a fourth-rate navy since the American Revolution", "Ronald Reagan was responsible for the Oklahoma City Bombing" and "our miscalculations about Vladimir Putin are all George W. Bush's fault"?
Heeyyyyyyyyy - I worked in Crystal City a lifetime ago! It's actually not as bad as one would think. Although the best part was the cool little neighborhood just on its border, up 23rd street. And the Pentagon.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
