Like a previous report from food activist Michele Simon a few years ago (Best PR Money Can Buy) the Alliance for Food and Farming’s (AFF) Safe Fruits and Veggies Initiative is among the “covert communications” highlighted Friends of the Earth (FOE) report titled “Spinning Food: How Industry Front Groups and Covert Communications Are Shaping the Story of Food.”
Ironically, despite its “front group” contentions, FOE’s report acknowledges the AFF’s impact with a “relatively small budget.” FOE goes on to chastise the AFF for engaging reporters and bloggers, posting information on social media and promoting website sections like, “A Dozen Reasons Why Eating Both Conventional and Organic Produce is the Right Choice For You.” So FOE, if the AFF distributes peer reviewed studies and research about the health and safety of organic and conventional fruits and vegetables to reporters or consumers that’s now labeled “covert communications?”
Or as stated in an opinion piece in the The Packer: “Describing communication efforts with emotionally-laden words such as “tobacco style PR,” “spuriously implying,” “covert social media,” “propaganda,” “industry-sponsored spin,” FOE forgets that the Alliance for Food and Farming — like other “industry front groups,” one supposes — was created with the goal of more fair and accurate reporting about ag in the consumer media.”
But really the inclusion of the AFF by FOE should be viewed as yet another indicator that we are having success in our mission to provide credible, science based information to consumers so that facts, not fear, can guide shopping choices. Again, we quote The Packer: “This contrived broadside from FOE won’t discourage the Alliance for Food and Farming from continuing to tell its even-handed message to consumers about the safety of all conventional and organic fruits and vegetables. Even though FOE doesn’t want to hear it.”
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Friends of the Earth Report Is Another Indicator of AFF’s Success
