U.N. promotes healthy eating and sustainable living with a pane of 10 new stamps

By David Hartwig

The United Nations Postal Administration will issue a pane of 10 stamps and labels Feb. 22 featuring characters from DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls movie as part of a global campaign to mobilize action for a healthy diet and sustainable living.

For the #TrollsFoodHeroes digital and online campaign, the happy and colorful characters from the popular animated movie are joining the United Nations, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Foundation as part of the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables.

According to Maher Nasser, director of outreach in the U.N. department of global communications, this collaboration “provides an excellent channel to get the message out to children and their parents about the importance of healthy eating and reducing food waste.”

The 10 stamps show five different designs of characters from the Trolls movie posing alongside heaps of healthy fruits and vegetables. The stamps are each denominated $1.30 for use from the post office at U.N. headquarters in New York City.

On each stamp, the denomination is in a different color in the upper right, “UN” is in blue in the upper left, and “2022” is in blue or white at the bottom left.

The 10 labels are se-tenant (side-by-side) with the stamps. In five of the labels, two additional Trolls characters pose like their counterparts in the stamps. The five other labels present the ActNow sustainable development goals logo.

“ActNow is the United Nations campaign for individual action on climate change and sustainability,” according to the United Nations. Part of the campaign encourages people to become food heroes by doing things such as reducing food waste, eating healthier meals and shopping with reusable bags.

Baskets overflowing with tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, onions and other produce surround characters Poppy and Branch in the decorative selvage area outside of the stamps. The U.N. logo appears at the upper left of the selvage. Text at the top urges readers to “Eat more fruits and vegetables!” and to “Be a food hero like the Trolls.”

The tag #TrollsFoodHeroes appears below the text in the selvage. The # symbol is called a hashtag when used on social media as a way to easily search for all messages with the same subject.

The feature film Trolls is a 2016 computer-animated musical comedy produced by DreamWorks Animation. The studio also produced a sequel to the popular family film in 2020.

“The Trolls are a celebration of positivity,” said David Bynder, senior vice president of global brand partnerships for DreamWorks Animation. He added that his company hopes that the Trolls “enthusiasm will inspire kids and families around the world.”

The United Nations designated 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables. According to the FAO, this provided an opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of fruits and vegetables in nutrition, health and food security, as well as providing the opportunity to increase awareness in achieving the U.N. sustainable development goals.

The closing ceremony for the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables is scheduled for Feb. 24, two days after the issue date of the #TrollsFoodHeroes stamps.

The initiative promoted on the new Trolls stamps began in 2015 when countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals. The 17 goals were agreed upon by all 193 U.N. member states in a global effort to end poverty, ensure prosperity and protect the planet.

All the goals are featured on a previous UNPA issue of Oct. 24, 2016 (Scott New York 1147, Geneva 629 and Vienna 597).

The #TrollsFoodHeroes stamps will be available for purchase Feb. 22.

For more information, visit the UNPA website; write to UNPA, Box 5900, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-5900; telephone 800-234-8672; or fax 917-367-1400.

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