Social License — Where Do I Buy One?

Opinion

A guest editorial by Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada. I saw a cartoon recently that showed an oil company executive at the Department of Motor Vehicles asking if this was the place to buy a social license. If only it actually worked that way. What is “social license” anyways? Generally speaking, it is the acceptance by society of a particular industry or industry practice. The issue is becoming increasingly important to agriculture because more and more consumers — especially consumers in wealthy developed countries — are becoming concerned about the origins of their “stuff”. Did that beautiful coat once…