Wheat Foods Council Aims to Boost Demand
By Aase Hamnes, Wheat Foods Council
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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
Not only is the WFC funded by checkoff dollars administered by state wheat organizations including the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, but also by the industry, including milling and baking representatives and grain food company executives.
Industry competition is put aside for the primary goal of the WFC: broad, generic promotion of wheat foods to increase grain foods consumption nationwide.
Much of the WFC efforts center on the USDA food guide pyramid, which advocates that Americans should eat six to 11 servings of grain-based foods daily.
Most Americans now only average four servings per day. If everyone in the United States consumed only the minimum dietary guidelines of six servings per day, U.S. wheat demand would increase by about 30 percent. An additional market boost of about $1 billion would be created for U.S. wheat growers.
The WFC has a very small operating budget compared to other national commodity promotion groups. Put in perspective, the dairy industry would spend the WFC entire annual budget in two days, and the beef people would spend our budget in five days.
Still, the WFC is very active and effective in spreading the news in the United States about the nutritional benefits of grain foods. A key strategy is providing wheat foods information through printed material and speaking engagements to national opinion leaders, including health, nutrition, and fitness leaders who then spread our message further.
WFC information is being used by health professionals regularly in all areas of the national media, including magazines and newspapers and occasionally on TV. A nutritionist who appears periodically on "Good Morning America" receives background information from the WFC.
A good example of communicating bread and grains' low-fat message cost effectively was a five-page spread and cover page on the subject in a Woman's Day magazine last summer.
Excluding the cover page, the advertising value was $52,360 for the information provided by the WFC for the article in the magazine, with a circulation of 4.6 million. We reached millions of moms with the message that bread and rolls are good-tasting and low in fat, and satisfy hunger.
An issue the WFC has been active with recently is a revision of the federal school meal program. The WFC has testified at government hearings on the issue, with the message that increasing grains consumption is an easy, affordable way to help lower the percentage of fat in school meals.
I help with in-state domestic promotion activities for the Minnesota Wheat Council and serve as Minnesota's representative to the WFC. I am interested in domestic promotion and education ideas. To provide suggestions or to request wheat foods informational material, call the Council office at 1-800-242-6118, or contact me at 218-478-3338.