Vegetable, fruit growers convene in Hershey
HERSHEY - Vegetable and
fruit growers from across the state
converged on the Hershey Con
vention Center this week for the
annual Pennsylvania Vegetable
Conference and Trade Show.
Beginning on Tuesday, the three
day event included seminars on all
phases of producing and
marketing vegetables, bedding
plants and small fruits. More than
1,200 conference goers passed
through the Convention Center’s
doors to take part in the
educational presentations as well
as to catch up on the latest fruit
and vegetable technology as
displayed by more than 100
commercial exhibitors.
This year’s conference was the
127th annual meeting of the State
Horticultural Association of
Pennsylvania, and was held in
conjunction with the horticultural
societies of Maryland and New
Jersey, as well as the Penn
sylvania Vegetable Growers
Association.
Highlighting opening day ac
tivities was the State Tomato
Growers’ Clubs’ presentation of its
annual production awards.
In the Class 1, (100 acres or
Food for thought •••
City restaurants may be key
to higher vegetable profits
BY JACK RUBLEY
HERSHEY You don’t have to be
an octogenarian to recall the days
when the business of selling
produce and other agricultural
commodities was a door-to-door
enterprise. Weekly housecalls
from farmers were the norm, and
freshness was in style.
For many Pennsylvanians, fresh
produce can still be had by
patronizing the countless roadside
markets across the com
monwealth. But suppose you’re an
inner-city chef charged with the
task of providing high quality
meals for an army of sophisticated
restaurant-goers. Your business
Philadelphia chef. Marc Brown Gold believes that more
farmer-chef interaction will benefit both restaurants and
vegetable prbducers.
more) Machine Harvest cateeorv.
Mark and Earl Stem of Lock
Haven (Clinton Co.) were the top
producers. The father-son team
harvested 4,043 tons of usable fruit.
Their yield averaged 25.6 tons per
acre for the 158-acre crop. Both
transplants and gel seeding were
used to establish the crop.
Elvin Stoltzfus of Lewisburg
(Union Co.) took top honors in the
Class 3, Machine Harvest category
for growers with 50 to 75 acres.
Stoltzfus averaged 22.5 tons per
acre from 70 acres, for an overall
production of 1,575 tons of
tomatoes.
The third winner in the Machine
Harvest category was John
Ziesenheim of Lake City (Erie
County), who won Class 4 (20 to 49
acres) with a total yield of 1,046
tons. He averaged 25.6 tons per
acre on the 41 acres planted.
Two winners were recognized in
the Hand Harvest category.
Robert Macßeth of BiglerviUe
(Adams County) had the highest
yield in Class 3 (15 to 24 acres). He
harvested 504 tons of fruit from 16
acres, for an average yield of 31.5
tons per acre.
In the Class 4, Hand Harvest
quite literally depends on good
taste. And meals that keep hungry
customers knocking on your door
are inevitably the product of fresh
ingredients.
Marc Brown Gold is one chef who
realizes the importance of that
elusive quality called freshness.
The head chef at Philadelphia’s
16th Street Bar and Grill,
Brown Gold quickly tired of trying
to manufacture palatable dishes
from the countless crates of flaccid
vegetables that were arriving at
his doorstep.
After discovering that
Philadelphia lies within a two-hour
drive of much of the state’s best
r l
Machine Harvest winners received plaques and congratulations from Ronald Huddy
(right) of the Red Wing Co. From left are Earl and Mark Stern, Class 1; Elvin Stoltzfus,
Class 3; and John Ziesenheim, Class 4
class (5 to 14 acres) Daniel Fisher
of Quarryville (Lancaster Co.) had
the highest yield. Fisher’s 6.5 acres
produced 258 tons of fruit for an
average yield of 39.7 tons per acre
quality farmland, he decided to
turn to local growers with his
problem.
“In Philadelphia chefs are
starving for good quality, in
teresting vegetable products,”
says Brown Gold. “And the ten
dency is to go to smaller purveyors
who can work with us, rather than
one large supplier.”
This announcement turned out to
be appetizing food for thought for
the roomful of vegetable con
ference goers listening to
Brown Gold’s talk on Tuesday.
