The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association is partnering with Dr. David Gombas of United Fresh Produce Association and Amy Philpott of Watson and Mulhern to offer a FULL day of preparing Georgia’s producers for recalls in the produce industry, Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at the UGA Conference Center in Tifton, GA. This hands-on educational course will help growers and shippers be recall ready with an understanding of the fundamentals of produce recalls.

Many other traceability workshops have been offered in the past but have been too expensive or offered a teaser in order to sell a product. We understand many Georgia producers can’t afford to be away from the farm for more than a day which is why this workshop was been condensed from a two day course into one day of intense education and training. When you leave you will know how to prepare for a recall, the resources you need in the event of a recall and who to have on your side.

Industry experts include FDA Atlanta District Recall Coordinator, Mr. Arnold Best to share exactly what the FDA expects during a recall, Mr. David Durkin of Olsson, Frank and Weeda law firm, to shed light on your rights and responsibilities, Mr. David Gombas, Senior Vice President of Food Safety and Technology with United Fresh Produce Association, to educate on the fundamentals of a product recall and the importance of traceability, and Mrs. Amy Philpott of Watson and Mulhern to help understand how to communicate during a recall and manage customer expectations.

The Be Recall Ready workshop will culminate with a hands-on traceability exercise to put the knowledge to the test. This workshop is presented through the GREAT educational series of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and cosponsored by the Georgia Peach Council, Georgia Watermelon Association and the Georgia Agricultural Commodity Commission for Vegetables.

Be Recall Ready…

Preparing Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Producers for Recalls

August 10, 2010

8:00 a.m. – 6 p.m.

UGA Conference Center, 15 RDC Road, Tifton, GA

This INVALUABLE workshop should not be missed!

Click HERE to Registered TODAY  or contact the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers

 Association at 1-877-994-3842.

First Lady Michelle Obama and other Obama administration officials unveiled the action plan in a presentation May 11. The plan to reduce the rate of childhood obesity to 5% by 2030 outlines 70 specific recommendations that stress physical fitness and better nutrition for America’s youth.

The plan’s focus on encouraging increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is in line with foodservice industry trends, said Dawn Sweeney, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association.

“The restaurant industry is built upon consumer choice, and industry research shows rising customer interest in produce, lean meats, and nutritionally balanced children’s meals,” Sweeney said in a news release.

Sweeney noted the NRA has joined the Produce Marketing Association and International Foodservice Distributors Association in a goal to double the use of produce in foodservice within 10 years.

Pamela Bailey, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Grocery Manufacturers Association, said food companies have embraced the shared responsibility to help reverse the trend of obesity. She said food manufacturers are committed to making healthier food and to share nutritional information more effectively.

The White House task force brings a very thoughtful approach to ambitious changes in nutrition policy, said Ray Gilmer, vice president of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based United Fresh Produce Association. “As far as nutrition policy is concerned, we’re glad to see they are very much on target with what we are trying to do.”

Gilmer said accessibility and cost are considered to barriers to increased consumption by the task force, but he said United Fresh officials were still trying to determine what kind of subsidies the task force may be advocating, asking, “is it subsidies for consumers in feeding programs or is it subsidies for growers?”

United Fresh wants to explore with the administration and the industry about the concepts presented in the task force report, since there is a diversity of opinion concerning producer subsidies, Gilmer said.

The obesity task force report can be found at this link.

By Tom Karst

 The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Foundation, Inc. is pleased to announce that Kaylee Hamilton of Norman Park, Ga., has been named its 2010/2011 Scholarship recipient. The scholarship, totaling $2,000, was established on December 19, 2002 by the Trustees of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Foundation to encourage and support higher education endeavors by sons and daughters of individuals involved in the fruit and vegetable industry. 

 Hamilton, currently a Senior at Colquitt County High School, plans to attend Georgia College and State University where she will pursue a degree in Nursing with a minor and Spanish. She is currently involved in numerous activities including competition cheerleading and the Heritage Church youth group and choir.

 An active member of the community, Hamilton has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, her church nursery and area nursing homes. Additionally, she has earned numerous awards and honors including National Honor Society, the Choir Director’s Award, Senior Homecoming Court representative and the Packer Spirit Award.

 Hamilton is the daughter of Kent and Pam Hamilton of Hamilton Growers and Southern Valley Fruit and Vegetable Company in Norman Park, Ga.

 For more information, please contact Charles Hall, Executive Director, Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, phone 706-845-9085 or e-mail chall@asginfo.net.

Understanding Health Care Reform
May 26
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. (EST)
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (PST)

Please join Western Growers for a free webinar to discuss the immediate and continuing impact of the recently enacted Health Care Reform law on America’s family farmers.
We will offer practical advice and real-life solutions to help you position your business for future success.

• How will small businesses be affected?
• How do temporary/seasonal workers fit into Health Care Reform?
• What is and what is NOT required of employers?
• How can you take advantage of tax credits?
• What are “grandfathered-in” plans and how will they be affected?

Space is limited. Click here to register.

For more information, please contact Paul Simonds at 949.885.2257 or psimonds@wga.com.

UGA – College of Agriculture 
 Faced with ‘Mission Devastating’ Budget CUTS

Proposal Closes Four (4) Ag Research Stations
Cuts ½ of All County Extension Offices and Personnel
Eliminates the Georgia 4-H Club Program
Closes All 4-H Club Camps, including Rock Eagle
Plus more cuts . . .    

