Produce Departments Raise Breast Cancer Awareness

AMY SUNG

SACREMENTO, Calif. — Select Meijer, Price Chopper and Harris Teeter stores are teaming up with Pink Ribbon Produce here this month to implement its retail program aimed at breast cancer prevention and awareness.

“We are excited to be participating in the Pink Ribbon campaign for our first year, and joining Harris Teeter and Meijer stores, who led the way in prior years,” Keith Frosceno, Price Chopper's vice president of produce merchandising, said in a release.

“It is an innovative way for us to support healthy eating habits and a cause we believe in because it affects families who shop with us.”

The four-week in-store program, which runs from Oct. 5 to Nov. 1 this year in Harris Teeter, Meijer and Price Chopper stores, involves 36 participating produce suppliers. A portion of sales will be donated to local chapters of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization. Suppliers are not required to create special packaging, but the program will be supported by in-store signage, including posters and point-of-sale wobblers with the Pink Ribbon program icon.

Pink Ribbon Produce said it hopes to expand its roster of retailer participants in the future.

“Through the power of multiple retailers and produce suppliers, our efforts to educate consumers are far greater than any of us could do on our own,” said Stacey Larsen, president, Consumer Effects International, a consumer marketing agency for the retail and produce industries that developed the program.

“Our goal is to expand this program to as many non-competing retailers as possible.”

According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 182,460 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. Ways women can lower their risk include a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Also, people who eat generous amounts of fruits and vegetables reduce their risk of certain cancers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Our hope with Pink Ribbon Produce is to generate awareness for early detection of breast cancer and help raise funds for research,” said Larsen.