By Lisa Cassady Jayne
 
In partnership with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the soybean checkoff helped carry out the 2010 National Food Check-Out Week February 21-27 celebrating the abundance and safety of food in the U.S. This year, in recognition of the current economic conditions, the focus was “Stretching Your Food Dollar with Healthy, Nutritious Food.”

By lending support to this important cause the checkoff’s goal was to draw focus to the fact that America’s soybean farmers remain committed to producing a safe, healthy and an abundant supply of food. The event also allowed U.S. soybean farmers the opportunity to share with consumers that farmers have the same issues many families face -  putting   nutritious meals on the table while sticking to a tight budget.

 “With these tough economic times and so many people out of work it’s especially important that consumers understand how to choose affordable and nutritious meals,” says Terry Gilbert, a Kentucky farmer and the AFBF Women's Leadership Committee. “During Food Check-Out Week we offer consumers information on how to buy healthy, nutritious food while sticking to a budget. We provide them information on when to buy fresh fruit or when frozen vegetable may be better. We show them how it might be more economical to buy a whole chicken than frozen parts.” 

Commenting on the nearly universal need among consumers to stretch their food dollars in today’s economy, Gilbert noted that a number of studies have shown that recent higher retail food prices were caused primarily by rising energy costs for processing, packaging and transportation.

“Its important consumers understand where their food comes from and how fortunate we are in this country to have an abundance of safe and comparatively affordable food,” says Gilbert. “We are thankful to have partners such as the soybean checkoff to share in spreading this message.”

Starting this year, the timing of Farm Bureau’s Food Check-Out Week was not related to the date Americans have earned enough money to pay for their food for a year, which is calculated on USDA data that is always a year behind. The third week of February was selected for Food Check-Out Week as a bridge to National Nutrition Month in March.

For more information go to http://www.fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=events.foodweek.