NEW YORK — Organic Valley launched today Protecting Where Your Food Comes From, a new campaign that highlights the importance of our food system and protecting small organic family farms, which are home to countless plants and animals and help reverse the effects of climate change. The U.S. is losing 100,000 family farms each decade* and this summer, the country faced record high temperatures* leading to an uncertain future for U.S. food system resiliency.
To launch the campaign and connect protecting where your food comes from to the earth, Climate Week NYC is getting its first-ever organic farm experience as Organic Valley transforms the iconic Rockefeller Center Channel Gardens into a pop-up organic dairy farm experience. We are inviting families, food enthusiasts and curious urbanites to be part of the excitement and learn why it’s important to protect where our food comes from.
Open to the public Wednesday, Sept. 20, and Thursday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, this family-friendly farmstead comes alive with a series of hands-on, immersive activities. Climate Week attendees and New Yorkers alike will get to meet farmers without leaving the Big Apple – getting to know real organic dairy farmers, sampling Organic Valley’s farm-fresh dairy products, sitting on a tractor and digging into the stories of resilience and climate-friendly dairy innovation from America’s leading organic farmers. In fact, Organic Valley dairy farms average 24% lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional dairy farms.
While the event in NYC is a moment in time, the Organic Valley campaign is intended to live on for years, built on the farmer-owned cooperative’s 35-year movement safeguarding small family farms. The video in this movement campaign was filmed on eight real Organic Valley farms across the country.
“We’re here at Climate Week NYC to change the narrative: Not all dairy is created equal. There’s often a one-sided view presented about animal agriculture and a perceived need to reduce milk and meat consumption to lower carbon impact, but we aim to showcase the other side: ethically sourced organic dairy done right – organically on family farms,” said Jaclyn Cardin, Chief Brand Officer at Organic Valley. “Unlike the greenwashers out there, what we do is nonfiction marketing – all the animals, birds and farmers featured in our campaign videos and activations across the country are real and found on our small family farms. By choosing Organic Valley over the alternatives, people contribute to the protection of over 400,000 acres of certified organic pastureland and diverse ecosystems. Not all dairy is scary, and our aim is to broaden the perspective of those who believe otherwise.”
Urban Campaign with a Rural Heartbeat
New Yorkers across the city will discover the campaign in subways, buses, billboards and even a vivid painted mural across from a Whole Foods Market in Brooklyn — all aiming to inspire people to protect where their food comes from by choosing climate-friendly dairy from small organic family farms.
Aiming to amplify the reach and awareness of Organic Valley, the organic cooperative is also collaborating with Whole Foods Market for Fall Roadshow Retail events, focusing on NYC, Denver, Boston and Atlanta. The activations at stores in those four markets coincide with Climate Week NYC, involving live art, product sampling and more.
Organic Valley is elevating the campaign through social media blitzes and intriguing new video content across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Hulu and Amazon. Styled like wildlife documentaries, these videos showcase the rich biodiversity found on organic farms, highlighting the urgency of protecting small, family-owned and operated organic farms.
About Organic Valley
Organic Valley is the leading organic farmer-owned cooperative on a mission to save, serve and safeguard small organic family farms. The brand’s products are ethically sourced, which we define as food raised on organic farms where families manage the daily care for the animals and the earth while living up to the requirements of the USDA National Organic Program as well as our cooperative’s high standards and practices designed to promote the principles of organic agriculture, including respect for the dignity and interdependence of human, animal, plant, soil and global life. Founded in 1988, today the cooperative is owned by over 1,600 organic family farms. Visit ov.coop for more information. Organic Valley is also @OrganicValley on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter and @therealorganicvalley on TikTok.
