WASHINGTON and DES MOINES, Iowa, June 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers, food processors, agribusinesses and consumers share a common goal: the desire to minimize food loss and waste. Through an innovative new sustainability initiative announced today, the CropLife Foundation and Meredith Agrimedia are coming together to tell the story of how today's agriculture is a leading and vested partner in the movement to reduce food waste.
Consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental, economic and social price tags attached to food waste. Food Business News listed "food waste frenzy" among its top 10 food trends for 2017. National Geographic ranked "sustainability awareness and food waste" as one of its "5 Food Trends to Watch" this year. In the United States, up to 40 percent of all food produced is lost to waste, according to USDA estimates.
Against this backdrop of heightened awareness and concern about this growing issue, the CropLife Foundation and Meredith Agrimedia will connect with consumers to raise awareness of the efficiency-enhancing technologies and sustainable production techniques employed by today's farmers.
"When it comes to food waste, many consumers don't realize that their fight against food waste is also agriculture's fight," said Jay Vroom, vice chairman of the CropLife Foundation. "Our members and the Foundation are energized to be part of an initiative that lets us have a true dialogue with consumers and policymakers about the technologies and practices today's farmers use to not only produce the best food, but to ensure waste along the way is minimized."
To accomplish this, the CropLife Foundation and Meredith Agrimedia, along with enabling partner FLM Harvest, will implement a comprehensive public affairs campaign centered on food loss and waste. The campaign will meet consumers in their kitchens and in the aisles of their local grocery stores, delivering farmers' messages of agricultural sustainability and stewardship via publications and social media outreach.
A cornerstone of the campaign will be an innovative "bookazine" – an illustrated publication that looks like a magazine but acts like a book – that will be available to consumers at newsstands and grocery checkout lanes. The bookazine will feature recipes and tips for minimizing food waste in the home, interspersed with farmers' personal stories of fighting food loss in their fields through the use of ag technologies.
"Meredith has a proven ability to deliver relevant content to consumers in ways that are meaningful to them," said Scott Mortimer, vice president and group publisher of Meredith Agrimedia. "By combining the insights of the Agrimedia team with the expertise of Meredith's core media food team, we can develop tailored content around the food waste topic. Meredith is uniquely positioned to bring the story of food production to the 110 million women we reach each month. The bookazine and other efforts will be a way to put food waste front and center to consumers in a unique and compelling manner."
The agriculture and broader food industries continue to make strides in reducing food waste and conserving water, land and natural resources through sustainable practices. The CropLife Foundation is inviting companies that want to increase their stewardship, corporate responsibility or sustainability efforts to join the initiative as collaborating partners.
To join the food loss and waste movement or to explore other avenues for getting involved, contact Bill Kuckuck of the CropLife Foundation at [email protected].
About the CropLife Foundation
The CropLife Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable and research organization created in 2001. The Foundation promotes and advances sustainable agriculture and the environmentally sound use of crop protection products and bio-engineered agriculture. For more information on the CropLife Foundation and its programs, visit croplifefoundation.org.
About Meredith Agrimedia
The Meredith Agrimedia brand, owned and operated by Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP; meredith.com), builds on Meredith Corporation's 115-year heritage of serving the information needs of rural and farm families through more than 4 million touchpoints. It encompasses Successful Farming magazine, Living the Country Life magazine, Country Gardens magazine, Agriculture.com and Ageless Iron Almanac to provide marketing solutions by engaging those living on the land through a wide variety of platforms, including publishing, digital, broadcast and mobile.
Successful Farming magazine was Meredith's first publication in 1902. Its website, Agriculture.com, was established in 1995 as one of the first agricultural websites in America. Living the Country Life magazine was founded in 2002 as a sister publication to Successful Farming. The editors identified a growing community of small farmers and acreage owners across the United States who needed information tailored to their lifestyles. In 2007, Living the Country Life became a standalone multimedia brand, using publishing, radio, and digital to reach the rural lifestyle audience.
About FLM Harvest
FLM Harvest delivers innovative solutions and meaningful results to clients across the farm, food, environmental sciences and lifestyle spectrum. The new company consists of more than 80 team members located in operating locations including Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Portland, Ore.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Washington, D.C.
SOURCE CropLife Foundation; Meredith Agrimedia
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