The County Commission will be discussing the effect of the Strong Mayor Charter changes April 9th. That should be good: Tune in, it is usually on some channel in the 70’s range.
Today in the Herald it said that local tomato growers are Seeking a safer tomato, looking to strenghten safety standards for their produce (This Article printed in the Herald is not a Herald article by the way, it is from the Palm Beach Post). Tomato growers want the State Legislature to require food-safety inspections of all tomato fields, greenhouses and packinghouses.
Okay, do I really give a crap about tomatoes? Well, apparently I do.
I don’t know why growers are doing this: Making it harder for themselves. But I think it is a good idea.
I am a proponent of buying local produce and I would pay extra for it (if I ever went food shopping).
I think the grocery stores should label produce as local, they should buy local produce and we should buy local produce. I love our farmers and want them to make money growing food, landscape trees or whatever. I think the County Commission should plunk a big tax on Publix, Costco and Walmart when these chains don’t include local as well as foreign produce. And the stores should have big inviting signs in the store telling people: “This section is local produce.”
Of course, I don’t know the politics of food buying. I did however tell my friends, that when they buy cheap produce in the dollar stores (yes some dollar stores sell produce), do they really know where it is coming from? Do some foreign growers have the same standards as we do in pesticides (we have banned some) and watering (theirs could be watered with human/animal reuse water not properly treated.) I also think the Dade County Farm Bureau should be working on marketing local produce better instead of only worrying about land use decisions.
I know squat about this subject, but I think we should buy local. Let’s keep our farmers in business.
6 comments:
See the Commission meetings on Miami-Dade TV on cable 76 on Comcast. Meetings are also webcast at www.miamidade.gov/ondemand - click on the webcast tab.
Frankly, I don't believe the tomato growers are asking for more inspections out of the goodness of their hearts.
I suspect they want to make it more difficult for the organic,niche farmers etc to make a living.
Remember the Ugly tomato issues?
I think it would also be nice, if all the row crop farmers now that they have port a potties in the fields, would go a step further and provide a hand washing station near the P-A-P's.
What has the Farm Bureau been doing to market local produce? Here's the version you don't read about in this blog.
-Farm spouses hosting dispalys in supermarkets, talking about the importance of buying locally grown produce
-Women hosting booths at Gardeners Market Farm & Wine Festival, giving fair-goers fresh tomatoes, recipe books and more
-Ag in the Classroom grants and tours for teachers, who can then impart this information to their students
-Growers meeting with members of Congress to push for mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, which was passed in the 2002 Farm Bill but never implemented because of pressures from major retailers
-Working with the State and County to develop a marketing program and produce label specifically for crops grown in Miami-Dade County (like "Miami-Dade Grown Goodness" or "Made in Dade")
The list can go on and on...but hopefully readers will get the point.
last anonymous: you wrote
Here's the version you don't read about in this blog.
why are you being defensive...the blog is not about your stuff. it is about what we know about your stuff
....if you are doing all this stuff and no one knows you are doing it...maybe you are not getting your message out. If you read the blog, it was saying that farmers should get support from the community. So you are off the mark.
All growers are required to have hand-washing stations along with the P-A-P's. If you look at the specially made trailers that are used, you have two P-A-P's with a drum of fresh water in between them. The drum has a spigot on it for hand washing.
Last anonymous, thank you!
I'm glad someone is taking notice of the measures local growers are taking.
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