REINING IN CORPORATE MONOPOLIES

USE SHARED RURAL VALUES TO CRAFT YOUR MESSAGE

Effective communication requires not only facts but leveraging the values people share to resonate across race, class, age, gender, and place. The best messages follow the VPSA model: Values, Problem, Solution, Action. First, we unite along shared values to introduce the issue, then demonstrate the collectively-held problem, name the solution to the problem, and finally, when appropriate, leave with a call to action joining you to solve the problem. This formula keeps our messages concise while disarming opponents who seek to divide us. To get you started, here are three rural values that are particularly relevant for communicating with rural constituents about corporate monopolies:

VALUE: INTEGRITY

• Framing: Rural constituents value integrity in their interactions. Too often, large corporations say one thing and do another, like promising many jobs in exchange for tax breaks if they open a new operation, but then the jobs never materialize. Hardworking families then have to pick up the tab.
• Example Statement: (Value) In Rural America, even if we don’t see eye to eye, we deal with each other honestly. (Problem) But corporate agriculture interests take advantage of regulatory exemptions to get tax breaks intended to support hardworking local farmers. (Solution) Our bill closes these loopholes so that the tax structure deals honestly with family farmers rather than giving big breaks to corporate investors.
• Example Talking Points:
  • So-called “right to farm” laws are supposed to protect family farms from complaints by new neighbors about the sounds and smells of a working farm. Instead, huge confined livestock operations use the laws to protect themselves when rural families oppose a proposed new facility that would move thousands of cows or tens of thousands of chickens into the community.
  • Hardworking family farmers pay a fee for each bushel of corn or head of cattle they sell. The funds are intended for product research and promotion, but in reality they go to fat cat corporate groups that push for policies to advance their own interests instead of those of family farmers.

VALUE: STEWARDSHIP

• Framing: With an identity rooted in a deep connection to the land, rural constituents value stewardship. In corporate-driven agriculture arrangements like contract livestock farming, the local grower provides the infrastructure and all the labor, but the company sets the rules, including those that determine pollution management. Local community residents can steward their land much more appropriately than corporations whose headquarters may be across the country.
• Example Statement: (Value) Farmers care deeply for their land and their animals, often putting aside their own comfort to protect their animals in harsh weather. They are proud to show off their farms and talk about the care that has gone into maintaining the soil and raising the livestock. (Problem) Big meat companies make demands on their livestock growers that require them to use inhumane practices. The companies want to hide what the growers are forced to do, and have pushed a so-called “ag gag” bill to prohibit transparency at big livestock operations. (Solution) We must trust hardworking family farmers and the pride in their stewardship for the land and their animals. (Action) That’s why I am voting “no” on the proposed “ag gag” bill, and I call on my colleagues to take the same stand for our rural communities.
• Example Talking Points:
  • Big global companies have too much power over our natural resources and our local economies. Too often, the contracts they offer to livestock growers require certain practices or use of chemicals, which strips the farmer’s power to make their own decisions about their land and how to farm it.
  • In rural communities, we have a deep connection to the land we grew up on, their air we breathe, and the water we drink. Rural residents shouldn’t be silenced when speak out against corporations polluting our drinking water, our soil, and other natural resources.

VALUE: FAIRNESS

• Framing: Fairness is another value important to rural constituents. Family farmers work hard and play fair, and they expect that others will do the same.
• Example Statement: (Value) In rural America, we play fair. (Problem) Global agribusiness companies have rigged the system so that they can pay less in taxes, take conservation money intended for family farmers, and pay less than the cost of production for most of their raw goods. (Solution) I am sticking up for our hardworking independent family farmers and ensuring these corporations play by the rules.
• Example Talking Points:
  • Industrial meatpacking facilities take a disproportionate toll on small town resources and infrastructure. They should be subject to fair taxation so the rest of us aren’t left literally cleaning up their mess.
  • Agribusiness companies benefit from loose regulations, which is one of the unfair advantages they have over hardworking family farmers and small business owners.