Cooper Farms: - Urner Barry Publications, Inc.

Targeting all mommy bloggers…
National Turkey Federation to expand reach
of upgrading the American diet with turkey
Contributed by the
National Turkey Federation
With the release in early 2011 of the new
Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Healthy
People 2020—the 10-year health goals
for the nation–and with the intensified
focus of First Lady’s Let’s
Move! campaign to combat
childhood obesity, the
National Turkey Federation
(NTF) will have a number of important
initiatives to advance the nutritional status
of turkey in the year ahead.
“All of us have a role to play in preventing
childhood obesity and NTF wants to give
consumers the tools to make
simple ‘upgrades’ to their
diets,” said Sherrie Rosenblatt,
NTF’s vice president of
marketing and communications.
“It beings with
education and
that’s why NTF
will add consumerfriendly
information on reducing
childhood obesity to its Meal
Upgrade Calculator.”
Building on its success in 2010 of
positioning turkey as a positive and simple
step consumers (especially busy moms)
can take to improve the nutritional quality
of family meals, NTF will continue its
partnership with Shape Up America!—the
healthy weight campaign spearheaded by
former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett
Koop–to extend the reach of its “Upgrade
It!” campaign. The campaign features the
Meal Upgrade Calculator, an online tool
that shows consumers how to “upgrade”
favorite family meals by changing the
type of meat and poultry, the side dishes,
and even the condiments to decrease the
amount of fat and calories in breakfast,
lunch and dinner menus.
Having introduced consumers to the
“upgrade” concept in 2010, NTF plans to
work with Shape Up America! this year
to build momentum for the campaign by
incorporating physical activity “upgrades”
as part of the calculator so moms can
learn how to combine small changes in the
family diet with simple ways for families
to become more active. At the same time,
NTF and Shape Up America! will create
more news by commissioning a survey
of moms examining their attitudes/
beliefs about childhood obesity and their
challenges in getting kids to eat healthier
meals. The research will also provide new
findings on the extent to which moms
underestimate obesity in their children,
providing a compelling platform for NTF
to offer new solutions through extensions
to the Meal Upgrade Calculator.
Among the plans for 2011, NTF will
add new meals to the 24 options
already featured through the Meal
Upgrade Calculator. These meals were
selected because they are easy to prepare,
economical and frequently served in
American households. The new meals
will go beyond breakfast, lunch and dinner
to include “upgraded” school meals and
snacks. NTF also plans to extend the reach
of the campaign by targeting an influential
audience: mommy bloggers. In fact, a
recent report from eMarketer predicts the
number of mommy bloggers–adult female
Internet users with children under 18 in
the household who write blogs about any
subject at least monthly–will grow from
3.7 million in 2009 to 3.9 million in 2010.
NTF will tap into the expanding audience
with a contest for bloggers to create
kid-approved turkey dishes for the Meal
Upgrade Calculator.
“Social media platforms are the perfect
tools to educate consumers on the
resources available to make meaningful
health improvements in the family
diet,” said Rosenblatt. “This is a great
avenue to extend the message about
turkey’s nutrient-rich profile, along with
providing information about the variety
of turkey products available today in the
marketplace.”
Not a mommy blogger The entire
social media community can join NTF’s
Facebook fan page (Turkey. The Perfect
Protein ® ) and Twitter account (@turkeygal)
to share newsworthy articles about turkey’s
nutritional profile and ideas for serving
turkey to children.
The Meal Upgrade Calculator is available on
NTF’s website, EatTurkey.com.UB
We’ve Got
Your Turkey!
Traders of
Turkey, Turkey Parts
and Raw Materials
Domestic & Export
Contact John, Mike, or Merri at
Tel. 910-875-6500
Fax 910-875-6205
TalkTurky@aol.com
P.O. Box 950, Raeford, NC 28376
VOL. 6, NO. 1 / WINTER 2011 / URNER BARRY’S REPORTER • 47