Telling the Farm Story: Free Tools Help Farmers Connect with Media
Posted On: October 13, 2010
Farmers are the focal point of all farmers markets, and helping tell their story is an important role for a market organization. Any given farm could make a great topic for an article in publications that go to audiences outside the loyal market patronage. To help more farmers and organizations that serve them attract the media coverage that they deserve, FARM (Farm and Agriculture Resources for Media), a new project of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), provides a crash course in media training for farmers. “Share Your Farm Story” is an on-line toolkit and training to help farmers share their personal and authentic story of the sustainable agriculture movement with the media.
Jamie Collins of Serendipity Farms in Monterey, California, joined the NSAC farmer spokesperson database to share her story as a beginning farmer. She runs a CSA and sells at various farmers markets in the San Francisco and Oakland areas.
“Farmers market organizations play a vital role in championing the voice of sustainable agriculture in the media,” explains Lisa Kivirist, coordinator of FARM (Farm & Agriculture Resources for Media), a project of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). “By connecting your market members to the various tools and resources within the FARM project, from media interview tips to press release templates, your farmers receive one-stop free media training uniquely targeted to the sustainable agriculture community. If any farmers are passionate about connecting with the media (and who isn’t looking for an outlet to share our story of abundance and local, great food?) we invite them to join NSAC’s farmer spokesperson database via FARM, offering to speak to the media as needs arise.”
Three key elements of these free NSAC resources include:
1. Media & Public Relations Tool Kit for Farmers
Downloadable kit provides practical tips and tactics for generating media, including identifying your compelling story, writing a press release and a sample farm media kit with starter templates.
2. Media Training for Farmers Webinar
One hour/on-line training session.
Please join this internal NSAC database of farmers in sustainable agriculture who are available to reply to media inquiries as they come up specific to a farmer’s background and business. This database will not be public on the NSAC website, and NSAC has pledged to not share any of this information outside of NSAC purposes.
Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko are helping to coordinate FARM and can be reached at media@sustainableagriculture.net.
