By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

THORNTOWN, Ind. — An iconic brand in the grocery store met an iconic element of the farm when Campbell Soup Co. teamed up with the National FFA Organization to restore five historic barns to their former glory. The goal? To raise $250,000 for FFA and help consumers reconnect with the origins of their food.

“We want people to think of their soups a little differently,” said John Faulkner, director of brand communications at Campbell. “We want to make people think of the ingredients that go into the can, and this program was designed to make that happen.”

Campbell’s Help Grow Your Soup program showcases 10 historic barns, including two in Michigan and one each in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, that are in dire need of makeovers. The public can vote on their favorite barn online, and the votes will determine which lucky five will get some of the repairs done, with the help of money from Campbell and volunteer labor from local FFA members and alumni.

For each vote, Campbell will also donate $1 to FFA, up to $250,000. “(FFA) will get some seed money from us for a fresh coat of paint, some carpentry work and light construction, but other people and businesses in the community tend to step up once they get started. It’s pretty neat to see how the kids and adults get excited over the projects and work together,” Faulkner said.

One vote per day and computer is allowed and the voting goes until Jan. 5. Tom and Kerry Dull, whose turn-of-the-century barn in Thorntown, Ind., is one of the nominees, are busy getting out the vote. As of the time of writing, their barn was ranked third, with 11 percent of the votes. “Our challenge is to get everybody we know to get out the vote and make voting part of their daily routine. It’s going to take a lot of votes to make it happen,” said Tom Dull.

The Dulls, who run a Christmas tree operation as well as a 2,000-acre corn and soybean farm, put a new roof on the barn a couple of years ago and recently shored up the foundation, but the building still needs quite a bit of work. Dull said he’s hoping to place in the top five, to help offset some of the costs of preserving it.

“I personally have a thing for old buildings and barns; they have a soft spot in my heart,” he said. “The problem with these old icons is that they’re not very useful in today’s modern agriculture. They cost so much to keep up and farmers don’t have any incentives to do so. It’s a little different for us because we have the Christmas tree operation, and the barn is part of the customer experience.”
Dull’s tree operation features several old log buildings that have been salvaged and moved to the farm from other locations. The barn is also an integral part of the tree farm, and the farm’s most noticeable landmark.

“When customers come out to our farm they drive around a bend and the barn is the first thing they see, so it needs a little facelift,” Dull said. His parents bought the farm 50 years ago, and the barn used to hold livestock as well as seed corn. Future plans for the building include adding a hay mound where kids can play. “We’re trying to make it user-friendly and safe,” Dull said.

Campbell started its Help Grow Your Soup program last year after the company realized that although consumers were familiar with the brand, they didn’t necessarily think much about what goes into the can. “When our company was founded over 100 years ago, half the country lived on farms and the rest were only one generation removed from the farm,” Faulkner said. “Today, consumers, with some exceptions, have lost the connection with where their food comes from.”

It was also a way for Campbell to sponsor FFA and support the organization’s long-term goal of reaching 10,000 chapters by 2015. “FFA has a long list of corporate sponsors and we were a little late to the party, but we think this program is a fresh take on what an FFA sponsorship could look like,” Faulkner said.