NEWS FROM THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

 

              

Contact:                                                                                                                     April 16, 2015

Steve Jensen

860-713-2519-office

860-983-3556- cell

Steve.Jensen@ct.gov

 

UPDATED GROW CONNECTICUT FARMS REPORT A BLUEPRINT FOR STATE’S AGRICULTURAL FUTURE

 

The Department of Agriculture would become the state’s lead agency on food-safety issues; expand its Connecticut Grown marketing capabilities; revitalize the Hartford Regional Market; create an agricultural innovation center and expand agricultural education offerings under the latest recommendations of the Governor’s Council for Agricultural Development (GCAD).

 

The suggested actions are included in the council’s recent update to Grow Connecticut Farms, the first ever long-range, strategic plan for Connecticut agriculture.

 

Chaired by Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky, the council’s overarching goals are to make recommendations to the Department of Agriculture on ways to:

 

· Increase the percentage of consumer dollars spent on Connecticut Grown fresh produce and farm products to not less than five per cent of all money spent by state residents on food by 2020.

 

· Develop, diversify and promote agricultural products, programs, and enterprises and provide for an interchange of ideas from the various commodity groups and organizations represented.

 

“Members of GCAD have offered many meaningful recommendations to grow Connecticut farms and improve our state’s food-producing system,” Reviczky said. “Their work has created an important blueprint that our elected leaders and officials can use to increase agricultural production and jobs in Connecticut.”  

 

In 2014, GCAD organized into four working groups to address specific focus areas: 

 

Food Safety Modernization: Co-Chairs: George Hindinger, Jason Hoagland, and Michael Keilty.

 

Infrastructure and Wholesale Markets: Co-Chairs: Herb Holden and Shelly Oechsler.

 

Producer Education and Innovation: Co-Chairs: Jamie Jones and Kevin Sullivan.

 

Marketing: Co-Chairs: Allyn Brown, Jim Guida, and Peter Orr.

 

After those groups met several times, the full council reconvened throughout the remainder of the year to review findings and develop the following five additional recommendations:

 

Invest strategically in the state-owned Hartford Regional Market to revitalize this regional, state, and local food hub and provide code-compliant, modern facilities for aggregation, processing, storage, distribution, and sale of Connecticut Grown farm products.

 

As the largest fresh food distribution facility between Boston and New York, the market currently realizes about $210 million in annual gross sales and contributes more than 450 jobs to Connecticut's economy while providing fresh, nutritious food to the local community and the entire region from its wholesale warehousespace and a large outdoor farmers’ market.

 

With demand for fresh, local food and other farm products continuing to rise, the state has recognized the opportunity to revolutionize the Hartford Regional Market into a vibrant hub that can continue to serve the community, state, and region for generations. 

 

Today’s processing, aggregation, storage, distribution, and sale of food and farm products require enhanced vertical space, efficient cooling, effective sanitation, safe flow patterns for multiple modes of traffic, and inviting venues for both retail and wholesale customers.

 

These features do not exist at the current facility - built in the late 1940s and early 1950s - but are critical for the market to continue serving Hartford, Connecticut, and the Northeast.

 

In 2013, the Connecticut departments of Agriculture and Construction Services teamed up with the country’s premier planner of public and terminal markets to develop a comprehensive, detailed master plan for the 32-acre facility.

 

The master plan estimates that this project will create 2,324 jobs, increase earnings to $108 million, and increase output to $404 million in the first year, with a 10-year economic impact of $2.36 billion.

 

Resources now are needed to proceed with the project’s next steps, which include development of the architectural, engineering, and site design necessary for the construction phase.

 

            Streamline implementation of the federal Food Safety Modernization Act by designating the Connecticut Department of Agriculture as the lead agency in the state responsible for regulating food production, processing, handling, and transport.

 

Food safety in Connecticut currently is regulated by three different state departments--Agriculture (DoAg), Consumer Protection (DCP), and Public Health (DPH); two federal agencies--the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Agriculture (USDA); and more than 70 local health districts and departments.

