US: Alliance for Food and Farming launch Facebook page

In its continuing efforts to promote consumption of all fruits and vegetables by providing credible, science-based information to ease common fears about pesticide residues, the Alliance for Food and Farming has launched a Facebook page.

According to Marilyn Dolan, Executive Director of the Alliance for Food and Farming, the Facebook page is part of an overall social media campaign designed to provide consumers with facts about pesticide residues and to dispel some of the misleading information and fear-based messages which commonly appear in mainstream media and on the Internet.

"A simple and important action that people throughout the produce industry can take to assure consumers about the safety of fruits and vegetable is to visit our new Facebook page and hit the "like" button," said Dolan. "You may also want to link this page to your own website or include it in your marketing and public relations efforts. We are also encouraging people to sign up to receive our Safe Fruits and Veggies newsletter."

Consumers and produce industry members can learn more about the Alliance for Food and Farming and its Safe Fruits and Veggies initiative, by visiting www.safefruitsandveggies.com. This site was developed by experts in nutrition, toxicology, risk assessment and farming and is filled with facts about pesticide residues on produce.

"The new Facebook page builds off of the Safe Fruits and Veggies website and provides a fast, easy way for people to disseminate credible information to consumers," she said, noting that recent additions to the site include a series of videos featuring scientists and real produce farmers who answer common consumer questions.

The Alliance recently used its new Facebook page and Blog to respond to an article in the Huffington Post by Environmental Working Group president Ken Cook critical of the farmer videos now posted on the Alliance website. Dolan encouraged produce industry members to check out the Facebook page and help get it to consumers now since the Environmental Working Group will soon be releasing its new "Dirty Dozen" report.

"The Safe Fruits and Veggies campaign has had some recent success in getting the EWG to tone down its message to consumers and to promote the benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables," said Dolan. "However, this group is still using fear to conduct a fund raising campaign and they can be extremely successful in getting media attention. That is why the produce industry must act aggressively to counter their negative messages and stand up for the safety of fruits and vegetables whether they are conventional or organically grown."

For more information:
Marilyn Dolan or Teresa Thorne
Tel: +1 (831) 786-1666
www.foodandfarming.info