I got attacked this week by an anti-animal ag activist on Instagram.

The activist in question goes by the Instagram handle @andrea4liberation and has 11.6 thousand followers. They have a master’s degree in Animal Law and frequently posts videos of protests and tear-jerking photos of baby animals.

 They found my account and began commenting on a few of my posts, then shared one of my posts with their 11.6 thousand followers, who also negatively commented on my posts. A handful of these comments have been deleted by the users who left them, but some are still live. Below is our interaction — my Instagram handle is @agvocate_m.p.cremer, for reference — followed by my comments on the situation at the end:

We can all learn from this. The minute I saw the initial comments, a switch flipped in my brain which made me want to “dig” as the user as negatively in defense. Although I stood my ground, I kept my cool.

Many times, anti-ags and pro-ags alike attempt to interact with one another in an aggressive, negative way. The person on the other side of the argument mimics this energy and defends themselves, and most of the time a resolve never happens.

The outcome of any argument is to come up with a resolution. However, that resolution can never come to an end if one or both parties are at each other’s throats and aren’t thinking clearly due to rage. 

If these users would’ve started a conversation with me in a welcoming manner, I may have heard them out or even done some research. This is human nature, it’s what happens most of the time.

As a whole, agriculturists need to take notes on this interaction because it’s the prime example of how NOT to engage with those who don’t appreciate our agricultural practices.

I think this can all be summed up by quoting the last lines of the first AvA column I ever wrote:

“Agriculturists, it’s time to do something about this issue [agricultural ignorance].  It’s our duty to not only support the industry but educate the nay-sayers.  I’ve heard this phrase 1,000 times and probably said it 1,000 more, ‘Without agriculture, you’d be naked and starving.’  We, the 11 percent of Americans who work in the agricultural industry, know this to be true – but not everyone does.  

“How do we fix this problem?  Well, we grab the activists’ hands, help them down from their soap boxes, and set the record straight about agriculture in a professional yet approachable way.  Because if we don’t, no one will.”