Podcast: Using Virtual Reality to communicate international poverty and shorten the rural/urban divide

In this three part series, Brian Hogue, CEO of Arable Media shares the impact of international travel to Guatemala and Liberia. The conversation discusses the utilization of using virtual reality to bring realities of hunger to schools. Additionally, how VR holds potential for connecting the rural and urban divide.

Timestamps:

  • 2:00 – Helping build a medical clinic in Guatemala, Brian’s initial eye opening experience
  • 3:00 – Experiencing international poverty
  • 4:15 – Liberia kids playing with a plastic water bottle, happiness comparison to Disneyland.
  • 4:30 – Ah, ha moment of context – when we don’t know, what we don’t know it can bring us down. No doubt the loss and hunger which exists in 3rd world countries is minimize to the U.S. general public due to lack of understanding and experience.
  • 6:45 – How do we bring exposure to the hunger and circumstances in places like Liberia?
  • 7:20 – Using Virtual Reality to bring stories like Brian’s to the U.S.
  • 8:20 – Thinking intentionally about trips to places like Liberia – are you doing it to help or to fill your own heart
  • 9:15 – Using VR in schools as a tool to teach children about hunger, in a financially, feasible way.
  • 10:35 – Brian is bullish on the status of the world; even when we have questionable leaders
  • 11:10 – Feed themselves, create markets that are viable and sustainable
  • 11:54 – Opening the eyes of a 14 year old of what the world looks like
  • 12:35 – Consumer understanding the experiences that occur in urban areas & bridge gap by bringing urban situational awareness to those in rural life
  • 13:50 – Is Ag advocacy reaching the right audiences?
  • 14:25 – We are late to the game (decades) to provide understanding of agriculture – ag advocacy comes in many forms and isn’t one size fits all.
  • 15:30 – Come to terms that consumers do not need us. Despite messaging and communication/PR plans from the majority of commodity groups, the general public does not need us.
  • 16:36 – We have to be careful so we don’t push the consumer further and further away from us.
  • 17:30 – Anyone who feels entitled to someone else’s value, are the ones who are quickly replaced.
  • 17:45 – Meat is being created in a lab
  • 18:50 – All to often our industry forgets that the general public is our customer
  • 23:00 – Family crisis, saving the family farm, family dynamics, community and friends
  • 26:00 – Experiences are not divided between ag and non-ag
  • 27:43 – Opening eyes and hearts

Connect with Brian:

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