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 Reconnecting Nebraska's Farmers and Grocery Retailers

 
Sponsored by your Nebraska Grocery Industry Association

Message from Kathy Siefken, Nebraska Grocery Industry Association

I hope you and the shoppers you serve every day in your  community have a  joyous, safe and encouraging holiday season. Allow me to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has given us the benefit of your feedback on this monthly Farmer Goes to Market newsletter. Your Nebraska farmers are a truly invaluable resource in helping explain sometimes confusing issues to customers, and I hope you put them to use at every opportunity.

 

On behalf of all of us at the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association, let me wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season.

 

Sincerely,

Kathy Siefken
Executive Director
Nebraska Grocery Industry Association

 
Proudly sponsored by Nebraska's corn farmers
The Nebraska Corn Board, on behalf of 23,000 corn farmers in Nebraska, invests in market development, research, promotion and education of corn and value-added products. The board aims to work closely with the farmer-to-consumer food chain, to educate everyone about the role corn has in our everyday healthy lives. The Nebraska Corn Board is proud to sponsor the Farmer Goes to Market program to help bring its mission of expanding demand and value of Nebraska corn to the consumer, through the strongest touch point in that chain: the Nebraska retail grocer.
 
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.

 

 
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.

 


Navigating the New Food Movement:

Four new definitions of 'local'...
and none have anything to do with food miles  

What are shoppers buying when they choose 'local?'

Thinking of "local" as simply a question of food miles is a seductive trap that distracts the average shopper from real issues, according to these California professors. Rather than getting hung up on the practical definition most consumers would use, they say, advocates for a more sustainable food system must open their minds to a broader definition of the term. Good luck merchandising their four new and improved definitions of local to your shoppers.
Translating Food Technology:
A new 'Why do Farmers do That?'
considers the purpose of hormones

Why do farmers give cattle growth hormones?

Considering the ongoing controversy about the use of hormone implants ranchers and farmers give to most beef cattle, why would they continue to use them? Yes, the answer lies in the fact it helps cattle grow faster and more profitably, but that's only part of the equation that makes these decades-old tools a priceless bargain for cattle growers, as well as your customers. Here's why farmers do that.  
Foresight on Food Politics:
The bill for obesity has been tallied. Is it about to land at your door?
The bill for obesity is about to land at your door
"The biggest obstacle to setting "effective policies" to combat the so-called obesity epidemic in this country has been a lack of reliable estimates about how much the nation's overweight and obese are costing the taxpayer and society, according to these researchers. No more. Their study has now tallied an official bill, opening the dialog about what government can now do about the problem. Guess where the bill's going to land.  

 


Competitive Commodity Insight:
An updated meat-price index examines the impact of high meat prices

Have gold-plated meat prices cost us shoppers?

Oklahoma State University's continually updated index tracking consumers' expressed willingness to pay for key meat-case items and some non-meat alternatives helps guage the longterm impact of today's record retail meat prices. Have we reached the golden ceiling in pricing yet? Here's what the latest figures suggest.    





Meet your Farmers...
The best science and tech lab a Nebraska kid could ever grow up in                      

Columbus' Loseke family farm...the best science lab a kid could grow up in The Loseke family kids learn to apply their science, tech, engineering and math skills in the best science lab of all, as they help parents Ryan and June run this Columbus ranching business. See how Elisabeth, Erika and Cort apply these skills to veterinary science, animal nutrition, agriculture and meteorology.


 On the Lighter Side:
A new video twist on a holiday classic 

Courtesy of modern video technology and creative mixing, country music superstar Martina McBride sits in with the King on his classic holiday wish for you and yours.

High-tech Merry Christmas from the King  

Click here for more details on today's Food Morality Movement