Last week marked the three year anniversary of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. The “Let’s Move” objective is to create a healthier future for our children. A key element of the campaign is promoting healthy eating and increased consumption and access to fruits and vegetables. Many of the communities targeted by “Let’s Move” are lower income, also a key demographic for other government and private organizations looking to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.
While the Alliance strongly supports consumption of both organic and conventional fruits and veggies, the fact that conventionally grown produce continues to be more affordable and accessible must be acknowledged and addressed, especially when promoting healthy eating in lower income communities. And when certain agenda-based groups and organizations unfairly and incorrectly state that conventionally grown produce is “unsafe,” it is a disservice to these consumers and a detriment to the objectives of public health campaigns, like “Let’s Move.”
This is why it is imperative that factual, science based information reaches all consumers – and why the safefruitsandveggies.com website was created. We must provide balance to these fear-based and unfounded messages that are unfortunately becoming pervasive in traditional and social media. A great example of safety information that was clearly and concisely presented to consumers was the Obama Administration’s release of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program report. In the report content, both USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency strongly stated that “U.S. food does not pose a safety concern based upon pesticide residues.” That’s pretty clear.
Interestingly, the timing of this statement by the Obama Administration reassuring consumers about the safety of fruits and veggies coincided with the anniversary celebration of “Let’s Move.” It was good to see the government’s safety message and the First Lady’s “eat more” message presented simultaneously.
At the Alliance, we believe that consumers deserve the truth about the safety and healthfulness of all fruits and vegetables. We also believe that facts, not fear, should guide our food choices. And the facts are that both conventional and organic fruits and vegetables are very safe and we should all be eating more for better health. The USDA PDP report and the First Lady did a good job of reiterating that last week.
Source: Alliance for Food and Farming
