Pears & MyPlate Part 2

Pears and MyPlate Part 2. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Pear Bureau Northwest has recently been accepted as a National Strategic Partner with the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion’s Nutrition Communicators Network. The Network was introduced in June at the same time that the USDA’s new MyPlate icon was unveiled. Cristie Mather, Director of Communications for Pear Bureau Northwest.

MATHER: Well the icon was first unveiled in June of this year and we have already implemented it into some of materials. Since June we’ve produced a new food service brochure and it explains the nuances of pears on the menu to chefs and also to food service distributors so they can help their clients who are the chefs better understand pears and how to implement them in their operation.

They are in the process of revamping some of their other materials as well.

MATHER: So we incorporated the messaging of the 2010 dietary guidelines which state that half your plate should be fruits and vegetables so that’s really good news for pears. We’re revising our kids activity book that we have so we’re teaching kids too about the MyPlate messaging.

And Mather says they are fully utilizing the icon and message.

MATHER: We’re using social media, we’re putting it on our website, we’re blogging about it, we’re incorporating it into our communication materials and again it’s that consistent messaging that we’re all reinforcing throughout all of our efforts. Later on they’re going to include other messages like “Enjoy your food but eat less” or “Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.