We live in a world where facts have become less than reliable. Perception is now reality. Nietzsche, always grimly ahead of his time, saw the writing on the wall decades ago, noting that “There are no facts, only interpretations.”
What else could explain such an overwhelming regression in scientific beliefs in 2018? Think about it:
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More than 600 people attended the inaugural Flat Earth International Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, last year. Google searches for “flat earth” have more than tripled over the previous two years.
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Anti-vaxxers continue to push back against a proven scientific safeguard, leading to a resurgence in childhood diseases we thought we’d eradicated. Researchers discovered late last year that measles outbreaks had jumped significantly over the past two decades – and 70% of those afflicted were unvaccinated.
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Despite near-universal consensus among the scientific community that climate change is real and accelerating at an alarming pace, there’s little motivation among lawmakers to do much about it.
Similarly, manufacturers and suppliers still find themselves at odds over the simplest things, even when their goals are the same: providing safe food to consumers.
One manufacturer I talked to insisted that both parties make everything about the food supply chain more complicated than it has to be.
“We create complexity,” she complained. “But so do suppliers.”
When she tries to get documentation from suppliers, she’s consistently frustrated by the lack of quick cooperation, “We’re all in this together.”
On the supplier side, the frustration is just as apparent.
“Treating every supplier the same just sucks,” one supplier told me during a break.
She lamented that she frequently gets requests from people who don’t necessarily know what they’re requesting. She doesn’t understand why the entire process can’t be more streamlined.
Perspective is everything. It could be the key to getting manufacturers and suppliers on the same page. Because the demand for documentation and transparency – whether from increasingly consumers or regulators – is only going to grow.
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