Dole Challenges North America to "Get up and Grow!"

Dole is bringing together all areas of the company to directly challenge North Americans to Get up and Grow by incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet – and is even offering various rewards for doing so. The company’s “Get Up and Grow!” healthy-lifestyle initiative goes beyond past Dole education campaigns to give consumers more than a dozen tangible ways to improve their nutritional well-being. Representing a rare joint effort between Dole Fresh Fruit of Westlake Village, Calif., Dole Fresh Vegetables of Monterey, Calif. and the Kannapolis, N.C.-based Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI), the multi-platform program seeks to impact consumer behavior in the home, at the store, on the road and all points in-between. Program elements range from compelling new recipes, serving, pairing and entertaining suggestions to the Dole Get Up and Grow! Tour, which will bring healthy-living insights, recipes, free tastes and unique, hands-on experiences to supermarkets and special events in cities across the U.S. and Canada in summer 2015. “For more than a century, consumers in the U.S., Canada and throughout the world have looked to Dole as the global model of freshness, nutrition and health,” says Bil Goldfield, director of corporate communications for Dole Food Co. “While we’re grateful for this extraordinary level of trust, we know that with it comes the responsibility to impact consumer awareness and behavior to create a brighter future. ‘Get Up and Grow!’ is that commitment to a healthier and happier tomorrow.” Jenn LaVardera, MS, RD, will oversee the initiative’s educational efforts as the nutrition and health communications manager for DNI and the Dole Food Company. With past experience in TV, print and online communications, LaVardera will work with Nicholas Gillitt, DNI director and Dole VP of nutrition research, to spread Dole’s message about the advantages of a plant-based diet via social media, PR, collaborations with other RDs and health influencers and DNI’s widely read e-newsletter, Dole Nutrition News. According to Goldfield and Carrieann Arias, vice president of marketing for Dole Fresh Vegetables, Dole’s fresh divisions and research arm have come together like never before to show that eating fresh fruits and vegetables can be nutritious, delicious and fun. “This year, we’re giving North Americans more tangible ways than ever to adopt a healthier life,” said Arias. “While we’ll always offer some of the world’s most remarkable fruit and vegetable recipes and serving suggestions – after all, this is Dole – we’re also working closely with the experts at DNI to show some of the amazing science supporting a plant-based lifestyle.” A highlight of the program is the first-ever Get Up and Grow! Healthy Living Pledge, which will ask the public to join a nationwide movement toward a healthier, plant-based diet in 2015 and beyond. Participants will be able to personalize and submit an interactive online pledge to live healthier, including eating more fruits and vegetables, and share that pledge with friends and family. Future pledge-takers will even have the opportunity to set personal “happiness” goals and receive free DOLE fruits and vegetables and other wellness incentive rewards for their efforts. Other elements include expanded use of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, to leverage Dole’s 2 million combined social followers, among the most in the produce industry.