Sound Bites With Melissa Joy Dobbins

Food brings people together for everything from celebrations to mourning - and feeds the soul for meaningful connection. It can help harness great power in our communities, but in today's world we are too often letting dietary differences shift us into polarized positions. Food is far too important to let buzzwords lead the conversation. And while misinformation may be unintentional, disinformation is deliberate and manipulative. In order to engage in more productive conversations, we need to 1) learn to listen better in order to find common ground, 2) employ storytelling to share important information and create a sense of wonder, and 3) be truly respectful of others’ thoughts and feelings. Today's guest is Janice Person, the online engagement director for Bayer Crop Science. She's a city girl turned 'agvocate' who has learned effective ways to engage in conversations online and offline, and connect people involved in farming and food.  “When I listen to people talk about food, it’s really easy to want to re