Industry social media on hot-button issues, celebrities, analysis
Yowza.
Your social media posts really stirred up some discussion this week among our staff.
Our industry delivered it all, from an in-your-face stance on a hotly contested issue and a tear-jerking positive response to a labor crisis, to a celebrity endorsement and a deep-dive report on sustainability in 2020.
It's a lot. But here are just five posts to peruse. That's doable. Then, move on with your workday. (After reading the rest of The Packer, of course.)
It’s no shocker that there were 126,627 views on this post with this attention-grabbing title: The Hidden Dangers of Organic Foods.
This food scientist and chemical engineer — who has worked at organic and conventional food companies for more than a decade and goes by the pseudonym Food Science Babe — really hits on some controversial subjects and caught our attention.
In this Instagram post, a repost from her TikTok account, she comments on a reel from @kids.eat.in.color about organic food myths and the harm they can cause.
She is in no way saying organic food is harmful or unhealthy, but the misunderstanding around it can create fear, judgement, food shame, feelings of superiority and less fresh-produce consumption by low-income consumers.
Then, she shares her top three misconceptions about organic food. Considering the post’s title, it’s either quite witty or not self-aware that her often-used hashtag is #factsnotfear. She also refers viewers to her Organic highlight, where more research and sources are available.
Check it out at @foodsciencebabe.
While scrolling, we noticed an older post on the Facebook page of Consalo Family Farms, Egg Harbor City, N.J., and it made our jaw drop.
Ice-T!
The rapper, songwriter, actor and producer is a mainstay on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and a well-known face and voice in popular culture for decades.
This video clip, posted nine months ago (as journalists, there’s no such thing as cyber-stalking, mmmkay?), shows Ice-T gushing about Consalo Family Farms. Ice-T grew up in Newark, N.J., until he moved to to the South Central district of Los Angeles when he was in the sixth grade, according to IMDB.
“New Jersey blueberry season is in full swing, and Consalo Family Farms is excited to be harvesting in the blueberry capital of the world, and that’s New Jersey,” he said in the July 2020 video. “The family handles 9.5 million pounds of New Jersey blueberries and is four generations strong, you hear me?”
We hear you, Ice-T.
Find them at @ConsaloFamilyFarms.
We love a comprehensive report, like this one posted by Mimmo Franzone, director of produce and floral at Longo’s, a supermarket retailer based in Vaughan, Ontario.
He links to his company’s 2020 Sustainability Report, which leads to a 23-page, interactive online document with charts and graphs and videos — oh my.
Then Franzone teases readers with “another massive initiative coming May 6th that will take us even further on our sustainability journey!”
And he included all the relevant colleague tags and subject hashtags. He’s no novice.
Find him at Mimmo Franzone.
Social media is a great way to advertise an event, especially an online event.
Produce Marketing Association’s Center for Growing Talent not only shares about this Diversity and Inclusion session, but the link to register on Zoom shows two more sessions coming up May 4 and May 11.
Also, this is a great workplace issue that we can all work on, no matter our backgrounds. The terms “unconscious bias and conscious inclusion” are particularly interesting. They also tagged the sponsor, Mission Avocados, which is always a plus to get more shares, likes and engagement overall.
Find them at @CGTbyPMA.
TikTok
We’ve seen a lot of Owyhee Produce grower Shay Myers lately, especially his post nabbing 3.2 million views about how he couldn’t get the labor to harvest his asparagus, which editor Tom Karst covered in a separate article.
But we’d be remiss if we didn’t feature Myers in this column, as he’s practically a social media sensation for the fresh produce industry, on most platforms.
As TikTok is a newer platform that our industry has yet to fully capitalize on, we chose this one for Myers. Besides never shying from hot-button issues, he often posts quick, educational content that’s fun and interesting.
And this positive TikTok reel, with “only” 457,800 views, shares how his town almost tripled in size when he created an asparagus giveaway event, inviting the public to pick and take home $160,000 to $200,000 worth of asparagus for free. More than 6,000 people arrived at his farm.
Find him at @ShayFarmKid.
