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Farm Bureau takes another step in path to create a partnership between farmers, consumers

by Lynn Snyder

Ohio Farm Bureau’s three-phase approach to reach consumers with information about agriculture took another step forward in early June. Phase one, the Our Ohio magazine, was created in 2002 to engage consumers and create a connection for them between where their food comes from and who produces it. Now, a new Web site is up and running, OurOhio.org, completing phase two of the plan. Phase three will be completed this fall with the launch of the Our Ohio television show.

According to OFBF Director of Consumer Communications Pat Petzel, the Our Ohio Web site is a communications hub, linking and expanding upon magazine and future television content. OurOhio.org provides information about food, agriculture, cooking, gardening, travel, animals, rural living and where to buy Ohio farm products locally. Later this summer, Web site visitors also will have the opportunity to sign up for free e-mail newsletters on various food, farm and travel topics. One of the site highlights is an interactive map where visitors can click on any county in the state and find local farm market information and event listings of Farm Bureau or other agriculture-related events.

All three communications tools are part of a brand Ohio Farm Bureau has created called Our Ohio. As consumers experience the Our Ohio magazine, Web and television show, they will be provided information and opportunities to experience Ohio agriculture through lifestyles topics such as travel, animals, history, cooking, families and gardening.

Petzel said Our Ohio magazine, Web and television features stories about how Ohio’s agricultural heritage is woven into our lives through the state’s people, products, values and culture.

"The goal of the brand is to introduce all Ohioans to opportunities to interact with Ohio agriculture and to learn more about our food and how it is produced," Petzel said. "Those opportunities can be in person by visiting a farm, farm market or county fair or an educational ‘electronic’ interaction through materials provided on the Web or television."

OFBF farmer members continue to have the www.ofbf.org site to access specific Farm Bureau information, such as news, legislative updates and information about specific program areas. However, farmer input to the new OurOhio.org site is invaluable, Petzel said. There are several ways to participate, such as making sure your county’s activities and local farmer’s markets are listed on the site and sending along potential story ideas. Petzel suggests working through organization directors and county Farm Bureau offices on these items.

What the Our Ohio brand is all about

• Our Ohio means that we choose Ohio. We choose Ohio for all the heartland offers – a place where family is near, a place to make a home and put down roots.

• Our Ohio celebrates farm culture: hard work, rock-solid ethics, family focus and the value of being in touch with the seasons, soil and sun. It is a culture worth celebrating, preserving and promoting.

• Our Ohio means farm-fresh food and knowing the neighbors who may grow it for you.

• Our Ohio is the simple beauty of rural Ohio and farm landscapes and reflecting that beauty in our homes and gardens.

• Our Ohio encourages the uncommon value of common sense.

• Our Ohio means connecting rural and urban neighbors in a spirit of mutual understanding about land, animals and the people who produce the products that become our food.
• Our Ohio means forging a partnership between farmers and consumers.