Freshness isn’t the only reason
that Brown Gold and other city
restauranteurs prefer to buy
locally. “I can’t talk to a California
grower about the kinds of products
that I want,” he says, adding that
local, personalized service gives
the buyer the opportunity to
sample products before making an
investment.
To charges that such direct
service is a low-volume enterprise,
Brown Gold responds that it is a
high-profit one as well. He has paid
as much as $35 for 12 half-pints of
raspberries, $lB for three pounds of
eggplants and $3 an ounce for
herbs.
Brown Gold’s food purchases
average $20,000 a month, with
more than $3,000 of that total going
for produce. He points out that
there are more than 100
restaurants in Philadelphia, and
many of them are significantly
larger than his own operation.
Brown Gold says that one way for
farmers to take advantage of the
city restaurant market is to cash in
on the trends in ethnic foods.
Mexican cuisine, for example,
relies heavily on peppers, while
oriental cooking requires such
products as snow peas, Bok Choy
(Chinese cabbage) and a long,
white radish known as daikon.
“These products are very hard to
get on the Philadelphia market,
and very expensive,” observes
Brown Gold.
Restaurants serving French
dishes need plenty- of squash
blossoms and baby vegetables
such as eggplants, corn, peppers
and French stringbeans Much
seem to taste better when called
“haricot verts.” “In the spring I
Daniel K. Fisher (representated by John Everitt, left) took
top honors in Class 3, Hand Harvest category, white Robert
Macbeth|opped Class 4, Hand Haravest
paid $lB for three pounds of baby key to more appetizing menus and
eggplants,” recalls Brown Gold. higher profits for producers. He is
Herbs are always in demand, also working on a brokerage
notes the chef. “In the winter it’s system to streamline the process
very hard to get fresh herbs, but for-, both buyers and sellers,
even in the spring they’re always Vegetable growers interested in
expensive.” tapping the Philadelphia
Brown Gold, who dealt per- restaurant market may contact
sonally with two farmers last Marc Brown Gold at the 16th Street
season, is convinced that more Bar and Grill, 264 S. 16th St.,
“farmer-chef interaction” is the Philadelphia.
Canned hams being recalled
WASHINGTON - A Penn
sylvania food products company is
voluntarily recalling imported
canned hams it distributed in five
states in the Northeast because the
hams may contain food spoilage
organisms, a U.S. Department of
Agriculture official announced.
Rialto Food Products Company
of Philadelphia is recalling ap
proximately 1,200 imported
perishable canned hams from
restaurants, delicatessens and
similar outlets in Delaware,
Maryland, New Jersey, New York,
and Pennsylvania. USDA tests
have detected the presence of food
spoilage organisms in some of the
hams.
The hams are sold in 12-pound
red, white, and blue rectangular
cans under the brand name
“Rialto Brand Cooked Ham,
Product of Holland”. The product
can be further identified by the
establishment number 19 printed
on the label, and by the code HSAZ
embossed on the end of the can. No
other products distributed by the
firm are affected by the recall.
Donald Houston, administrator
of USDA’s Food Safety and In
spection Service, said that anyone
who has this product should return
it to the outlet where it was pur
chased. Houston said the hams are
fully cooked and are normally sold
to food service facilities for slicing
prior to sale to retail customers.
In extreme cases, food spoilage
organisms can indicate the
potential for growth of other
organisms that cause botulism, a
form of food poisoning. So far
USDA laboratory tests of the hams
have not shown the presence of
botulinum organisms nor have
there, been complaints of illnesses
associated with the product.
According to officials of Rialto,
the company imported ap
proximately 5,600 of the canned
hams from Holland. Of these,
about 1,200 cans are now at retail
outlets or have already been sold;
the remainder are being held by
the company. Rialto Food
Products is notifying all
distributors and retail outlets
carrying the product that the hams
should be returned to the company.
Buyout meeting
HONESDALE An educational
meeting on the “ALL HERD
BUYOUT” provision of the 1985
Farm Bill will be held Thursday
evening, February 13,8 p.rri. in the
large group instruction room at the
Honesdale High School. Speakers
will include Thomas Jurchak,
Lackawanna County Extension
agent, and Beth Kotkiewicz,
County Director, Agricultural
Stabilization Conservation Service
(ASC).