Corn growers will launch ad campaign to counter environmental and nutritional complaints

Corn growers are fighting back against some of the negative publicity they have received in recent years with a new advertising campaign highlighting the economic, environmental and family-oriented aspects of the industry. "The ad campaign echoes the "Know Your Farmer" initiative being run by the U.S. Agriculture Department," Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register writes on the Green Fields blog. "The corn growers aren’t trying to promote local foods, but are instead trying to make the case that their industry is dominated by family farms that are taking care of the environment and benefiting the economy."

The ads will target federal lawmakers and "will be running during June and July in the Washington Metro system, in Capitol Hill publications, on radio, at Reagan National Airport and in the programs for Washington Nationals baseball games," Brasher reports. In recent years corn growers have been hurt by "criticism in the best-selling books of Michael Pollan and in several films, including the Oscar-nominated Food Inc. that link corn and corn-containing foods to obesity and environmental problems," Brasher writes. "At the same time, some food and beverage companies are replacing high-fructose corn syrup in their products with sugar." (Read more)