Every spring consumers are subjected to a misinformation campaign which promotes inaccuracies about the safety of fruits and vegetables.  Fortunately, consumers are increasingly aware that the claims made via this campaign are not scientifically valid and even harmful to public health efforts to promote increased produce consumption for better health.

The Alliance for Food and Farming seeks to help consumers make the right shopping choices for themselves and their families by providing science-based information about produce safety.  Our goal is for consumers to confidently choose organic and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, choose the produce they enjoy and purchase what is affordable and accessible for them.

Interestingly when we push back against misinformation with real information to reassure consumers about produce safety, there are those who don’t want to hear it.  And this is puzzling, especially in today’s world where many are lambasting bad science and its potential negative impact on our health.

Here are some produce facts that the AFF often shares:

• Decades of nutrition studies show the immense health benefits from eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables (most of these studies were conducted using conventionally grown produce). The vast body of scientific research shows consuming lots or produce each day prevents diseases, improves cognition, boosts immunity and increases lifespan.
• Nationally representative government sampling programs consistently find that over 99% of the foods tested have residues levels well below Environmental Protection Agency safety standards and a third had no detectable residues at all. These results have led the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to state that “residues do not pose a food safety concern.”
• Washing produce under running tap water often removes or eliminates any minute residues, if residues are present at all.

Interestingly, when the USDA and the Federal Food and Drug Administration release their residue sampling results each year, these comprehensive reports receive very little media attention.  Maybe because it is good news?  Or is it because “Your Produce Is Safe” headlines may be considered uninteresting or not newsworthy?  What is also concerning is when the AFF shares this government sampling data, along with peer reviewed studies and toxicology analyses about the safety of produce, some in the media still stubbornly ignore it.

As stated above, we can’t lose sight of the fact that media attention on this campaign has declined significantly and more consumers than ever are trusting the AFF’s science based information.  In fact, new consumer research from the AFF will be released soon that further verifies this trend.  However, with only one in 10 Americans eating enough fruits and vegetables each day, any campaign that discourages consumption at any level should be discouraged in itself.

For those who continue to cover this campaign each spring without providing balancing information for consumers, we ask you to think about this another way.  If the AFF didn’t have science on our side, how would we have accomplished such a steady decline in attention on this annual spring promotion over the last several years?

We are a small non-profit with a staff of two based in a farming community.  Conversely, the activist group behind this campaign has an annual budget of $14+ million and a staff of over 60 (which doesn’t include outside consultants, lobbyists, attorneys and agencies) with offices in Washington DC and San Francisco.

If the science and information the AFF provides wasn’t accurate and verifiable, we wouldn’t stand a chance against a group this big with that much money.  With large enough budgets and staff, you can promote bad science for awhile – until someone righteously calls you out.  Then size doesn’t matter only the science and facts do.