We live in a world of promotion and spin. If you went to the Internet and looked up every morsel of food you put in your mouth, you could probably come up with four opposing views on its nutritional value or carcinogenic potential, depending on the spin of the author.

Drink milk, cleanse yourself from dairy; eat more beef, don’t eat red meat; carrots are good, carrots have too much sugar; high fructose corn syrup is bad, sugar is sugar … and the list goes on. It’s no wonder consumers choose Hostess Twinkies over green grapes, because at some point those spongy, cream-filled cakes will be healthier for you!

Dairy haters and beef doubters have launched plenty of assaults on the industry with their barrage of incorrect information about antibiotics-infused milk and the ever lovely “pink slime.” Animal welfare assailants have hurled plenty of poison arrows at the egg and pork growers, and now it seems we spend more time coming up with defensive plays for damage control instead of an offensive tactic for increased consumption.

I was recently on “Rural Route Radio” with Trent Loos of Nebraska and he asked me point-blank why, with so much money in the coffers generated by checkoff dollars, is milk consumption down?

My thoughts focused on defense. Instead of touting the goodness of three-a-day and how research has shown the positive weight-loss effects of dairy in the diet, we are too busy changing labels to “All Natural” and “Hormone Free.”

If we didn’t have the cosmetic battles that appear to be present among the majority of consumers, maybe we could spend more money proving the research right instead of having to prove the mythical trends wrong.

Hear me clearly: I think we have done a good job of promotion with milk mustaches, NFL players getting active with children, chocolate milk as the official drink of many athletic events and the got milk? craze.

But, how are we measuring the end result? Is it measured by how much milk is consumed or by our trustworthiness as an industry?

Today we have the pork and egg industries under a full-force attack from animal activist groups, namely the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). While HSUS has one foot in the door of those industries, they have their hand in the beef industry’s face saying “You just stay home, we will deal with the pork and egg group, they don’t need your help,“ all while threatening to sue the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. for misuse of beef checkoff funds.

This is pure craziness on all levels.

So what’s the answer? Divide and conquer? A Hail Mary pass? Suicide Squeeze? Or maybe just diligence? Diligence, from promoters to continue to be creative. Diligence, from producers to keep growing the best product in the world. Diligence, from the whole team, to keep their eyes focused on the goal and never give up.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.