Emile DeFelice for Commissioner of Agriculture
A young farmer best known for his work in organizing all local farmers'
markets, Emile DeFelice decided to put his background and ideas into
action by running for Commissioner of Agriculture. Emile's commitment
to South Carolina was demonstrated through a variety of innovative
programs summarized by his mantra, Put Your State on Your Plate.
DeFelice studied statistics about products available to South
Carolinians and learned that most traveled more than 1,500 miles and
cost more in warehousing and transportation than they did in the growth
and harvesting. The final products offer less nutrition to the end
consumer, including more than 700,000 school children daily, than
locally-grown products. DeFelice marketed the concept of changing just
a small percentage of the product from import to local, suggesting an
additional benefit to the health of the State's population of an
economic impact of several billion dollars.
TheRackesGroup (TRG) assisted DeFelice's efforts through a unique web
design and content system, online contribution processing, photo and
video galleries and opt-in electronic messaging to thousands of
prospective voters weekly. While the campaign was unsuccessful,
DeFelice introduced concepts of nutrition and economics to thousands of
South Carolinians that will continue to change the State in positive
ways.