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 Reconnecting Nebraska's Farmers and Grocery Retailers

 
Sponsored by your Nebraska Grocery Industry Association
Greetings! 

A Message from Kathy Siefken, Nebraska Grocer Industry Association

Every day, it seems, a news item hits the consumer with something dire about our food system. Do you have the answers to shoppers' questions about how your food items are grown? If you do, are they good enough to calm a consumer's concerns?

Participating in our Farmer Goes to Market program gives you a unique chance to get a virtual one-on-one with the Nebraska farmers who provide the products you sell. They can be a valuable resource. Here's how: 

 

- E-mail newsletters like this one bring you exclusive farm based intelligence that helps you plan your marketing efforts from the farm up.

-Roundtables will gather key opinion leaders from both ends of the chain (farmers who grow our food and grocers who sell it) and discuss important issues facing the food system and its consumers. 

-Farm tours will help reacquaint grocers with the complex chain that produces and delivers their food supplies, to dispel some misconceptions, and to equip you with accurate information to give consumers.

The collaborative effort between Food-Chain Communications and the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association will reestablish that connection between grocers and farmers and begin the much-needed dialog many have lost. For information, call me, or click here to leave me a message.

Get in on the dialog...

 

Sincerely,
Kathy Siefken
Executive Director
Nebraska Grocery Industry Association
 
Nebraska's soybean farmers are proud to bring you this information to help answer customer questions
Nebraska soybean farmers and their checkoff are proud sponsors of the Farmer Goes to Market program, realizing that this program provides an integral link in the food system chain. The information provided in this newsletter is a key step in our educational initiative, providing consumers with information on our effort to provide them with a safe, affordable, abundant food supply.

 

 
An educational program produced by Food-Chain Communications and delivered to members of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association. Farmer Goes to Market was established in 2008 to help bridge the growing gulf between today's grocery retailer and today's farmer, empowering them with full-chain knowledge to carry agriculture's true message to food consumers.

 

 
We take great pride in supporting Nebraska's agricultural foundation
The farm and ranch families represented by Nebraska Farm Bureau are proud sponsors of the Farmer Goes to Market program. We take great pride in supporting Nebraska's agricultural foundation. A key part of that effort is to make sure we produce safe and affordable food. This newsletter is an important part of our effort to connect the two most important parts of the food chain -- the farmer and the grocer -- with the goal of increasing consumer awareness and information about how their food is raised in Nebraska.

 

Navigating the New Food Movement:

What Consumers Really Need to Understand about the 'Organic Watergate' 

Questions shoppers should be asking about organics

One of the nation's organic-food advocacy groups released a detailed report critical of USDA's willingness to permit synthetic ingredients in organic foods, calling the sutation the "organic watergate." But some bigger issues remained unremarked upon. Click here to read what shoppers really need to understand about what organic is--and what it is not.

Translating Food Technology:

Why do Farmers Use this Common Methamphetamine Lab Ingredient?

Why the attack on 'pink slime' could actually discourage food safetySpringtime brings an uptick in the number of methamphatemine lab busts, which also tends to make a common source of fertilizer an attractive target for thieves. Here's why farmers use this technology, and why it's worth it, both to them and to you.
Competitive Commodity Insight:
Blame It All on the Rain

What's ahead for the globe's ag trade? USDA looks aheadAs farmers finish their spring cropping and watch the impact of weather on crops--both good and bad--the commodity markets tend to over-react this time of year. Here's a look at the USDA outlooks for several key crops that have an impact on almost every department of your store.

  

Don't miss our 2012 Conference and Golf Outing
Foresight on Food Politics:
Spy Drones over Nebraska Farm Country?

Congressional farm subsidies don't all go where you've been told they go

Members of Nebraska's Congressional delegation have penned a strong letter to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking for specifics on the agency's admission it had used fly-over photo missions to collect information on Nebraska cattle farms. Click here to read the details and to hear why EPA's actions should be a concern to grocers as well as farmers.




Meet your Farmers...

Times Change; Family Farm Values Don't  

Click here to hear from real farmers   

This Firth egg farm may care for more than a quarter of a million laying hens, but its has always been and still remains a family farm. Listen to why the outward appearance of Nebraska farming may change with the years, but the heart and soul of any family-run operation doesn't, from the owners and managers of Sunny Side Farms.


On the Lighter Side:
How to Make for a Lively Day at the Lake
Fun ideas to liven up a boring day at the lake

Growing a little bored with your summer Sundays at Lake McConaughy? Consider how the producers of this hidden-camera bit decided to put some good clean fun back into their day at the beach.
Discover some truth in food