#SEEDTOSPIRIT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM REACHES 1.6 MILLION ON TWITTER

Tricia Braid

Aug 17, 2017  |  Today's News |  Public Outreach

What do you get when you mix foodies, corn, Illinois Farm Families, and whiskey? You get millions of impressions on social media, that’s what. And those impressions were all positive for the story of your IL Corn. A recent program conducted by Illinois Farm Families brought a group of food and travel bloggers from an organization called FoodieChats for a farm visit at Whiskey Acres. Hilarity, fun, and learning ensued, as our urban neighbors learned more about how what’s in their cocktail glass is connected to real Illinois Farm Families.

 

Illinois Corn Marketing Board is one of the coalition members in Illinois Farm Families, along with Illinois Beef Association, Illinois Pork Producers Association, Illinois Soybean Association, Midwest Dairy, and Illinois Farm Bureau.

 

Since great spirits start with great corn, Illinois’ #1 crop was front and center at the event. The Illinois Runs on Homegrown Corn consumer campaign was featured as your corn checkoff funded 360 degree videos outlining the corn crop from start to finish were on display.

Photo credit: #foodiechats

Here are some high points of the results of the tour at Whiskey Acres:

  • Tweets from the chat reached a total of 1.5 million people
  • 347 individuals participated in the chat (including foodies, chefs, dietitians, and the Friday tour attendees)
  • Popular buzz words used during the chat included: food, whiskey, farm, farming, local, corn, foodie and of course #SeedToSpirit (our promoted hashtag)
  • Instagram stories from the Friday evening tour reached an additional 5,000 people

You can see pictures and read a recap of the whole experience on the #Foodiechats blog here.

Steve Green of #Foodiechats shared his photos from the tour here.