Leafy Greens board to be named
Leafy Greens board to be named
California Department of Food & Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura was expected to shortly announce the 13 members of the California Leafy Greens Advisory Board, which will administer the newly enacted California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement.
Lynn Morgan, chief of CDFA's marketing branch, said Feb. 6 that 19 handlers representing almost 61 percent of the volume of leafy greens in the state had signed the marketing agreement.
The statute authorizing the establishment of a marketing agreement does not have a specific target number to trigger enactment of such an agreement but instead allows the CDFA secretary to make that determination when those signing reach a "sufficiency" level.
Ms. Morgan said that the 61 percent volume qualified for sufficiency even though the 19 signers only represent 16 percent of the industry by number. It is obvious that the larger players have signed the agreement, but virtually everyone expects the smaller handler-processors to follow suit. No announced opposition to the marketing agreement has surfaced since it was first proposed by the Western Growers Association in November. Though handlers were encouraged to sign the agreement by Feb. 5, Ms. Morgan said that they have until the start of the next fiscal year on April 1 to join the program.
The Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement will establish an inspection program for handlers of products identified as leafy greens. The products included are Iceberg lettuce, Romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, baby leaf lettuce (i.e., immature lettuce or leafy greens), escarole, endive, spring mix, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard.
The agreement, which was created by the leafy greens industry and is being facilitated by CDFA, would utilize the state's inspection program to verify that leafy greens handlers are complying with "best practice" standards.
The naming of the Leafy Green Advisory Board is an important step as by law the CDFA must publish a notice of the group's first meeting 10 days before the meeting is held. With the imminent naming of the committee, Ms. Morgan expects that first meeting to be held by the end of February. It is the Leafy Greens Advisory Board that will provide the details of the marketing agreement and adopt the "best practices" to be followed by handlers.
While the marketing agreement has been criticized in some quarters because it is essentially a voluntary program, it falls under the purview of the advisory board to give the agreement "teeth." The advisory board is expected to adopt regulations requiring handler-signers of the marketing agreement to purchase product only from growers that are adhering to specific "best practices."
Lynn Morgan, chief of CDFA's marketing branch, said Feb. 6 that 19 handlers representing almost 61 percent of the volume of leafy greens in the state had signed the marketing agreement.
The statute authorizing the establishment of a marketing agreement does not have a specific target number to trigger enactment of such an agreement but instead allows the CDFA secretary to make that determination when those signing reach a "sufficiency" level.
Ms. Morgan said that the 61 percent volume qualified for sufficiency even though the 19 signers only represent 16 percent of the industry by number. It is obvious that the larger players have signed the agreement, but virtually everyone expects the smaller handler-processors to follow suit. No announced opposition to the marketing agreement has surfaced since it was first proposed by the Western Growers Association in November. Though handlers were encouraged to sign the agreement by Feb. 5, Ms. Morgan said that they have until the start of the next fiscal year on April 1 to join the program.
The Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement will establish an inspection program for handlers of products identified as leafy greens. The products included are Iceberg lettuce, Romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, baby leaf lettuce (i.e., immature lettuce or leafy greens), escarole, endive, spring mix, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and chard.
The agreement, which was created by the leafy greens industry and is being facilitated by CDFA, would utilize the state's inspection program to verify that leafy greens handlers are complying with "best practice" standards.
The naming of the Leafy Green Advisory Board is an important step as by law the CDFA must publish a notice of the group's first meeting 10 days before the meeting is held. With the imminent naming of the committee, Ms. Morgan expects that first meeting to be held by the end of February. It is the Leafy Greens Advisory Board that will provide the details of the marketing agreement and adopt the "best practices" to be followed by handlers.
While the marketing agreement has been criticized in some quarters because it is essentially a voluntary program, it falls under the purview of the advisory board to give the agreement "teeth." The advisory board is expected to adopt regulations requiring handler-signers of the marketing agreement to purchase product only from growers that are adhering to specific "best practices."
