New Online PBH Tool Helps Retailers, Others Move Fruits and Veggies

The Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) has bowed an interactive tool on the Fruits & Veggies-More Matters consumer website, www.FruitsandVeggiesMoreMatters.org. The Fruit & Veggie Happenings page, which has debuted in the runup to September, which is Fruits & Veggies-More Matters month, enables visitors to access information on fruit- and vegetable-related activities, promotions, contests and events provided by retailers and others to extend their consumer marketing or education efforts.

“We hope to see uploads to the Fruit & Veggie Happenings page from our full spectrum of stakeholders,” said Elizabeth Pivonka, president and CEO of Hockessin, Del.-based PBH. “Growers can post farm tours, shippers and processors can announce contests and special promotions, health departments and WIC educators can list events and cooking classes, school foodservice directors can announce a new school salad bar, teachers can highlight classroom supermarket tours, restaurants can feature new fruit and veggie menu items, commodity boards can promote their fruit or veggie festivals, and supermarkets can provide information about upcoming store tours, cooking classes, or in-store promotions -- the possibilities are literally endless! What better time to begin promoting events like these directly to consumers than Fruits & Veggies-More Matters Month?”

When a consumer visitor to the Fruit & Veggie Happenings page type in her ZIP code, she can see what fruit and vegetable activities and events are occurring in her area, and can share local activities with others.
The page also serves as a resource in support of the “America's More Matters Pledge: Fruits & Veggies . . . Today and Every Day!” campaign, developed by the nonprofit organization in alliance with First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let's Move” childhood obesity initiative. The pledge campaign officially begins next month and will be ongoing. Three versions of the program’s marketing toolkit are available online to help the fruit and vegetable industry, educators, and health professionals promote their related activities.