Advocacy as a business model

It is no wonder that more and more people are turning away from the old media and institutions. A good example of this were the reactions last week to the leaked cabinet plans. These were quickly changed from extremely negative about the 'sweeping off the table' of the National Rural Area Programme to moderately positive, when it became clear that Minister Wiersma does indeed advocate an area-oriented approach in her plans. The drive to score points of journalists in the mainstream media is undiminished and superlatives are not shunned in this respect.

Characteristic of the cabinet's plans is above all the sense of reality. No one should expect that the new government parties will be able to implement their election program 1-on-1 without any restrictions. Anyone who is sour about this now simply has butter on his or her head.

Willing to change
The only constant is change. And contrary to what many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the one hand and agricultural interest groups on the other side of the Netherlands river country claim, the vast majority of Dutch people, including food producers, are open to reason and willing to change. The will to sit down together and find solutions to many challenges, in practice appears to be much less than you would expect based on this.

On both sides of the lobbying movement there is an extremely critical and vocal constituency that is not satisfied with commitments. Lobbying has become a business model, where compromise is not one of the favorite tools. Add to that the size and income dependency of the underlying organizations and it is clear that a breakthrough cannot be expected from NGOs and conservative lobbyists, nor from political commentators and the media.  

Voices are silenced in the wind
At the edges of the river, polarized positions feel safe. An ideal place to keep shouting and sending messages to the other side as helmsmen on shore. However, the voices are silenced by the wind. Another disadvantage is that the water between the groynes is almost still. In the middle of the river, the current is fastest and there is plenty of room to move forward together. Smart food producers make their own plans and go with the flow.

Wim Groot Koerkamp

Founder ReMarkAble, co-founder BBB, founder AT THE TABLE!

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