Produce is for Everyone

With all that’s unfolding in our world, sometimes we need to pause, remind ourselves and our fellow humans what we’re made of. I am humbled and proud to be a part of one of the most powerfully dynamic, life-enhancing fields of work in the world. While growers are harvesting as fast as they are able and trucks are loading with precision, chaos is real. 

As an industry, we have an amazing chance to help turn the tide and give hope to our country. As one, we need to focus our messaging and deliver the truth that produce is good for us, it’s safe for us, and it will be there through this history-making time of our lives.

Here in fresh produce, we have a tremendous responsibility and a powerful platform to assure that the population is fed and informed, and, with that, we have the ability to mitigate some of the hysteria that makes us feel like we are spinning out of control. What we do every day is impactful, what we can control are our attitudes and our behaviors, and what we can deliver is amazing—for everyone. We have a chance to help people feel better about their circumstances by changing their collective perspective. 

Each day we grow, sell, drive, fly, sail, cut, slice, dice, purée, juice, and package some of the greatest, safest commodities on the planet. The food we deliver each day is part of a powerful solution to help people feel better, live better, and be better. Produce nourishes, heals, and fundamentally changes lives. Antioxidants found in our food are needed now more than ever. Their immunity-boosting value can’t be beet. Pun intended.  

Whether you fix sprinkler pipe at 1:24 a.m., QC lemons at 4:15 p.m., stand on a line in a shed during a 100-degree day, walk a market while the rest of the world sleeps, or drive it through wind sleet snow or rain, you are part of the produce family. We’re here when we face inclement weather, when the news reports our hiccups and issues, and when we struggle to find resources like water and ground. We are even here when the market drops.  It is a time like no other in our history to demonstrate to the American consumer that we are and always have been here for them because that is what we do, because this is what we believe. Our food is safe and is important to our health and vitality.  

Let’s work in harmony to help turn the tide on all this crazy and give people something that is in their power to do. Let’s get America seeing produce in a different light. It’s our chance to help change diets and habits. We may not change the circumstances we face but we can certainly change how we view them by changing our perspective. 

Whether it is farmed in a fertile valley or desert, in the dirt, under lights, without dirt or even under the sea, let’s make a difference today by all of us reminding people to eat healthily and eat foods that will help them through these tough times. 

#Produceisforeveryone