Staff Report

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — It turns out there is such thing as a free lunch after all, thanks to Illinois Farm Families. In fact, they are offering Illinois residents the chance to win a free breakfast, lunch and dinner — by way of free groceries for an entire year.

Through Oct. 2, Illinois residents can register for two grand prizes of “Free Groceries for a Year!” (based on Food Marketing Institute figures, a $5,000 value) at www.FarmersFeedUS.org ^[1].

Two additional sweepstakes prizes are also being offered, including an Illinois Fall Get-Away package to a bed and breakfast and a Family Harvest Day package out on an Illinois farm.

Upon visiting www.FarmersFeedUS.org, consumers can register to win by “meeting one of five Illinois family farmers” through a short video showing how each produces safe, healthy food. Visitors can register up to five times every day by meeting each of the farmers.

The Farmers Feed U.S. website features beef cattle, corn, dairy, hog and soybean farmers from across the state, sharing information about their farms and their families. In addition to guiding visitors through the sweepstakes registration, each farmer also offers a brief online farm tour.

Featured Illinois Farm Families include: Deb and Ron Moore, soybean farmers from Roseville; Brent and Kathy Scholl, hog farmers from Polo; Dale and Linda Drendel, dairy farmers from Hampshire; Mike and Lynn Martz, beef cattle farmers from Maple Park; and Steve and Elizabeth Ruh, corn farmers from Sugar Grove.

“As Illinois farmers, we’re thrilled to offer free groceries for a year to the consumers of our great state,” said Deb Moore, one of the featured farmers on FarmersFeedUS.org. “This is an opportunity for Illinois Farm Families to show Illinois consumers how we grow their food, and to let them know we share their values — taking care of our families, taking care of our animals and land, and giving back to our communities.”

Over the course of the 90-day sweepstakes, consumers throughout the state will also see and hear from these Illinois Farm Families as they are featured in television and radio advertising, and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ilfarmfamilies ^[2]) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/ilfarmfamilies ^[3]).

Illinois Farm Families are Illinois farmers who support Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Pork Producers Association, Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Illinois Soybean Association and Illinois Beef Association. Members are committed to having conversations with consumers, answering their questions about food, farmers and farming, and sharing what really happens on today’s Illinois family farms. More than 94 percent of Illinois farms are family owned and operated. Visit www.watchusgrow.org ^[4].

From the July 13-19, 2011 issue