Jan 28, 2023
Behind the scenes: To prosper and protect farmers and ranchers
Before a post makes it to this page, it must follow the rules for posting, then be approved by a “behind the scenes” group of admins. Quite often, I’m the lead admin and do many of the approvals. Since April 2020, we have seen tens of thousands of potential posts, some that have warmed our hearts and some that have mortified us to the point where I have turned them into the local sheriff
There are basically three different types of posts we allow:
- Someone wanting to sell a food product that is raised on a Kansas farm
- Someone “in search of” (ISO) a food product that is raised on a Kansas farm
- Someone posting a positive review of a Kansas farm and a product they purchased
All posts must conform to our rules, but there’s also another guiding principle behind the scenes that we use: To prosper and protect our farmers and ranchers. As you know, this is social media and, for some strange reason, some folks think they can be hateful toward each other, and we just don’t allow that.
I’ve discovered there are two types of posts that seem to start trouble:
- A post that includes the price of the meat, veggies, dairy, eggs or whatever else is being sold.
- A post that claims one way of raising an animal is better than another. Grass fed versus grain fed. Organic versus conventional. GMO versus non-GMO.
As far as the second one goes, my position from the get-go is that both are OK, just different. And just as a heads up, whenever I say that, it seems to start trouble so, if you’re inclined to start arguing one is better than the other, I assure you, your comments will be removed. And it’s not a free-speech issue; our mission is clear: “To connect you to the wonderful farm and ranch families of Kansas so you can purchase the food they grow.” This is not a platform to argue which way is better. If you want to argue, we’d encourage you to find another site or start your own.
Since I have been interviewing and writing stories about Kansas farmers and ranchers for the Kansas Living Magazine for the last eight years, I have learned how hard it is for them to keep their business operating in the black. While they love what they do, they often get attacked by people who blame them for just about anything.
Recently, I allowed a couple of posts through with prices and, sure enough, folks started getting ugly and saying things like, “that’s gouging,” or “that’s too expensive,” or “you can get it cheaper at Big Box Store.” I’ve set it up to get alerts when there are certain words used or sometimes another person files a “moderation alert,” to let us know someone’s being unpleasant.
Farmers and ranchers make up 2 percent of our society and they are hard-working, good people who are trying to make a living and the last thing they need is a keyboard warrior attacking them on social media.
Please know, we are committed to prospering and protecting our wonderful Kansas farmers and ranchers. We ask you to join us in doing the same.