Category Archives: Food Safety

“Grow Your Own” Vegetable Garden Series

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Grow Your Own – Vegetable Workshop Series – Flyer

Virginia Cooperative Extension will be hosting a “Grow Your Own” vegetable gardening series on March 2, April 13, May 4, June 8, July 6, August 10, September 7, October 5, and November 16 of 2015 at the Prince Edward Extension Conference Room, 100 Dominion Drive, Farmville, VA.  

Topics covered in this series include:

      • principles of organic gardening
      • building soil health
      • seed starting and seedling care
      • attracting bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects
      • weed control
      • trellising
      • water management
      • companion planting
      • square foot gardening
      • and cooking and food preservation demonstrations.

The cost will be $5 per class or $30 for the entire series.  For more information and to pre-register by February 27th contact the Prince Edward Extension Office at (434) 392-4246 or cgracem@vt.edu.

Governor McAuliffe Announces $565,000 in USDA Specialty Crop Block Grants Available for Virginia Agricultural Interests

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Governor McAuliffe Announces $565,000 in USDA Specialty Crop Block Grants Available for Virginia Agricultural Interests
~Request for Applications Now Open, Deadline for Submittal is April 2, 2015~

VDACS will give priority to projects with the sole purpose of enhancing the competitiveness of specialty crops as they pertain to the following issues:

• Increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops;
• Improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems;
• Assisting all entities in the specialty crop distribution chain in developing Good Agricultural Practices, Good Handling Practices, and Good Manufacturing Practices;
• Investing in specialty crop research, including organic research to focus on conservation and environmental outcomes;
• Enhancing food safety;
• Developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops, pest and disease control;
• Developing organic and sustainable production practices;
• Developing local and regional food systems; and
• Improving food access in underserved communities.

Guidelines, instructions, and the application for the USDA Specialty Crop Competitive Grants are available online at http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/marketing/scrop.shtml (click on Application Form to apply), via e-mail to Melissa Ball atmelissa.ball@vdacs.virginia.gov, or at VDACS, 102 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219.

According to a 2013 economic impact study conducted by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, agriculture and forestry are two of Virginia’s largest private industries with a combined economic impact of $70 billion annually. Agriculture generates more than $52 billion per annum, while forestry contributes more than $17 billion. The industries also provide more than 400,000 jobs in the Commonwealth. More information about the Weldon Cooper Center’s study can be found at: http://www.coopercenter.org/node/2/publications/economic-impacts-agriculture-and-forestry-virginia-revised-2012

ATTENTION LOCAL PRODUCERS, DISTRIBUTORS, RETAILERS, PURCHASERS, CONSUMERS, AND LOCAL FOOD ENTHUSIASTS:
The Heart of Virginia Buy Fresh Buy Local Chapter is hosting a promotional meeting for Lunenburg County. This informational and update meeting will be held at 6:00pm in the Kenbridge Town Building Auditorium this Thursday, November 20, 2014. 

BFBL Lunenburg Meeting 2014

Flyer in PDF

Please pass this along to anyone you think may be interested! (They do not have to be in Lunenburg, but can be from any of the Heart of Virginia Chapter counties (listed above).

If you have questions, please contact Lindy Tucker at tucker07@vt.edu or (434) 321-2009. Thank you!

Family and Farm Day!!!

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It’s that time again… time for the annual Family & Farm Day at the Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research & Extension Center in Blackstone, VA! Bring the kids out for fun and farm on Saturday, September 13 from 9:00am – 2:00pm for games, crafts, animals, and more!

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Family & Farm Day.pdf

Reported Salmonella Cases Linked to Backyard Poultry

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The purpose of this post is not to scare you away from raising your own chickens or away from buying eggs from someone who does, but simply to make you aware of the food safety issues related to food production in general. Commercial agriculture practices do a great job of following strict food safety guidelines, but as more and more people are interested in raising their own food, there is a bit of a disconnect with the food safety concerns of raising your own. 

The following is a post from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) regarding recent Salmonella cases in humans being linked to backyard poultry. The full announcement and more information can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/live-poultry-05-14/ 

Persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis or Newport, by state as of mAY 7, 2014

  • As of May 7, 2014, a total of 60 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis orSalmonella Newport have been reported from 23 states.
  • 31% of ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.
  • Epidemiologic and traceback findings have linked this outbreak of human Salmonella Infantis andSalmonella Newport infections to contact with chicks, ducklings, and other live baby poultry from Mt. Healthy Hatcheries in Ohio.This is the same mail-order hatchery that has been associated with multiple outbreaks of Salmonellainfections linked to live poultry in past years, including in 2012 and 2013.
  • 82% of ill people reported contact with live poultry in the week before their illness began.
  • Findings of multiple traceback investigations of live baby poultry from homes of ill persons have identified Mt. Healthy Hatcheries in Ohio as the source of chicks and ducklings.
  • Mail-order hatcheries, agricultural feed stores, and others that sell or display chicks, ducklings, and other live poultry should provide health-related information to owners and potential purchasers of these birds prior to the point of purchase. This should include information about the risk of acquiring a Salmonella infection from contact with live poultry.
  • Read the advice to mail-order hatcheries and feed stores and others that sell or display live poultry.
  • Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching live poultry or anything in the area where they live and roam.
    • Do not let live poultry inside the house.
    • Additional recommendations are available.
    • These recommendations are important and apply to all live poultry, regardless of the age of the birds or where they were purchased.

This excerpt and the map, were taken from the Center for Disease Control website, posted May 8, 2014.