MN Fruit & Vegetable IPM News - Vol. 1, No. 2

Food Alliance Midwest is offering a unique marketing opportunity for strawberry growers in 2004. Cost share dollars are available to commercial strawberry growers who apply for Food Alliance certification this year. Through a producer SARE grant, monies will be available to halve Food Alliance certification fees. Certified farms will be able to use customized bagstuffers, banners, and point of sale materials. Additionally, the Minnesota Grown directory will feature Food Alliance certified farms.

Food Alliance certifies farms on a three-year schedule. Thus, cost share savings and marketing opportunities will extend through 2007. To get your farm certified so you can take advantage of this opportunity, contact Food Alliance Midwest Certification Coordinator, Ray Kirsch, at 651-653-0618 or ray@foodalliance.org.

To read about Midwest strawberries and Food Alliance certified strawberry grower, Bill Jacobson, go to: http://mwnaturalfoods.coop/mix/?id=137

Food Alliance is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable agriculture by recognizing and rewarding farmers who produce food in environmentally friendly and socially responsible ways, and educating consumers and others in the food system about the benefits of sustainable agriculture. To learn more about Food Alliance certification as well as the marketplace development they provide for certified farms, visit them on the web at: www.foodalliance.org

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Co-Editors: Bill Hutchison, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, hutch002@umn.edu
Jeanne Ciborowski, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Ag. Resources Division,jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us
Suzanne Wold-Burkness, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, woldx018@umn.edu

The Newsletter is published weekly from May through August, cooperatively, by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the University of Minnesota (U of MN). Reports are posted on the U of MN and MDA web sites on Fridays. If you have suggestions and/or comments, please send your contributions by 4 p.m., Tuesday to Jeanne Ciborowski, 651-297-3217, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us , MDA, 90 W. Plato Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55107-2094. You can access the Newsletter at the U of MN web site in htm. format at: www.vegedge.umn.edu/MNFruit&VegNews/mnindex.htm and at the MDA web site in pdf. format at: www.mda.state.mn.us/biocon/fruitreports/default.htm

Partial funding for this publication is provided through partnership agreements with the Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and the United States Department of Agriculture – Risk Management Agency (RMA) and the RMA Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership Program. These institutions are equal opportunity providers.

DISCLAIMER

References to products in this publication is not intended to be an endorsement to the exclusion of others which may have similar uses. Any person using products listed in this publication assumes full responsibility for their use in accordance with current manufacturer directions.

Last Revised May 14, 2004.
The University, including the Minnesota Extension Service, is an equal opportunity educator and employer. ©1999-2004 Minnesota Extension Service, University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. Contact copyright@extension.umn.edu for information on reproduction or use of this material.