The Wheat Foods Council (WFC) is a national non-profit organization that serves as a leading source of science-based information on wheat and wheat foods nutrition. They are currently focused on building a presence with personal trainers, maintaining relationships with registered dietitians, improving the image of enriched flour and educating influencers on wheat breeding.
They hosted their winter board meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, on January 19. Texas Wheat Director of Communications and Producer Relations Darby Campsey, who sits on the WFC Board, attended the meeting as a voting member.
The meeting started with a communications workshop hosted by Kansas Wheat Director of Communications Marsha Boswell. There was valuable discussion among state executives about social media, positive messaging and brand expansion.
During the board meeting, WFC did an overview of their efforts in 2017. Dr. Glen Gaesser, one of the council’s nutrition experts, presented during an American College of Sports Medicine webinar and drew the largest audience in the history of the webinar, around 2,000 participants. Nancy Clark, another expert on the panel, presented at Idea World, a huge personal trainer expo, to a sold out audience. These opportunities allowed WFC to engage with an audience of influencers who either did not have access to information about wheat nutrition or were completely anti-wheat.
The Wheat Foods Council launched an initiative called the Center for Nutrition and Athletics. While the Wheat Foods Council provides information for a broad audience of consumers, the Center for Nutrition and Athletics is geared more toward the health-minded influencers of our society, like nutritionists, doctors and personal trainers. They will also be releasing an app to complement the website called “Food Fit” sometime in the near future.
These are just a few highlights from the council’s busy year. They are also staying on top of the latest research regarding ancient wheat versus modern wheat, FODMAPs and gut health.
This is valuable information for Texas Wheat because, although we represent producers, we can’t properly defend or even understand wheat without having this research in our arsenal.
In the coming year, the Wheat Foods Council will continue to engage with influencers at conferences, expos and through webinars to better understand the needs of consumers. They will be releasing an app called “Food Fit,” to help expand the Center for Nutrition and Athletics. They will be working with EatWheat.Org, another online initiative launched by Kansas Wheat that focuses on the human aspect of wheat production, from farmer stories to family recipes, and they will continue to explore the latest research on wheat and gluten and how they relate to nutrition.
The Wheat Foods Council summer board meeting is June 12-14 in Portland, OR.
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