AFF Hosts 8th Influencer Tour

The Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) hosted its eighth Safe Fruits and Veggies Farm Tour for registered dietitians, health and nutrition writers and social influencers on August 4, 5 and 6 featuring crops in the Salinas Valley of California. Participants visited strawberry and vegetable farms, toured research fields and cooling facilities as well as learned more about on-farm automated harvesting innovations.

“Through these influencers’ social posts and media outreach, these tours have become an important and impactful way to show the daily commitment by farmers and farming companies to provide safe and nutritious produce to consumers,” says Teresa Thorne of the AFF.

“Our thanks to Naturipe Berry Growers and D’Arrigo California for the tours of their fields and operations and being amazing ambassadors. Both companies had teams from all parts of their operations available to our guests to provide expertise and answer questions.  The generosity of their time was so appreciated by these influencers,” Thorne says.

The AFF’s tour guests included:  Laura Burak, Samantha Cassetty, Jessica Crandall Snyder, Ginger Hultin, Charlotte Martin,  Nijya Noble,  Sarah Schlichter, and Alexandra Turnbull.

They are contributors to NBC News, New York Times, Washington Post, the Today Show, The Cooking Channel, Eat This, Not That, Shape, Today’s Dietitian, WebMD, Cooking Light, Women’s Health, Martha Stewart, Eating Well, Parents, among other outlets. In addition to their work in mainstream media, they are also influencers with significant reach on social media.

On day one, tour guests visited Naturipe Berry Growers where they learned more in-depth information about strawberry production and harvest. Guests were challenged to pick strawberries themselves to see firsthand the skill it takes to harvest a quality tray for consumers.

Regarding pest and disease control, the Naturipe team explained and underscored the importance of managing and balancing on-farm biodiversity as part of integrated pest management practices in both conventional and organic fields.

Guests also toured Naturipe’s plant breeding trials and enjoyed a cultivar tasting to better understand the complexities of developing varieties that have a level of disease resistance, are easy to harvest, are shippable and, most importantly, have the color, shape and taste desired by consumers.

On day two, guests viewed D’Arrigo California’s new automated harvesting machines for romaine hearts and broccoli rabe.  The D’Arrigo team explained the collaborations and innovations required in the development of these machines and how new efficiencies are designed to improve worker safety as well as product quality.  More traditional harvesting processes were also shown.

D’Arrigo’s team reviewed on-farm food safety standards as well as pest and disease control challenges on vegetable crops and how those are addressed through sustainable practices.

Guests then toured D’Arrigo’s cooling facilities and learned more about technologies to improve shipping efficiency and arrival times to ensure consumers receive high quality and safe product as well as water and energy conversation practices to promote sustainability.

The tour concluded with a tour of the seed lab where D’Arrigo scientists are focused on developing new and better fennel and broccoli rabe varieties.

To help advance the AFF’s mission of providing credible, science-based information, Dr. Tamika Sims, Senior Director, Member and Partner Engagement, for the International Food Information Council, also joined the tour so guests had access to her food safety and regulatory knowledge throughout the experience.

Since the first tour in 2017, the AFF has provided over 60 influencers with a unique on-farm, multi-commodity experience.  This has allowed the AFF to build a strong network of nutrition communicators which has enhanced the organization’s work to communicate fact-based information to consumers as well as counter misinformation about the safety of produce.

The AFF extends its appreciation to the sponsors who made this tour possible including the California Strawberry Commission, D’Arrigo California, the International Fresh Produce Association and Western Growers Association.

“These tours are always so educational, insightful and motivating for everyone involved,” Thorne says. “The teams from Naturipe and D’Arrigo exemplified commitment, pride and passion for providing nutritious, safe, high quality produce to consumers throughout the nation. Our guests left impressed and invigorated to share what they learned with their audiences,” she said.

To see many of the real-time social media posts by guests, visit @safeproduce.

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The Alliance for Food and Farming is a non-profit organization formed in 1989 which represents organic and conventional farmers. 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.  Learn more at safefruitsandveggies.com.