#cuingermany comm3550

Prompt 1: While we are at the Farmer Producer Association market/tasting, look/listen for stories, examples, artifacts, and practices that represent the ethical views of the organization. What values are represented through this tour experience? BESH only produces their own content, they do not rely on an external agency. Is this a values position, or a cost-saving measure?  

The first thing I noticed about the Farmer Producer Association was their humble nature and relaxed attitude towards business. Not only did the man in charge come out of the building to speak to us, he kindly took a photo with us as we waited for our tour guide to show. I could tell right off the bat that the company valued transparency and strong relationships as the man in charge wears a straw hat and hangs around with those who work for him. 

Taken directly from the company’s website, their values are, “Agricultural, economic, environmental, legal, fiscal, educational and social issues related to farmers are our daily work.” This idea shows through the economic, social, and educational partnership they created with Seeds of Hope and areas of the world that are in need. I interpreted our reading for this excursion as if ethics are stages or a system if you will. It tells us, “Ethics are something that we do every day.” So rather than a passive action or set of ideals we actively engage in ethics every day. Then the ethics we carry out every day become our ethics code which eventually turns into the ability to determine our core values,” (G&M, p. 161). 

As far as BESH producing their own content, I think it is a values position. While some organizations do rely on a third-party, BESH seems to have no interest. Upon meeting the man in charge, he immediately told us they did their own communication in house because, “a third-party cannot do what we do. We are farmers and our customers must here from us. They are not farmers so they cannot tell them what they need to hear.” In addition, he said they produce their own content in order to be authentic.

This was a really fun experience and one of my favorite parts of the trip thus far!

Springfest was very similar to a state fairs that we have in the United States.The street food, arcade games and rides all mirrored those at fairs in the United States. Aside from the drinking culture and beer halls, I felt like the two were the very same. The people here definitely place a higher focus on drinking are definitely more welcoming to the idea of recreational drinking than we are in America.