Farmers Reach Out to Consumers During Food Check-Out Week
By Cyndie Sirekis
As they have done for the past decade and a half, farmer and rancher members of many local Farm Bureaus will reach out to consumers in their communities during Food Check-Out Week (Feb. 19-25 this year). The official theme of the week is “Stretching Your Grocery Dollar With Healthy, Nutritious Food.” The theme reflects the continuing reality that many Americans are feeling an economic squeeze and as a result, eat out less often and prepare more meals at home.
Offering practical information and tips on how to put nutritious meals on the table with fewer dollars is just one aspect of Food Check-Out Week. Many participating farmers and ranchers also are committed to responding to broader questions consumers may have about food—how it is grown or raised and long-term effects on people’s health and the planet.
For many farmers and ranchers, this stepped-up interest in conversations about food, whether through in-person conversations or social media interaction with consumers, was sparked by The Food Dialogues, a new effort to bring together different viewpoints on farming and ranching, and the future of food.
The Food Dialogues is an initiative of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, a coali
