When the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) was looking for a farmer to represent American farmers who grow soybeans using environmentally sustainable techniques, Jim Douglas volunteered.
Douglas is a farmer from Flat Rock, Ind., and a director for the United Soybean Board (USB), the national soybean checkoff program. For nine years, Douglas was a board member of the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA), the state’s soybean checkoff program. Now, he is featured on billboards and in commercials in South Korea as USSEC’s representative of a responsible U.S. farmer who produces healthy crops.
“I’ve spent my entire life cultivating this piece of land. When I first realized that soybeans are turned into an extraordinary variety of food products and served on dining tables all around the world, I felt a tremendous responsibility,” Douglas said in one of the commercials. “This crop provides growing children in countless countries with nutrients and nourishment they need. It is for this reason that I decided to adopt sustainable cultivation techniques. I want to conserve this land and pass it on to future generations.”
USSEC’s consumer outreach campaign in South Korea features Douglas promoting sustainably grown U.S. soybeans. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the sustainability of U.S.-grown soybeans among general consumers as well as the food industry. The campaign includes billboards and signs that have been running on buses in Seoul and its suburbs that may reach as many as 260,000 people.
As a result of this advertising in South Korea, Sajo Daerim, a major food manufacturer, has expanded its Sustainable U.S Soy-labeled soy food products. Ourhome, another major food manufacturer and food service provider, launched tofu products with the Sustainable U.S Soy logo label this year. From January through April of this year, 67,000 metric tons of U.S. food-grade soybeans worth $57 million were exported to Korea. USSEC also launched a digital campaign on YouTube focusing on U.S. Soy sustainability.
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