NORTH AMERICA - A leaf of lettuce does not simply arrive on our table; it travels through soil, seasons, hands, risk, and remarkable care to get there. I have the privilege of knowing something about that journey—the blood, sweat, equity, and tears behind a strawberry, an onion, or a head of lettuce making its way from seed to shelf. After 15 years of witnessing this industry up close, I live in a state of near-constant gratitude for fresh produce.
A much wider consumer network does not. And therein lies the problem.
Recently, I wrote about the broader impact of incorrect messaging surrounding the Cyclospora food safety event. What began with specific products had spilled far beyond them. Unrelated commodities appeared alongside national coverage. Unsupported claims traveled the social wires. Suppliers across categories saw the consequences as consumers responded not just to the facts at hand, but to a much broader perception of risk.
When someone yells “fire,” logic has a tendency to go out the window.
That isn’t a criticism of the consumer. It’s human nature. And consumers today are navigating an extraordinary amount of noise—social media, headlines, influencers, national outlets, algorithms- all moving much faster than the facts can sometimes follow.
So, what can we do about it?
I keep coming back to the relationship between supplier and retailer—and all those organizations in between.
Our suppliers possess an enormous amount of knowledge that never reaches the person standing in the produce aisle. They know their farms. They know food safety. They understand traceability, geography, seasonality, commodities, and the distinctions that can mean everything when an outbreak, recall, or even a misleading headline begins influencing buying behavior.
What if we put more of that knowledge directly into retailers’ hands—before they need it?
Simple consumer-facing FAQs, for example. Talking points for produce teams. Digital and social assets. Clear explanations of what a recall does—and does not—mean. Resources that allow a retailer to answer a shopper’s question with confidence rather than scramble for information once the alarm is already sounding.
And importantly, there are retailers, suppliers, commodity groups, associations, and organizations already doing this work exceptionally well. They deserve credit. There are tremendous advocates for fresh produce working every day to educate consumers, promote consumption, protect confidence, and communicate responsibly.
The question is how we build on it. How do we connect those efforts, give them greater reach, and arm more of our retail partners with the same tools? Because silence doesn’t create an information vacuum for very long. Someone fills it.
And too often, that someone doesn’t know this industry. None of this means softening our stance on food safety. Food safety is essential. Consumers deserve transparency when something goes wrong, and in sync with that, they also deserve accuracy. Advocating for a commodity wrongly swept into a broader narrative is not ignoring food safety. Helping a retailer educate its shoppers is not circling the wagons. Correcting misinformation is not minimizing risk. It is education. It is advocacy. And I would argue it is part of our responsibility.
Fresh produce is a gift. I know that because this industry has given me the privilege of seeing what it takes to produce it. I don’t have the solution for how we make the facts louder than the noise. But I want to find one. And I know that desire runs much deeper than mine among our produce friends.
