AgWired

After a month-long Twitter contest, CropLife America (CLA) is pleased to announce the winner of the Green Thumb Challenge.  Jennie Schmit, @FarmGirlJen, has won an Apple Watch for her submission of her green thumb–literally!  The challenge was for advocates to paint their thumbs green and post a creative shot on Twitter.  Many contestants submitted thumbs painted like farm animals, at a fair, working on the farm, and many other inspired ideas, but Schmit’s is truly original.  Her photo captures her thumb inside a green tomato in a field red ripe tomatoes and the caption “@CropLifeAmeria 30+ tons of tomatoes per acre (preferably not free)! #GreenThumbContest.”

“So many people are involved in the process of getting healthy food from the farm to your plate,” stated Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CLA. “The Green Thumb Challenge helped people from across the literal food chain unite to support the many food production methods that growers use today. A recent report from the United Nations showed that the number of people experiencing hunger has decreased by 795 million people over the past 25 years, despite exponential population growth.1 The crop protection industry supports the continual development of herbicide and other crop protection technology to make sure we can produce healthy food for all in a way that preserves our land for future generations.”

In celebration of the conclusion of the Green Thumb Challenge, CLA is making a $5,000 donation to the Food Recovery Network (FRN), an organization that connects students across the country to fight food waste and hunger. Through the work of the Food Recovery Network, 814,325 pounds of food have been donated to people who are hungry.

“Food Recovery Network is pleased to have been a part of the Green Thumb Challenge to help educate the public about our food system and to jumpstart thinking about how and what we grow, eat and throw away. Through coordination, collaboration, and a commitment to sustainability, we can get healthy food to everyone and reduce our impact on the environment in the process” states Regina Northouse, FRN’s executive director. “We need to work together to make food production more efficient and sustainable, by implementing practices such as food recovery and food waste reduction, in order to continue to reduce hunger worldwide.”

America’s farmers are becoming ever more efficient in food production, using less land and fewer resources.  You can read more about sustainability efforts at www.CropLifeAmerica.org.