PSFN goes live!

After many months of development, the Puget Sound Food Network has officially launched at agbizcenter.org.  Our official launch takes place at Focus on Farming VI conference in Tulalip, WA. NABC staff along with PSFN project coordinators will be on hand to showcase the new tool with live demos at the NABC trade show booth. If…

Safe to Eat?

An insightful event is coming up in December about the science, politics and economics of food.  Featuring Thomas Besser, PhD, DVM and Bill Sischo, DVM, MPVM, PhD (Professors, School for Global Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine), discussions include food safety and food related disease. Check out the neat event preview video here. Thursday, Dec….

Minnesota's Evolving Food Industry

A new study by the Crossroads Resource Center analyzes the importance of food relationships to Minnesota’s economy.  Here are some highlights from the press release: Emergent Food Businesses Build Trust A new study, “Mapping the Minnesota Food Industry,” concludes that an emerging cluster of food businesses drives economic change by building trust with their commercial…

Red Light Eating

The Food and Drug Administration is making efforts to remove leading labels from the front of food boxes in stores. More notably, the label “Smart Choice”, used by big name companies like Kellogg’s on cereal boxes like Froot Loops.

What’s more, according to an FDA announcement Americans could expect to see dramatically clarified front-box labeling in the form of a traffic light system. This system is currently used in Britain to show different content levels of salts, sugars and fats.

Good Agricultural Practices Workshop

November 5,2009 Sheraton Hotel Portland Oregon To register online please click on register or visit our website: http://foodsafety.wsu.edu/ag/index.html Agenda 7:45         Registration 8:15         Welcome 8:30        Produce Food Safety Update Dr. David Gombas, Senior Vice-President, Food Safety and Technology, United Fresh Legal Perspectives on Food Safety Drew Falkenstein, Attorney, Marler Clark, LLP PS 9:45       Break 10:00    Produce…

Value-Added Producer Grant: Application Workshop

(Mount Vernon, WA) The Northwest Agriculture Business Center in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture will host a half-day grant writing workshop to assist producers in applying for a USDA Value-Added Producer Grant. The class will be taught by Sharon Exley, USDA Business Programs Specialist, and will be held on October 20th from 8:30 am -12:00 pm at the Burlington Public Library located at 820 East Washington Avenue, Burlington.

America’s Fruit and Vegatable Deficiancy

A recent CDC report highlights the lack of fruits and vegetables in American diets. The report offers brand new data with State by State breakdown of fruit and vegetable consumption. Using a standard of 2+ fruits and 3+ vegetables daily, Washington State’s consumption for adults is at 15.1% meeting that requirement, compared to a national average of 14%. Washington State does not have data on adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption but national trends suggest that it is significantly lower in adolescent populations.