Farmers Hope to Grow Media Support with 'The Hand That Feeds U.S.' Project

WASHINGTON, May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's farmers are extending
an olive branch to the same urban media that have often been critical of
agriculture, and some powerful U.S. lawmakers asked the nation's reporters in
a letter today to give them a chance.

"It makes no sense that we're being demonized in many of the nation's top
media markets," said Linda Raun, a rice grower from Texas who is participating
in The Hand That Feeds U.S., a new farmer-led project to improve relations
with big-city reporters.

"It's not the journalists' fault," she continued. "We haven't done a good
enough job telling them our story. We've been negligent in explaining that
farmers feed and clothe every person in this country, employ 20 percent of the
nation's workforce and will be at the center of America's economic recovery."

Andy Quinn, a Minnesota corn and ethanol producer agrees. "We're the best
farmers in the world, but we're far from being master communicators. For too
long, we've let a handful of environmental extremists and coalitions
bankrolled by big business define our industry in the news."

Quinn and Raun believe their project, funded by numerous state and national
agricultural trade associations, is a good first step in helping agriculture
set the record straight. The multi-year effort will consist of a webpage,
www.TheHandThatFeedsUS.org, as well as a series of face-to-face meetings with
reporters across the country.

"We plan to build long-lasting relationships with journalists and show them
that family owned and operated farms, not giant agribusinesses, are the true
face of agriculture," explained Texas cotton farmer and coalition member Steve
Verett.

Even though the farmers admit they'll never be able to match agriculture's
opponents dollar for dollar, they do have some high-profile cheerleaders on
their side. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Ranking
Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) published an
open letter to the news industry today "respectfully urging [reporters to]
take the time to learn more about this effort, U.S. farm policy, and the farm
and ranch families that keep America fed."

SOURCE The Hand That Feeds U.S.

Samantha Succop, +1-202-507-8327, samantha@thehandthatfeedsus.org, for The
Hand That Feeds U.S.