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New Food Industry Group to Address Consumer Skepticism

Two food industry groups have combined to form a new non-profit aimed at promoting consumer understanding and trust of the food production system.

Best Food Nation and the Grow America Project combined to form the Center for Food Integrity, which says its primary mission is to "engage with stakeholders, model practices that build trust with consumers, and share accurate, balanced information about the US food system," according to Andy Miller, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture - one of the new group's supporters.

So far, about 20 groups are supporting the organization, from the American Farm Bureau Federation to the National Chicken Council to the National Council of Chain Restaurants.

But according to some groups, the Center for Food Integrity is a cover-up tool rather than a solution. The Center for Food Safety calls it "the creation of a PR entity to try and battle regulations designed to create a safer food supply."