'Tip of the Iceberg' podcast: Stemilt, EFI urge sharing about your #AlwaysEssential farmworkers

There are 2.6 million men and women working on farms and ranches in the U.S., and consumers want to know about them.

Well, there’s a week for that.

March 25-31 is especially devoted to telling their stories, called Farmworker Awareness Week — but sharing about the people who make our food is a necessary (and marketable) year-round endeavor.

Join in our discussion on Season 3, Episode 16 of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast with Equitable Food Initiative’s LeAnne Rhodes Ruzzamenti and Stemilt Growers’ Brianna Shales.

They discuss the digital tools available on equitablefood.org/toolkit to share your farmworker stories on your social media accounts, your email newsletters, websites and POS displays.

As Wenatchee, Wash.-based Stemilt’s marketing director, Shales said her company became fully EFI certified about two years ago and is “very focused on how we can grow people into new roles, grow their skills, improve their lives. With that comes the opportunity to grow better-tasting fruit that delights consumers. It’s the core of who we are and what we differentiate on,” she said.

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Shales urges other companies to spread awareness through promotions, displays and POS materials. Partner with suppliers to tell those stories on social media or different marketing channels.

“Through the rise of short-form video and influencers, and social media’s ability to connect directly with the consumer, that really is a big opportunity in our world,” Shales said. “How do we share those continuous improvement activities, or just those everyday tasks of what it takes to grow an apple, and who’s doing it and how they’re doing it?”

To get started, here are some key messaging topics for National Farmworker Awareness Week, March 25-31:

• EFI has a Farmworker Awareness Week toolkit with messaging and templates on equitablefood.org/toolkit. Farmworkers are essential to getting fresh and healthy food on supermarket shelves. We don’t see them, but they grow, harvest, process and pack our fresh food.
• During the pandemic, farmworkers were recognized as essential, but they have always played a vital role in the food supply chain. #AlwaysEssential
• Farmworkers are the root of our supply chain and ensure the availability, quality and safety of our food and help American farms produce $164.7 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product.
• 2.6 million farmworkers are on farms and ranches in the U.S., performing hard and skilled labor.
• Farmworkers deserve our thanks along with safe and respectful workplaces.
• In every state, there are farmworkers on farms, ranches, greenhouses and processing facilities caring for the crops and livestock that provide healthy and nutritious food.
• Farm and ranch operations often run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, through heat and cold, and farmworkers are the backbone that keep the operations running daily.

Don't forget to listen: Brianna Shales and EFI on 'Tip of the Iceberg' podcast