Week in Review: Your midterm election guide 

The national midterm election is this upcoming Tuesday. 

If you’ve watched TV or listened to the radio or browsed online in the past few months, you’ve no doubt heard political ads, and you’re probably ready for it to be over. 

If you thought this column would tell you how to vote next week, you will be disappointed. Blue Book media is proudly nonpartisan but pro-produce. 

Citizens have to weigh their personal, family, and professional priorities when they cast their votes. 

While voting is an important duty, there’s a much bigger thing that produce industry members can do to increase their political power: get to know your government representatives, both local and national, and let them know how important your business is and what matters to the produce industry. 

IFPA hosts one big government relations conference every June, and other produce groups regularly visit Capitol Hill to push for industry priorities.  

IFPA has a helpful list of public policy items for the produce industry on its website.

It also helps produce companies connect with their representatives and advises you on how to host them at your facilities. 

That is powerful politics, and companies that have done this say it’s highly effective. 

The same goes for inviting local politicians. Get to know them, and more importantly, let them get to know you and your businesses. 

The more our representatives know how important our companies are, and how important fresh fruits and vegetables are to nutrition and the overall economy, the better the chances that they will support laws and policies that help the industry. 

While election day will have its moment, use your political power all year long.