Don't be afraid to use the S-word

Grandin recalled that in the 1950s, school kids went on tours of slaughter plant facilities, but kids today are separated from reality. Farmers and ranchers need to show what they do in a matter-of-fact way.

High Plains Journal 8/21/2010 By Doug Rich

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., professor of animal science at Colorado State University, is known around the world for communicating with livestock producers about low-stress livestock handling techniques. Speaking at the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association's annual convention and trade show on July 30, Grandin talked about what she has learned about communicating with the general public about livestock production since the release of an HBO film about her life.

Prior to the release of the HBO film, which has been nominated for 15 Emmy awards, Grandin was busy attending press conferences in Hollywood to promote the film. She said reporters asked more questions about livestock production than they did about the movie.

"The public is hungry for this information," Grandin said.

Grandin said ranchers need to show all the stuff they do every day. Ranchers need to tell how they do their job plainly and clearly without emotion, because many people are totally separated from where they get their food.

"Get away from all the public relations fluff," Grandin said. "Put it in your own words, a ranch is a family farm."

Grandin works with packing plants, and she calls them just what they are--slaughter plants. She does not shy away from using the S-word and regrets that people have started referring to the process as harvest. Grandin said she used the S-word when doing interviews about the movie.

"Harvest is what we do with grain," Grandin said.

Grandin recalled that in the 1950s, school kids went on tours of slaughter plant facilities, but kids today are separated from reality. Farmers and ranchers need to show what they do in a matter-of-fact way.

"We need to clean up our house and show it," Grandin said.

To communicate what livestock producers do Grandin started putting some of her training videos on the Internet. One of these showed how to humanely stun a pig. The video got 400,000 views right away, but not all of the responses were positive. Grandin said she took off all the F-bombs, nasty posts, racist comments, and wacko comments.

"If they said something that made sense, I made a reasoned response," Grandin said. "Keep your own emotions out of it. Don't respond with anger. We need to take the mystery out of what we do. People are interested--just look at the popularity of shows like Dirty Jobs."

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