The Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF), in conjunction with Markon Cooperative, hosted its second “Facts Not Fear” Produce Safety Media Tour for registered dietitians, health and nutrition writers and bloggers on August 27, 28 and 29 in the Salinas Valley. Tour participants visited fruit and vegetable fields and processing facilities as well as engaged with farmers, chefs and scientists with expertise in nutrition and food safety during the three-day event.

“This tour provides an important opportunity to communicate directly with these influencers about produce safety and the farmers’ care and commitment to providing wholesome and healthy foods,” says Tim York, Markon President and AFF Management Board Chair.  “We know nutritionists and dietitians are among the most credible sources for food safety information with consumers so this tour allows us to show them firsthand the steps taken every day to grow safe fruits and vegetables,” York says.

“As we saw after our first tour in 2017, these RDs, writers and bloggers are really connected to consumers and are so helpful in sharing what they learn in the field and also addressing any misinformation about produce safety or how we grow fruits and veggies,” says Teresa Thorne, AFF Executive Director.  “We want to thank our tour partner, Markon, for making this experience possible, as well as the farmers and scientists who provided information and insights,” Thorne says.

The eight RDs, writers and bloggers involved in the tour provide content and articles to media outlets including Food Network, Everyday Health, Boston Globe, WebMD, Atlantic Journal Constitution, Today Show, Dr. Oz, Shape, Parents, U.S. News and World Report and Self among others. The tour participants’ social media properties also reach thousands of followers each day.

“After the 2017 tour, we saw how beneficial the engagement and sharing of AFF social content by these influencers was during the release of the 2018 “dirty dozen” list,” York says. “We strongly believe their engagement was instrumental in mainstream, one-sided media coverage of the “dirty dozen” list declining to only 19%, an all-time low.”

The “dirty dozen” list recommends avoidance of certain popular and healthy produce items based upon scientifically unsupportable claims about pesticide residue levels.  When the AFF began its Safe Fruits and Veggies campaign in 2010 to counter inaccurate produce safety messaging, the “dirty dozen” list enjoyed widespread coverage each year in major newspapers, national news broadcasts and online news outlets such as the Huffington Post, Yahoo News, PopSugar and BuzzFeed.

“At that time, 99.8% of that widespread coverage presented the “dirty dozen” list as factual with no balancing information at all,” Thorne says. “Not only has overall coverage of the ‘dirty dozen’ list declined significantly since 2010, but the AFF now experiences one-sided coverage of its own in many prominent media outlets,” she adds.

The goal of the AFF is to provide science-based food safety information about organic and conventional produce so that facts, not fear, can guide consumers’ shopping choices.  The cornerstone of the AFF’s outreach efforts is the safefruitsandveggies.com website, which includes information about farming, nutrition, health, toxicology and risk analysis for consumers, media and nutritionists and dietitians.

“These tours take AFF outreach efforts to the next level by allowing us to establish one-on-one relationships and share our information with this important group of influencers,” York says.  “Our sincere thanks to all of our tour guests for taking the time to join us.”

“We also extend our appreciation and thanks to the California Strawberry Commission, California Giant Berry Farms and the Produce Marketing Association for their sponsorship of the AFF’s tour,” Thorne concludes.

-end-

The Alliance for Food and Farming is a non-profit organization formed in 1989 which represents organic and conventional farmers and farms of all sizes.  Alliance contributors are limited to farmers of fruits and vegetables, companies that sell, market or ship fruits and vegetables or organizations that represent produce farmers.  Our mission is to deliver credible information about the safety of fruits and vegetables. The Alliance does not engage in any lobbying activities, nor do we accept any money or support from the pesticide industry.