Courtesy of Roxanne C., Philadelphia PA
While it’s still too early to know how the world will be different after the pandemic, it’s prompting massive involuntary behavioral change right now, especially in what and how we eat. The belief that food is medicine had reached a tipping point well before the corona virus. Just look at who all is on board with healthy food:
>> Corporations that have figured out it’s cheaper to keep their employees healthy than insuring them for when they get sick.
>> Academic research groups that, after collaborative, multidisciplinary research, proved that fresh food delivered stuff like protein for muscle repair, carbohydrates for energy and vitamins and minerals for cell function.
>> Governments that have to address mounting consumer anxiety over the unaffordable cost of healthcare.
>> Healthcare professionals who have discovered that food is the source of materials the body needs to build itself and stay in top working order. (who knew?).
Lots of powerful forces have been making healthy food the new normal, with corporate consumer food brands and retailers touting health benefits that their ingredients don’t deliver, and treating their packaging and promotion as marketing programs rather than tools to improve public health. SPIN farmers can do better. We have been serving our customers high-quality, fresh, nutritious veggies through farmers markets, CSA’s, specialty grocery stores and forward-thinking chefs for nearly 20 years. Now there’s also a significant opportunity for us to expand into cottage-industry scale prepared foods, with encouragement and even economic incentives from governments who are finally seeing the multiple advantages in rebuilding local food supply chains. Our product claims:
>> 100% authentic
>> 100% trustworthy
>> 0% BS
What is making this easier for us is that research on nutrition is getting better and is widely available on the Internet. But we are not scientists, or doctors. So how do we communicate this to our customers and advise them in a responsible way, without coming across as a snake oil salesman?
First, we ourselves need to be more aware of the health benefits of produce items we take for granted. Second, we should do our own research, and then recommend customers do their own with a starting list of sources we find credible. There really is quite a lot of legitimate information online. The point is our job is to get customers excited about vegetables, especially younger ones, who may not have been big fans of them before, and there isn’t a better time to do it than now.
REPLAYS TO WATCH: These SPIN farmers, whose businesses are still going strong, discussed how they sell health along with their veggies in their member meetups:
✔ Cathy LeValley’s Healthy Snacks Business Is Transforming a Food Desert(7/12/18)
✔ Change Agent Max Valyear Is Growing His Way to $30k (1/26/17)
✔ Caroline Barrington Profits from Pioneering Local Food (2/25/16)
CONNECT WITH SPIN FARMERS WHO ARE BUILDING BUSINESSES BY DISPENSING HEALTHY FOOD IN THE SPIN ONLINE SUPPORT GROUP. FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP WITH THE PURCHASE OF ANY SPIN GUIDE.