Another terrific blog post from the aptly named Rob Smart, who's on a real tear (he also had post picked up by Huffington post). In today's installment, he delivers a definition of his brain child "movement," Pro Food, which might be seen as a community-focused, farmer friendly, more inclusive organic/sustainable/local food initiative aimed at communicating these ideals to the mainstream. In a positive way. Rob says:

One thing is clear, we can no longer allow [industrial food and agriculture] to control the dialog, but fighting fire with fire, especially the use of fear to influence consumer behavior, doesn’t sit well, and would probably be less effective than other approaches. To that end I’ve attempted to define the concept of “Pro Food” based on a set of core principles that get at the heart of why I and others are dedicated to driving these principles into mainstream culture through communications and alternative food systems.

I find this intriguing because, as I said in a comment over at Rob's post, the default organic/sustainable narrative has included a conventional agriculture villain. Now, obviously a blogger in a wrestling mask who frequently writes about industrial food "villains" that he names King Corn, Big Organic, and CAFO the Great is going to stick to the preconception that big industrialfood/ag need to be fought, not catered to. They are known to fight dirty. and with a very popular documentary totally kicking ass in theaters, it's not likely that the Monsantos and Syngentas will sit on their hands: The national food fight is about to get dirtier and bloodier very soon, methinks.

But let's get the message into the mainstream by any means necessary, says me, so there's something to be said for discussion, democratic participation, and a more open narrative, as Rob is proposing. For example, he says Pro Food is:

Inclusive -- Everybody is part of Pro Food, since everyone can gain from its success.

Absolutely. No one in the world wants tasteless food, unhealthy food, or food that renders farmers sick or indebted. That's a great place to begin discussing how we can all benefit from sustainable foods and farming, especially with open-minded conventional farmers.

Because, in my mind, part of an inclusivity strategy could also involve circulating more stories from farmers who've made the jump from conventional or even large-scale industrial agriculture to sustainable farming: Former industrial ag farmers like Russ Kremer, who was profiled in FRESH THE MOVIE,  or former row crop farmer Tom Frantzen, who was struck by hearing the pope talk about stewardship and started experimenting with more sustainable ways to farm, or David Minar who decided to grass-feed his animals after a scary exposure to herbicides. I think the more our Pro Food discussion includes sustainable farmers who can communicate with conventional farmers, the less we deal with what Rob has called a knowledge gap (and concordant communication gaps) between farmers and consumers.

As I said, I don't think Big Ag is going to sit around for much longer and let documentaries like FOOD, INC or sustainable celebrities like Michael Pollan takes swipes at them without a response. The more we can include interested, open, and curious conventional farmers into our discussions, the better to get our message out on a viral, person-by-person, eater-by-eater, farmer-by-farmer level.

But I'm still wearing the wrestling mask. Just in case.