At the Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF), our goal is to provide real and honest information about fruit and vegetable farming so consumers can make the right shopping choices for themselves and their families.  While we would love to further advance this goal by having every curious consumer tour our farms and fields to reassure them about produce safety, that obviously isn’t feasible.

What we can do is bring health and nutrition writers to our farms so they can see firsthand the care and commitment of farmers and farming companies and share what they have learned directly with consumers.

This year, our fourth “Facts Not Fear” Produce Safety Media tour was held in the Pacific Northwest and included Toby Amidor, Jenna Braddock, Cara Harbstreet, Meme Inge, Christine Rosenbloom, Elizabeth Ward, Dana White and Kathleen Zelman.  Our guests are contributors to Food Network, Washington Post, Today’s Dietitian, Shape Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, Good Morning America, CNN, WebMD, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Glamour, Health Magazine, LA Times and Prevention, among others.

If you ever need to get re-energized about our industry, watch the reactions and enthusiasm of nutrition communicators as they tour the farms and interact with farmers.  Listening to a farmer discuss the heartbreak of losing 40 percent of his apple crop due to heat damage, then hearing why he still loves what he does and his continuing pride in providing these healthy foods to consumers communicates the passion and resilience of farmers in such an impactful way.

These tours also drive home why it is so disheartening and offensive when certain groups unfairly criticize our farmers and their products to advance their own agendas.  And, why we will call them out each and every time.  Constructive criticism is one thing, inaccurate disparagement of these healthy and safe products that discourages consumption hurts both consumers and farmers and must stop.

But back to the positive stuff.  The AFF tour guests toured pear, apple, cherry and blueberry farms as well as state-of-the-art packing facilities.  The beauty of the farms was only surpassed by Mount Hood and Mount Adams rising above the orchards and the picturesque landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.

We thank Adam McCarthy who farms apples, pears and cherries, Ed Weathers and Craig Mallon of Duckwall Fruit for hosting us in Hood River, the team from Mount Adams Fruit for their packinghouse and orchard tours and Hoffman Farms for their blueberry farm and packing facility tours as well as their overall hospitality in serving us lunch and hosting our wrap-up discussion at their farm store. The willingness of all of you to share your stories, discuss your farming challenges and answer any and all questions in such a transparent way was impressive and so appreciated by our tour guests.

We also need to thank our tour sponsors, not only for their funding support but also for their knowledge, information and perspectives that they shared with our tour guests.  This year’s sponsors included:  California Giant Berry Farms, California Table Grape Commission, First Fruits Marketing, Markon Cooperative, Northwest Horticultural Council, Pear Bureau Northwest, Produce Marketing Association, U.S. Apple Association, U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council and the Washington State Fruit Commission/Northwest Cherry Growers.

Finally, our sincere thanks to Dr. Trevor Suslow and Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus for their expertise throughout the tour.  We always include scientists and having access to them is among the most popular aspects of the AFF tour for our guests.

To learn more about the tour and see photos, visit the AFF’s Instagram page. And, we will be sharing the articles and blog posts from our tour guests in the coming weeks.