Finding Common Ground On Consumption [Opinion]

Last month, I attended a webinar organized by the Alliance for Food and Farming covering the organization’s “Safe Fruits and Veggies” campaign. This campaign was launched last summer and is designed to both ease fears and clear up misconceptions concerning pesticide residues on produce. The webinar provided a progress report on the campaign, including its accomplishments to date, what is planned in the future, and how growers and grower organizations can utilize the campaign’s resources to further promote this message.

The Alliance for Food and Farming is a non-profit association representing approximately 50 produce trade groups, commodity boards, and individual grower-shippers. Membership represents both conventional and organic farming operations in a range of sizes. The cornerstone of the Alliance is its website, www.safefruitsandveggies.com, which provides tools and resources both growers and consumers can use to obtain scientific-based information on pesticide residues.

While the webinar offered several key messages, there were two important elements that are worth expanding upon, as they provide a great example of the direction the produce industry needs to move toward.

Best Of Both Worlds

Marilyn Dolan, executive director of the Alliance for Food and Farming, was one of four speakers participating in the webinar. As she walked attendees through the Safe Fruits and Veggies site, she pointed out that the very first thing a visitor to the site will find is a “trivia” question asking whether a conventional or organic version of a given crop is healthier to eat. In all cases, the answer is “both,” with the full reason being that “scientists and health experts agree that people should be eating more fruits and vegetables for good health, and the benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables far outweigh any theoretical risk from pesticide residues.”

In other words, this campaign is not designed to steer consumers in the direction of buying conventional or organic produce. Rather, it is focused on putting them on equal ground and encouraging increased consumption of all fruits and vegetables. As Bryan Silbermann, president and CEO of the Produce Marketing Association (and fellow webinar speaker), noted: “This campaign is not against one or the other, but against those who threaten our viability as an industry.”

And yet, sadly, the rest of the industry has been slow, if not resistant, in sharing this message. Our team of editors receives press releases and news updates on a regular basis citing various reasons why consumers should buy organic produce over conventional, and why organic production will always produce a better crop. To be fair, we also receive almost as many reports refuting these claims.

It is true that, as Teresa Thorne of the Alliance noted during the webinar, there may be some slight differences in nutritional value and flavor between conventional and organic produce. But rather than fighting over these minor issues, the ultimate goal should be to boost consumption levels across the board. It may take more time, but hopefully this industry will get to that point.

Unified Message Yields Results

The other major concept that came out of this webinar was the importance of speaking in a unified voice, with fact-based scientific evidence at your disposal, when it comes time to join a contentious debate such as the one over the significance of pesticide residues. The Alliance’s past efforts are a great example of this.

As you may recall, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) made headlines last year when it released its “Dirty Dozen” list of produce items that allegedly tested high for pesticide residues. The Alliance was one of the first groups to step in and, with the help of an expert panel report developed by a group of food scientists, refute these claims.

Their efforts show that this unified voice can be effective: Since then, the EWG has acknowledged via its own website that consumers should not stop eating fruits and vegetables, as the health benefits outweigh the risks. They also admitted that these types of “shoppers’ guides” do not always reflect a realistic risk scenario.

There are two ways you can follow the approach of the Alliance and be effective on your own, should you care to join this discussion (and for the sake of your future, why wouldn’t you?). The first is to make sure your message is positive in tone, rather than defensive. This will put you on equal footing with those on the opposite side of the debate, who often have emotion (and skepticism) on their side.

The second step is to take the advice of Silbermann, who suggests linking to the Safe Fruits And Veggies website from your own website, blog, or Facebook page. “This is about your livelihood,” he says. “Use these tools to tell your story, and help take back our message.” Well spoken.