Potatoes USA Puts Growers at the Heart of Its New Marketing Campaign
Potatoes USA has launched a nationwide storytelling campaign highlighting the people and families behind America’s potato harvest. Titled “The Heart of the Harvest”, the initiative showcases farmers from key producing regions to strengthen the connection between consumers and the agricultural origins of their food.
The campaign introduces audiences to growers such as Shelley Olsen of LJ Olsen and Two O’s, Inc. in Othello, Washington, who began farming in the 1980s and continues the family’s multigenerational potato enterprise. “We’re so much more efficient, and we can do more with less,” Olsen said. “The goal is to produce the best possible product with minimal strain on resources.”
In Idaho, Trever Belnap manages Hamer Farms and Ball Brothers Produce, a fourth-generation business cultivating 1,500 acres of russet potatoes. “There are not many jobs like this where you can work so closely with friends and family,” Belnap said. His crops reach markets across the U.S. and abroad, from Central America to Malaysia.
On the East Coast, Hunter Gibbs of Pamlico Shores Produce in North Carolina co-founded the business with lifelong friend Dawson Pugh, expanding from 150 to 400 acres of potatoes since 2012. “Seeing your work end up on someone’s dinner table to feed their kids and their family is the best part,” Gibbs said.
In Wisconsin, sisters Wendy Alsum-Dykstra and Heidi Alsum-Randall, co-Chief Operating Officers at Alsum Farms & Produce, emphasize the strength of family continuity in agribusiness. “Being part of a family legacy, supported by dedicated employees, grower partners, and customers, is what motivates me every day,” said Heidi. “The great thing about potatoes is their versatility,” added Wendy. “There are endless ways to enjoy.”
Through these profiles, Potatoes USA illustrates the diversity of U.S. potato production — from the Blacklands of North Carolina to the mountain valleys of Idaho — while underscoring the professionalism, sustainability, and generational commitment that sustain the industry.
“Potatoes are so nutritious and versatile, and they’re an affordable way to nourish people,” said Gibbs. Potatoes USA points out that a 5.3-ounce skin-on potato provides 30% of the daily value of Vitamin C and 620 mg of potassium — more than a medium banana — as well as 26 g of carbohydrates, the brain’s primary energy source.
As the marketing organization representing U.S. potato growers and importers, Potatoes USA continues to promote the crop’s nutritional benefits and the work of its producers worldwide through research and outreach initiatives.