During a joint session of the Georgia House and Senate Higher Education Appropriation subcommittees on February 24, the Chancellor of the Board of Regents was instructed to develop a plan to reduce the Regent’s budget by an additional $300 million for fiscal year 2011.  This cut would be in addition to $265 million already proposed to be cut in the Governor’s 2011 budget.
 
The University of Georgia’s share of the $300 million cut would be $58.9 million, or 12.8% of UGA’s state budget.  Each Board of Regent Institution (including UGA) was asked to prepare a plan as to how they would meet this cut.  With no input from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences the University of Georgia identified the cuts/reductions and eliminations they would propose to the Regents.   
 
On Monday March 1, 2010 the Board of Regents released their plan to meet the $300 million cut.  It is devastating to the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
 
As noted above in the headlines, included in the UGA plan were drastic cuts for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, particularly in the Extension budget.  The proposal includes $11.66 million in cuts to Cooperative Extension or 33.3% of Extension’s state budget.  When you include cuts already sustained by Extension since 2008 this would amount to a 51.45% cut in Extension’s state budget. The Extension budget makes up 7.6% of UGA’s state budget, but the plan would require Extension to absorb 20% of UGA’s budget cut. 
 
The proposed plan also includes $816 thousand in cuts to the CAES research budget or 1.96% of their budget. The total cumulative budget reduction for Research since 2008 would be 20.43%.
 
A detailed list of the cuts that the Board of Regents are proposing for the entire University System can be accessed on the Regents website by clicking here. 
 
The proposed cuts would be devastating to the land grant mission of the University of Georgia.  The state is in a severe budget crisis but it is unfair to ask the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to take a bigger hit than other Colleges.  The proposed cuts are unreasonable and not in the best interest of the University or the citizens of Georgia.  
 
CALL TO ACTION: 
 
The fruit and vegetable industry needs you to contact your local state representative or senator.  They need to hear from all of our growers and industry suppliers as to how devastating these cuts would be to our industry, our communities and our citizens. Click here for a number of talking points that you can use to discuss this situation with your representatives.  
 
The representatives on the Appropriations Committees have to approve the Regents budget, and all of our representatives have to VOTE on the budget.  In case you do not know who your representative is here is a link to the House and the Senate members http://www.legis.state.ga.us/.
 

 If you depend on:
….. your local county extension service personnel,
….. our UGA researchers for the latest in crop production information,
….. the Georgia 4-H program to work with our youth,
….. or other resource information from the college
. . . . .help us STOP the cuts.  The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will do their share in budget cuts but they should not have to bear the burden for other colleges at UGA.     

PLEASE HELP!!
DO NOT SIT BACK AND ASSUME SOMEONE ELSE WILL MAKE THE CALLS -
 
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY!!!
 

For more information or questions please call the GFVGA office at 1-877-99GFVGA.

March 1, 2010

Background – the university system has been ordered to find $300M in additional cuts beyond those already enacted.  The UGA portion of this is $60M. UGA Administration had less than 48 hrs to develop this plan. This is NOT a budget plan but rather a reaction to the request by the legislature.

Below are some talking point to use in talking with legislators concerning the cuts to the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) budget.    

Guidelines:

1.     Begin with how you use the College of Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension Service.  Include examples such as:

- CAES supports the largest industry in GA – agriculture.

- Agriculture is decentralized and we are the research (Experiment Station) and training (Cooperative   Extension) arms of the industry.   

- GA agriculture is predicted to continue to grow, but only if we remain competitive by being on the cutting edge of technology and implementation.

- Our programs bring measurable added value to Georgia’s economy and quality of life, providing a stronger, more competitive agricultural industry, needed education for families and proven youth development programs that help Georgia’s young people succeed in life.

 2.   Indicate that the College of Agriculture has been cutting budgets for the past two years. The current round of reductions are beyond the pale of anything ever seen to date, or anywhere else in the U.S. For example, Cooperative Extension will have been reduced by more than 51% if the current recommendations are implemented.

  3.   Over the past two years CAES administrators have streamlined the organization as tightly as they can without losing people and increasing the impact of unemployment on the state and total loss of services to citizens. Further cuts will have to mean people and loss of service including the ability to meet student needs, produce research results in a timely fashion and deliver service to local communities who are depending on the CAES now more than ever.

 4.   These are permanent losses. Agricultural research can’t be stopped and started. Cutting these programs will mean permanent loss of the benefits those projects would produce.

 5.   These are vital programs that Georgians depend on. These are programs that affect the livelihoods of one in every six Georgians. They are also programs that affect the quality of life for millions more. These cuts will be felt in local communities and Georgia’s agricultural industry. They will have long-term impact on our ability to sustain a profitable, viable, competitive agricultural industry. They will hamper CAES’s ability to prepare and train the largest segment of Georgia’s workforce. They will limit the support the College can give to emerging sectors like biofuel development, water protection, sustainable crops and food, and further development of environmental stewardship practices.

 6.   Further cuts of this magnitude will mean CAES will have to eliminate crucial services, stop important research programs and jeopardize jobs. All of these essential elements are needed to meet the growing demand for increased food, fiber and fuel production.  These are permanent losses that cannot be restored when the economic outlook improves. 

 7.   The return on the investment made in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences by other agencies, commodity commissions, corporations and agribusinesses is extremely high. Every dollar invested in CAES saves taxpayers dollars in the long run. CAES returns $3 for every $1 invested in Georgia counties.  For every $1 of state funds in the Research budget, CAES generates an additional $.83 from contracts and grants, federal and other funds. For every $1 invested in Cooperative Extension, CAES generates $1.40 in county, federal and other funds.

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