Here are a couple of new online resources to get information about food and farming in the United States today. Both are backed by the Center For Food Integrity.
Best Food Facts employs the Food Integrity Index.
The Food Integrity Index is designed to provide balanced, objective information to help consumers make informed choices. We have partnered with leading universities to provide information on common questions or issues about the contemporary US food system. The Index provides a quick overview of the issue and the conclusions. A link is provided to the full research for more information.
The other site is Farmers Feed Us.
Across our great country, farmers and ranchers work each day to produce the food you and your family enjoy. To us, farming is much more than our chosen profession. It is a commitment to providing you with safe, nutritious and affordable food, caring for our animals and our land, and giving back to our communities.
We invite you to explore this site and learn more about what we do each and every day. You can tour our farms, meet our families, and see for yourself how we grow the food that ends up on your family’s table.
Here are the organizations supporting the CFI.
The Center for Food Integrity is supported by more than 20 organizations representing each segment of the food chain, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, Dairy Management Inc., Elanco Animal Health, Fair Oaks Dairy Farm, Foster Farms, Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana Packers Company, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, International Association of Fairs and Expositions, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board, Michigan State University, Missouri Department of Agriculture, Monsanto, National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council, Novus International, Ohio Farm Bureau, Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin, Purdue University, United Egg Producers, and United Soybean Board.
During the recent Ag Media Summit my friends at 
It was very interesting to note that although over 94% expressed high levels of confidence with proposing the use of digital and social media, a high number (39.7%) said their top challenge was “unclear ROI to justify efforts.” So although they like and are comfortable with new media options they aren’t clear how to justify them. I think it’s interesting since these social media mechanisms are so “measurable.” However, there seems to me to be a lingering fear and or distrust of using measurements that don’t include all of a person’s demographic data. As if somehow, the visitors to a blog on agriculture aren’t farmers. Of course, some may not be but on the other hand why would you not think that visitors to a topical blog are involved or at least very interested in the subject?
Looking ahead to the Farm Progress Show, there’s already a lot of activity on the site, including exhibitors. Take Monsanto for example. They’re not only busy but you can follow along since they have several web options.
Jim Evans, 
“One of the things we’ve seen all summer with the economic situation, people have moved away from traditional steaks and those kinds of more expensive product. We’re working with retailers to help them feature those kinds of items. We’re helping consumers understand how to use something like the flatiron were they can still have the steak experience but at a lower cost.”
“A year ago when food prices were increasing and there were food riots around the world, we commissioned a study from three economists at Purdue on what are the real drivers to food prices. They reviewed literature, assessed the global demand for food and what were the driving factors including fuel, petroleum prices, world stocks, supplies of grain and more.”
Our photo album for the IFAJ Congress/Ag Media Summit has been giving us fits the last few days. Flickr is great but every once in a while . . . 
Allen Moczygemba has been busy creating a new enterprise.
The results are in for the American Farmland Trust’s