Salinas Valley kicks off National Ag Week with breakfast
Salinas Valley kicks off National Ag Week with breakfast
MONTEREY, CA -- California Sen. Abel Maldonado, who's family runs a farm in Santa Maria, CA, told an audience of agricultural leaders and local and state officials that a joint effort is required to pass effective food-safety legislation.
The March 19 event was held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Monterey County Agricultural Education hosted the event as part of National Agriculture Week.
Mr. Maldonado's district covers Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties as well as the southeast portion of Santa Clara County and the northern portion of Santa Barbara County. He serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Mr. Maldonado -- whose father was a bracero -- said that immigration continues to be the most significant issue surrounding agriculture. He said that he favors a guest-worker program.
Trying to leverage dollars from the pending 2007 farm bill, Mr. Maldonado has introduced into legislation a rural crime bill.
Jim Bogart, president of Salinas-based Grower Shipper Association of Central California, told the breakfast audience that the association's members consider food safety and the combination of farm labor availability and immigration reform to be their top two issues of concern. Wages and hours issues ranked as the third anf fourth most prominent concerns, followed by the 2007 farm bill.
Mr. Bogart said that the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement was the fastest way to reduce risk of further food-borne outbreaks.
"It is by no means the fox guarding the henhouse," Mr. Bogart said, adding that the marketing agreement gives the industry flexibility and utilizes the best science.
Mr. Bogart said that during his lengthy time with the association, he has seen labor strikes, two floods and two freezes of significant proportions, but noted that those events pale in comparison with the E. coli contamination in spinach. "[The outbreak] brought the entire industry to its knees," Mr. Bogart said.
Monterey County Agriculture Commissioner Eric Lauritzen told the audience that the January freeze in California lead to $10 million to $15 million worth of losses for the county's agriculture industry.
Mr. Lauritzen told the audience that the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement isn't in place to divert legislation.
"The government hasn't come up with legislation," Mr. Lauritzen said. "I don't think we should leave it up to legislators."
Abby Taylor-Silva, executive director of Ag Against Hunger, told the audience that back in 1990, Tim Driscoll of Watsonville-based Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc. played a key role in the roots of the organization that has become Ag Against Hunger.
Some 60 grower-shippers in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties donate about 10 million pounds of fresh produce annually to the agency, she said. That food is then distributed in the tri-county area and around the state to families in need, as well as to other states.
The March 19 event was held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Monterey County Agricultural Education hosted the event as part of National Agriculture Week.
Mr. Maldonado's district covers Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties as well as the southeast portion of Santa Clara County and the northern portion of Santa Barbara County. He serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Mr. Maldonado -- whose father was a bracero -- said that immigration continues to be the most significant issue surrounding agriculture. He said that he favors a guest-worker program.
Trying to leverage dollars from the pending 2007 farm bill, Mr. Maldonado has introduced into legislation a rural crime bill.
Jim Bogart, president of Salinas-based Grower Shipper Association of Central California, told the breakfast audience that the association's members consider food safety and the combination of farm labor availability and immigration reform to be their top two issues of concern. Wages and hours issues ranked as the third anf fourth most prominent concerns, followed by the 2007 farm bill.
Mr. Bogart said that the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement was the fastest way to reduce risk of further food-borne outbreaks.
"It is by no means the fox guarding the henhouse," Mr. Bogart said, adding that the marketing agreement gives the industry flexibility and utilizes the best science.
Mr. Bogart said that during his lengthy time with the association, he has seen labor strikes, two floods and two freezes of significant proportions, but noted that those events pale in comparison with the E. coli contamination in spinach. "[The outbreak] brought the entire industry to its knees," Mr. Bogart said.
Monterey County Agriculture Commissioner Eric Lauritzen told the audience that the January freeze in California lead to $10 million to $15 million worth of losses for the county's agriculture industry.
Mr. Lauritzen told the audience that the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement isn't in place to divert legislation.
"The government hasn't come up with legislation," Mr. Lauritzen said. "I don't think we should leave it up to legislators."
Abby Taylor-Silva, executive director of Ag Against Hunger, told the audience that back in 1990, Tim Driscoll of Watsonville-based Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc. played a key role in the roots of the organization that has become Ag Against Hunger.
Some 60 grower-shippers in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties donate about 10 million pounds of fresh produce annually to the agency, she said. That food is then distributed in the tri-county area and around the state to families in need, as well as to other states.
