Jane Dukes, associate director, Value Chain and Consumer Affairs, speaks with Charlie Arnot the CEO of The Center for Food Integrity and president of Look East, a communications consulting company based in Kansas City. The Center for Food Integrity is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to building consumer trust and confidence in today’s food system. Charlie is recognized as an industry leader on food and agriculture issues and is a thought-provoking writer and speaker. He discusses increased skepticism stakeholders are facing from customers, consumers and investors across the food value chain. He shares how we can work together to provide critical transparency on topics like food safety, ingredients, animal welfare, labor and business practices and environmental impact. 

“Consumers are not monolithic, and there are 350 million different opinions about what we should be doing when it comes to food and agriculture. And so it's really important and challenging for us to be able to engage. But really the questions, if you distill it all down, come down to, is the food system operating in a way consistent with my values?” - Charlie Arnot

Transparency is personal to consumers. They are concerned about their health and the health of animals and the planet. We feel this topic is so important that we’re sponsoring the upcoming Transparency Summit hosted by the Center for Food Integrity this November in Chicago this November. 

“What we found in organizations is the champion for being more transparent can come from a wide variety of sectors within the company. Could be corporate affairs, could be food safety and regulatory, could be sustainability or ESG, supply chain, research and development, innovation, marketing, C suite leaders. We've worked with companies where the champion for transparency has come from any of those individual sectors. And so we encourage those who have an interest in transparency to come and learn more.” - Charlie Arnot

This Week’s Podcast:

• Learn the facts about transparency in animal protein
• Meet Charlie Arnot the CEO of The Center for Food Integrity and president of Look East, a communications consulting company based in Kansas City. 
• Discover more about the Transparency Summit set to take place in Chicago this November

Click the SpeakPipe link and let us know what your questions are! We will try to answer as many of them as we can on podcasts throughout the year.

Today’s consumers are focused on where their food comes from and how it was made. They are concerned about health and food safety of the food products they buy – and they want to know more about the farm their animal protein comes from along with the environmental impact and how animals are raised. Technology can help provide transparency in the supply chain that delivers upon consumer expectations.

Jane Dukes, associate director, Value Chain and Consumer Affairs, speaks with Glenn Strickholm, President, Protein Brands, Performance Food Group (PFG), one of the nation’s largest broadline food distributors and a recognized innovator in the premium beef market.

“I think that we're always open to finding ways to take the data and the DNA trace back and finding a way to make it mean more to people. You're right, we have it now for validation and sustainability, but what other things can we pull out of that? What other valuable, tangible things can we pull out of that, that a customer would see value in and be willing to pay for?” - Glenn Strickholm

This Week’s Podcast:

• Meet Glenn Strickholm, President, Protein Brands, Performance Food Group (PFG), one of the nation’s largest broadline food distributors and a recognized innovator in the premium beef market.
• Understand consumers' needs for transparency
• Explore the importance of animal welfare to producers and consumers
• Consider the future of technology and transparency in the animal protein value chain

Click the SpeakPipe link and let us know what your questions are! We will try to answer as many of them as we can on podcasts throughout the year. 

Jane Dukes, associate director, Value Chain and Consumer Affairs, speaks with Anne Warden, Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing, Communications and Affairs for Dairy Management Inc and Emily Yeiser Stepp Executive Director for the National Dairy FARM Program at the National Milk Producers Federation. Both of these women work tirelessly for the dairy industry. Since 1939 National Dairy Month has encouraged families to make milk their beverage of choice based on its nutritional value. Dairy’s rich history continues to this day on more than 37,000 dairy farms and over 9 million dairy cows in the US. 

“I think there's been such an evolution over the centuries of dairy farming and the advancement of technology, genetics, nutrition, that truly, it feels like it's hard to keep up with from a consumer standpoint.… And so to help communicate those differences, still with that same confidence of care is really what we get the most consumer questions about.” - Emily Yeiser Stepp

It's not easy being a dairy farmer. Producers are dealing with a lot of challenges at the moment including inflation, labor shortages, labeling of non-dairy competitors, higher input costs for feed and higher transportation costs. Fortunately for dairy producers, “dairy consumption is at an all time high… people love dairy and love finding ways to include it as a healthy option in their lives.” Programs like the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy fosters collaboration and progress to build a healthy and sustainable future for the dairy community.

“The National Dairy Checkoff is focused on growing demand for dairy products. We do that by delivering science behind dairy's benefits, behind its versatility as a category of products, and then giving consumers new reasons to love and trust dairy. So today, that means science that shows how milk and dairy products have a unique and truly unmatched combination of nutrients that can deliver against a wide range of consumer health and wellness needs.” - Anne Warden

This Week’s Podcast:

• Meet Anne Warden, Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing, Communications and Affairs for Dairy Management Inc and Emily Yeiser Stepp, Executive Director for the National Dairy FARM Program at the National Milk Producers Federation
• Explore the state of the United States Dairy Industry and the challenges it faces
• Discover the proactive steps and programs that are established and working hard to support and grow the dairy industry

Click the SpeakPipe link and let us know what your questions are! We will try to answer as many of them as we can on podcasts throughout the year.