I agree with much of their message. I support energy independence, the need to develop alternative energy and even buying local produce but this is case-in-point why hardly any regular Americans listen to environmentalists.
TheWhoFarm, that’s who, a newly minted publicity-seeking environmental collective with an agrico-political mission: to persuade the 44th President of the U.S. — whoever that turns out to be — to transform the White House’s 17-acre lawn into an organic farm.
“We’re here to restore the edible landscape,” says Daniel Bowman Simon, 28, the group’s organizer and spokesperson and a young man given to making grand pronouncements. “We want to bring seeds of change back to the White House.”
So they are going to break the world record for standing in line for a product which happens to be the 3G IPhone. That means that this group instead of being productive members of society are camping out for a week to buy a $299 phone and are trying to get the President of the United States to turn the White House lawn into an organic farm. Just think about that for a second.
They do have a sustainable living message but it gets buried under a publicity stunt and the idea that they have the time and the means to wait in line for 7 days in order to buy a phone. They even got free publicity from Fortune magazine.
This is exactly why their message falls on dead ears with the majority of Americans. People that have to work for a living do not have the means to eat healthy foods which usually costs more, wait in lines in front of the Apple Store for 7 days, or even afford to buy 3 IPhones (their leader Daniel Bowman Simon is buying one for himself, one for Obama, and one for McCain.) How can people that are so divorced from reality like members of TheWhoFarm relate to regular Americans?
The sad part is that I think their base message is a very good one. Buying food grown locally helps keep small farmers in business and stops all of the transportation costs it would take to get food from Chile or wherever. I don't care about the carbon footprint but I do care about the diesel fuel that powers all of those trucks, dry bulk tankers etc. might be(after being refined) coming out of an Iranian oil well.
I think the sustainable living message of groups like TheWhoFarm would connect with more Americans when you tie foreign oil to security, and high gas pricing as enriching the very countries that hate us. If you eat an apple grown in upstate New York you are taking your security and well being back from the Oil Sheiks and the Socialists Dictators.
2 comments:
hey joemama - ever stop to think that BECAUSE some of us have the time that's why we do what we do? not everyone works a 9-5 - i feel like a broken record saying this but as one of the WhoFarmers who's been sitting out there, the words SELF-EMPLOYED should probably be mentioned a bit more. I am living the American dream (i'm also one of the few out there WITHOUT a complete college education)
That's great that you have the opportunity to be self-employed. Many Americans don't have that luxury (and it is a luxury believe me) due to their own circumstances and economic backgrounds.
They are living paycheck to paycheck in order to afford food for their families. They don't have the luxury of eating locally or waiting in IPhone lines or they would out of a job.
But my point is you message is clouded by some scheme to get the President to put an organic farm on the White House lawn. They put that front and center in that Fortune piece and IMO it hurt your organization.
I would be willing to bet that the majority of Americans (who's behavior you ultimately want to change) read that part and probably wrote you up as environmental nutcases and tuned your message out.
I however read the whole piece and find that you do have a good message. You just have to frame that message in a way that gets people to buy in and not tune out.
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