Farmers, Moms & Millennials Join Forces

(Newswire.net — April 20, 2016) Des Moines, Iowa — A grassroots movement of farmers, moms and millennials has sprung up in Iowa, led by the nonprofit ReFounding a Bold America. Responding to America’s growing food, water and soil crisis they call their approach ReGenerative Agriculture and look to champion transparency in the US food system.

Concerns about our nation’s food and water supply have been heightened by the Flint, Michigan water crisis and the news of water contamination in schools across the country. GMO labeling fights in states like California and Vermont are also in the news, and concerns about food safety are on the minds of consumers—especially millennials. According to Successful Farming magazine’s article “Meet Your New Boss,” “After decades of catering to every whim of the baby boomer generation, the boomers are becoming old news. A new generation – the millennials – is taking over, and this group will be just as dominant as the boomers have been for the last 30 years.”

Successful Farming gives a quick overview of this shift to the tech-savvy and idealist millennials and their demand for fresh, healthy, local food. Such a generational shift in consumer consciousness is directly in line with ReFounding a Bold America’s grassroots alliance with farmers, moms and millennials.

“It makes perfect sense,” says RBA chair Woody Beville. “Moms and Millennials are demanding higher food quality standards, and these forward-thinking farmers are committed to supplying safe, nutrient-dense food that moms are happy to feed their children.”

ReFounding a Bold America is not the only nonprofit to be focusing on Iowa as a model state for remaking America’s food system. The Union of Concerned Scientists’ Plate of the Nation campaign advocates the return of the small farm to Iowa, and details the financial windfall this would be for Iowans. Iowa-born Merlin Yockstick, co-founder of ReFounding a Bold America, agrees. “Iowa, and the Heartland overall, is perfect for creating a sustainable system of agriculture that meets our 21^st Century needs for safe and healthy food and water. It’s time to fix our broken system and start taking much better care of ourselves.”

A key component of the RBA effort is the local food hub, something which Iowa has pioneered. Barbara Stone, Director of the Southeast Iowa Food Hub, says that “food hubs are restoring historical practices that keep regional and locally grown food, local.” She sees food hubs as the core of an emerging new food system. Yockstick points out that farming is the basis of our society, the first business, and he calls what is happening in Iowa the Agricultural Revolution 2.0 and a remaking of our food and ag business.

An integral component of RBA’s platform is advanced technology that fosters transparency in the nation’s food and water supply. Through their partner Blue Planet Science, Inc., RBA offers consumers, farmers and ag industry players an array of tools and methods for testing and growing food. For example, the handheld DUV ScnR offers consumers the ability to test their food and water for over 200 nutrients and contaminants in real time. More information is available at FightOfTheCentury.org. Inquiries about the industry tools can be made through BluePlanetScience.com.

“It’s all about transparency,” says Yockstick. “We want to make sure that farmers and consumers—especially moms and millennials— have the tools to see what’s really in their food, water and soil and where it come from.” From there, he believes we can rebuild a lost foundation in our society and help people make the right choices for their health and the health of their families and our planet.