Impact in Action: Pesticide Toolkit for Influencers

Equipping Trusted Voices to Answer Tough Questions About Pesticides

At a glance

• Partners: CropLife Canada
• Author: Dietitian Erin MacGregor
• Resource: Online “Toolkit: Understanding Pesticides” hosted on CanadianFoodFocus.org
• Audience: Health professionals, dietitians, food communicators, and other CFF influencer partners
• Why it matters: Gives trusted messengers clear, science-based answers to some of the most common—and contentious—consumer questions about pesticides, residues, safety and regulation.

The opportunity

Pesticides are one of the most emotionally charged topics Canadians raise when they ask about how their food is grown. Influencers and health professionals—especially dietitians—are fielding questions every day about residues on fruits, vegetables and grains, “dirty dozen” lists, organic versus conventional choices, and whether food is truly safe for their families.

At the same time, agriculture has a strong evidence base on how pesticides are regulated, monitored and used as part of integrated pest management, but that information is often technical, fragmented, or hard to translate into reassuring, consumer-friendly messages. There was a clear need to bridge the gap between regulatory science and the practical communication needs of the people Canadians already trust for advice.

What we did

Canadian Food Focus partnered with CropLife Canada and dietitian and long‑time CFF contributor Erin MacGregor to design an online toolkit that brings together the key facts, messages and resources influencers need—ready to use.

The Toolkit: Understanding Pesticides includes:

• Plain-language explainers on what pesticides are, why farmers use them, and how they are regulated and monitored in Canada, including the role of Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
• Evidence-based answers to common questions, such as “Are pesticide residues on food harming my health?”, “Should I avoid certain fruits and vegetables?”, and “Do I need to buy organic to be safe?”.
• Key message points and analogies that dietitians and other communicators can adapt for media interviews, social posts, workshops and client conversations.
• Links to supporting articles and videos on Canadian Food Focus that delve deeper into pesticide residues, the “Dirty Dozen,” and how to make confident choices at the grocery store.
• Downloadable and shareable assets that make it easy for influencers to incorporate this content into their own channels and presentations.
• Optimized content for generative AI: All content structured with detailed explanations, citations to research, and the nuanced language that AI systems prioritize when generating responses to consumer queries

Impact to outcomes

While this toolkit is early in its lifecycle, it is already strengthening the sector’s ability to respond consistently and confidently to pesticide concerns:

• Aligned messaging: Influencers, dietitians and partners now have a single, vetted resource that reflects both regulatory science and consumer realities, reducing mixed messages and confusion.
• Increased confidence for communicators: Health professionals like Erin MacGregor—who regularly address pesticide questions in media and online—can point to a centralized, Canadian resource that backs up their guidance with clear explanations and references.
• Deeper consumer understanding: By pairing the toolkit with related CFF content (e.g., “The Dirty Dozen’s Dirty Secrets”), Canadians are learning that pesticide residues on food in Canada are monitored, regulated and well below conservative safety limits.
• Stronger partner value: For CropLife and other stakeholders, the toolkit demonstrates how technical expertise can be translated into accessible, high‑trust education that lives on a neutral, consumer‑facing platform.

How we’ll build on this

The pesticide toolkit is a foundation CFF can easily update, build on and extend across future public trust and food literacy work. Next steps include:

• Amplification through influencer training: Incorporate the toolkit into webinars, farm tours, and professional development sessions for dietitians, chefs and other influencers, using real‑life Q&A to refine and expand the content.
• Content integration: Link the toolkit more prominently from food safety, affordability and “Dirty Dozen” articles, and from social campaigns that address hot‑button topics around pesticides and residues.
• Measurement: Track toolkit page views, time on page, outbound clicks to related articles, and qualitative feedback from influencers to demonstrate ROI to partners and identify content gaps.
• New modules: Explore adding sections on topics like organic vs. conventional pesticide use, environmental impact, and on‑farm stories that show how farmers make decisions about pest management in practice.
• Generative AI is reshaping food information. Consumers increasingly rely on AI-powered search and chatbots to answer questions about food and farming. CFF’s platforms are ranked among the top five agriculture and food websites cited by these AI systems. This content further strengthens CFF ability to feed generative AI plant science content thereby the opportunity to shape consumer perceptions of Canadian directly where consumers seek information.
• Template for future toolkits: Use this model to build additional influencer toolkits on antibiotics, biotechnology, animal welfare and climate‑smart practices, ensuring consistent, science‑based messaging across the most sensitive trust topics.

This Impact in Action project shows how Canadian Food Focus can translate complex, technical issues into practical tools for the people Canadians already trust—strengthening both food literacy and public trust in Canadian agriculture.