 

The complex division of regulatory authority over food safety is confusing for all involved.

 

Connecticut’s agricultural producers, processors, and handlers affected by these new rules need assistance, first through education about the details of the regulatory changes and new requirements, and then through financial support to help defray costly upgrades to equipment and procedures needed to achieve compliance and remain in business.

 

The National Shellfish Sanitation Program and the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance are examples of federal regulations successfully enforced at the state level through DoAg working in close cooperation with FDA.

 

While other regulatory agencies and organizations have involvement in preventing food-borne illness risks associated with consumption of these products, DoAg effectively serves as the lead.

 

Designating DoAg as the lead responsible for regulating food production, processing, handling, and transport in Connecticut will improve and streamline communication, cooperation, and compliance.

 

            Enhance educational/training programs for Connecticut

agricultural producers.

 

Hands-on, practical courses in various aspects of farming and agriculture are limited in Connecticut.

 

The council has heard from numerous farmers that their business growth is restricted by a lack of available employees skilled in areas such as food safety, pest and disease management, marketing, business planning and management, among others.

 

Meanwhile, Connecticut has invested heavily in infrastructure at its 19 agricultural science and technology centers (ASTCs) located at high schools throughout Connecticut.

 

These facilities teach a variety of practical courses in agriculture including agricultural mechanics, aquaculture, and agribusiness, but remain underutilized due to staffing limitations.

 

As a result, many students remain on waiting lists for admission.  Further, the facilities are empty most evenings, when they could be used to teach current farmers or those interested in entering the field.

 

Representatives from ConnSCU, Nonnewaug ASTC, and DoAg met in May 2014 to follow up on the findings and suggestions of the GCAD’s Producer Education and Innovation working group.

 

As a result of that meeting, two non-credit pilot agricultural courses were offered at Nonnewaug during the fall of 2014 in association with Naugatuck Valley Community College.

 

The goal for 2015 is to begin developing for-credit certificate programs.       

 

Plan, design and create an agricultural innovation center to research, develop and teach state-of-the-art controlled environment production models that will enhance Connecticut farmers’ opportunities for long-term economic success and expand consumer access to fresh, healthful Connecticut Grown foods year round.                             

 

Connecticut residents currently spend only 2.5 percent of their food dollars on Connecticut Grown products.

 

Despite its relatively northern latitude and short growing season, Connecticut has existing infrastructure to significantly increase year-round, indoor production of food, and thereby increase sales of in-state products.

 

The Connecticut Greenhouse Growers Association estimates  that Connecticut has an estimated 300 commercial greenhouse businesses with 8 million square feet of production space.

 

The Netherlands leads the way in its knowledge of and technology for controlled-environment agriculture, despite its highest-in-the-world population density and its northern latitude.

Connecticut can and should use this international model as a foundation on which to ramp up its controlled-environment technology, which is well suited to Connecticut's existing fruit and vegetable growers, dairy and other livestock farmers looking to diversify and/or transition to expand and strengthen their businesses, and its existing greenhouse operations.

           

Fortify the Department of Agriculture’s existing Connecticut Grown marketing efforts to provide additional resources to both farmers and consumers.

 

DoAg’s Bureau of Agricultural Development and Resource Preservation includes five agricultural marketing and inspection representative positions, responsible for administration of numerous grant, farmers’ market, and other programs in addition to Connecticut Grown marketing.

 

Currently, there is no General Fund appropriation in the state budget for marketing of Connecticut Grown farm products.

 

The Community Investment Act provides $25,000 per quarter for Connecticut Grown marketing, which supports a multitude of ongoing initiatives, including the Farm-to-School and Farm-to Chef programs along with a variety of Connecticut Grown promotions including radio campaigns, brochures, website listings and information, costumes, farm maps, crop calendars, logo-themed giveaways, and more.

 

Strengthening the agency with additional resources for Connecticut Grown marketing efforts will help provide the level of service warranted by today’s unparalleled demand for locally-grown farm products.