WILLIAMSBURG, VA (Virginia Farm Bureau) — Consumers and policymakers are forming strong opinions about food, farming and agriculture, often without a farmer’s voice adding context to those conversations.

Farmers learned how to effectively approach these critical conversations during a workshop at the 2025 Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention in Williamsburg Dec. 2. The session was sponsored by the VFBF Growing Leaders Program.

“If we’re not in the conversation, someone else will define agriculture for us,” said Kelly Leighton, vice president of growth and engagement at the Center for Food Integrity. “We exist to help build that trust—empowering organizations, individuals and agribusiness operators with information to build those relationships and engage in conversations in a meaningful way.”

From seed oils and “big ag” to pesticides, misinformation circulating today is often grounded in skepticism, fearmongering and emotions instead of science, she said. This misinformation frames modern agriculture as part of the problem.

“It’s showing up in policy circles and shaping those policies, which certainly can impact our regulatory frameworks,” she said. “Whether you’re a direct-to-consumer farm organization or a large commodity operation, you all have a role in talking about what we do in agriculture and why we do it.”

Making connections based on aligned values is the key to productive engagement on polarizing industry topics.

Workshop co-chair and Madison County large animal veterinarian Dr. Amanda Weakley-Scott’s family is the first generation to farm, which includes a large-scale turkey operation.

“I wasn’t exactly comfortable talking to consumers about the product I was raising, and I felt that most people viewed me as a factory farm instead of a family farm,” she shared.

Leighton said family, tradition and work ethic are universally shared values and beliefs that need to be central to these conversations.

“And then we have permission to introduce the proof points, the data, the facts and science that is critically important to validate what we’re talking about when it comes to food and agriculture,” she said.

Training through American Farm Bureau Federation GO Team and the Center for Food Integrity gave Weakley-Scott insight on how consumers think, especially as Make America Healthy Again policy is developed in Washington.

MAHA strategy focuses on promoting healthier food production and improving nutrition outcomes, while increasing scrutiny of crop protectants and shifting away from commodity crops.

Meanwhile, Growing a Healthier America is the food system’s coordinated, collaborative, values-led response to MAHA, led by The Center for Food Integrity. GaHA brings together farmers, food makers, retailers, scientists and health voices to reclaim the narrative, counter misinformation and strengthen trust across the entire food value chain.

“They offered tools and resources that let me shape my conversations,” Weakley-Scott said.

“Some may see this as a long overdue correction to a broken food system,” Leighton said. “Wanting a ‘healthier America’ is a universal value. But it’s really confusing for today’s consumer to cut through the noise and decide what is true about food and agriculture.”

Finding common ground in an era of conflicting messages is essential.

“I am putting the same turkey on my plate at Thanksgiving that I grow in our poultry houses,” Weakley-Scott said. “If you ever want to see how we raise birds or cattle, my door is open.”

Fourth-generation farmer Shawn Carr also has an open-gate policy at Carr Farms in Isle of Wight County, where the family raises cattle and laying hens and grows a variety of row crops.

“Everything that we grow, whether it be in my garden, our cattle, our chickens—goes on my plate,” she said. “That’s what I feed our family. And I welcome anybody to come see our farm.”