The Whole IFAJ Group

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ Executive MeetingHere’s the whole group gathered together at the Green Week press center meeting about the very important things facing the IFAJ. We’ve got committee reports going on right now. Mike Wilson is discussing the communications committee. One of the things the organization is looking into is a change in the IFAJ website to make it easier to post current information and perhaps have more people involved in doing that. You can be sure that I’ve voiced my ideas on this issue!

Later today we’ll have a professional improvement session that will include representatives from Merial, Alltech and John Deere as well as several major farm publications. I’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning but hope to have some more updates before leaving.

Farm Shows, IFAJ, International

IFAJ Executive Meeting

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ Executive CommitteeHere’s the head shed (leaders for those of you in Rio Lindo) of the IFAJ. It’s Saturday morning and we’re having the IFAJ Executive Meeting. It looks like we have about 27 people here. I’m not here to provide you with a detailed report of the activities and agenda but I can tell you that the organization is growing and dealing with a lot of questions that come with growth and having a diverse membership that is spread over a lot of languages and cultures. It’s an interesting mix. But we’re dealing with the very same things that any member organization has to. I think one of the strong points of this organization is how inclusive it is. It doesn’t matter if you’re a broadcaster, editor or what. The point is we’re all reporting on agriculture have a desire to improve our skills.

IFAJ, International

Agricultural Production Displays

Chuck Zimmerman

Big GardenSome of the best looking vegetables I’ve ever seen are growing indoors here in one of the main agriculture buildings. I wish my garden looked like this. But I guess it would if I had a guy in overalls (there were a lot them) manually grooming and treating each plant every day. This building looks like a collaboration of many companies and you could essentially follow agricultural production through the whole chain from field to plate since you had crops, animals, processing and even a small grocery store set up to show how the consumer where their food actually comes from.

In this same building they had a kindergarden set up filled with farm toys and all kinds of kids books on agriculture. They have up to 50 kids a day stay there while their parents visit the Green Week displays. I thought that was a cool idea.

Farm Shows, Farming, Food, IFAJ, International

Biofuels Pavilion Features Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Bio EthanolI had heard that Green Week had a whole pavilion devoted to bio energy this year. When I got there I found that it had more booths dedicated to things like wood pellet burning stoves for heat and a number of solar panel energy companies than what we think of such as ethanol and biodiesel.

However, as you can see ethanol is on display and it was one of the biggest displays. It looks like a variety of companies went in on the display, including Ford. The language barrier here can be a problem I found out as I couldn’t find anyone to interview who spoke good english. I did have a conversation of sorts with a gentleman in one booth. From what I could understand it looks like Germany has just instituted a tax law that makes it only possible to sell E-85 blend gasoline and that’s causing them to change over the approximately 108 fueling stations around the country that have ethanol blended gas. Although they have some ethanol production facilities started it sounds like they have to bring it in from elsewhere at present.

I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be any biodiesel on display. At least I couldn’t find any (yet). Since so many cars run on diesel in Europe I thought it would be more prominent.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Farm Shows, IFAJ, International

Bio Products Pavilion

Chuck Zimmerman

Organic Dairy Product DisplayOn Thursday at Green Week I finally had a chance to wander around some of the pavilions and booths. I started with the agricultural area first and walked right into a biobased products section. I’m not sure what the exact definition of “bio” is around the world or if it actually is different in different countries. I say this because this display was of organic dairy products and that doesn’t fit into my definition of bio-based products. In fact, I would say that true organic production implies to me that bio-type products weren’t used in the making of these items.

I did also notice that Greenpeace had a booth in this area. At the time I went through no one was stopping to visit with them.

Biotech, Farm Shows, IFAJ, International

Farm and Food Policy Project

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm & Food Policy ProjectIt looks like there’s a new player in the farm policy game. The Farm and Food Policy Project will be conducting a press conference in Washington, DC on Monday, January 22 to release a report titled, “Seeking Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy.”

A broad alliance of agriculture, anti-hunger, faith-based, public health, rural, and conservation groups call for a new generation of farm and food policies to address the nation’s most pressing challenges. The Farm and Food Policy Project (FFPP) is a collaboration of diverse organizations united by the common vision of a more sustainable food and agricultural system for the United States. The FFPP facilitated a consensus building process culminating in a joint farm bill declaration that has now been endorsed by over 350 organizations. This declaration – Seeking Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy – will be released at the news/phone conference.

Presenters Include:

Linda Berlin, Society for Nutrition Education
Scott Faber, Farm Policy Campaign Director, Environmental Defense
Ralph Grossi, President, American Farmland Trust
Allen Hance, Senior Policy Analyst, Northeast-Midwest Institute and Coordinator, Farm and Food Policy Project
Ferd Hoefner, Policy Director, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Savi Horne, Director, Land Loss Prevention Project, North Carolina

Farm Policy

UglyRipe Wins The Fight

Chuck Zimmerman

Uglyripe TomatoYou might remember the good old UglyRipe and the battle its developers were having with the Florida Tomato Committee. Well it looks like tasty but ugly wins out.

The tomato’s developer, Joe Procacci, had been at odds over the tomato with the FTC, a group of competing growers sanctioned by federal law. The FTC is empowered to determine all size and shape standards for tomatoes entering the U.S. market from mid-October to mid-June, the time of year when many Americans claim they’re unable to find a tasty tomato. For the last three years, the FTC has found that the UglyRipe does not meet its rigorous standards, which are based on size and shape, but not taste. The FTC rejection meant that the tomatoes were prohibited for sale outside of the Florida growing region during the winter months.

The new USDA rule, published in today’s (January 17) Federal Register, amends the Florida Tomato Marketing Order to exempt the UglyRipe from the shape portion of the USDA grade standards as long as the UglyRipe is grown, packed, and distributed under USDA’s Identity Preservation Program (IPP). The IPP uses the unique genetic fingerprint of a produce variety to assure that it is in fact the product claimed by its grower. The UglyRipe will still have to meet all of the other grade standards imposed under the marketing order.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Food

Acres of Food

Chuck Zimmerman

Green Week Food BoothIf you’re interested in acres of food booths then Green Week is the place to be. It’s really hard to convey how large this show is. This booth is just a representative sample of what you’ll find here.

I promised you some statistics on Green Week so here we go. This is Green Week #81. There are 1,601 exhibitors from 56 countries (543 of them came from outside Germany). I haven’t heard a projection yet on attendance but I’ll find out.

Farm Shows, Food, IFAJ, International

All About the IFAJ Congress in Japan

Chuck Zimmerman

Masaru YamadaRight after our sushi lunch which did include some of the best sake I’ve ever tasted (really didn’t think I liked sake until now) I got to interview Yamada Masaru who is one of the main organizers for the IFAJ Congress 2007.

If you’re interested in finding out what to expect should you decide to participate this year then take a couple minutes to listen to our interview.

Listen to my interview with the Maz Man (4 minutes):ifaj-berlin-2007-mas.mp3

I’m not sure I mentioned this before but my trip here to Berlin is being sponsored by the American Agricultural Editors Association, Professional Improvement Fund as well as Messe Berlin, the organizers of International Green Week.

AAEA, Farm Shows, IFAJ, International

Sushi Lunch in Berlin

Chuck Zimmerman

Sushi ManAfter getting some proposals out and doing a little email catch up this morning I got to the Green Week press center in time for an excellent Japanese box lunch. The IFAJ executive committee was given a presentation on this fall’s IFAJ Congress 2007 which will be in Japan.

Online registration has already started for the Congress with a very detailed agenda available at the end of next month. To obtain early registration rates you need to book your trip before May.

Hey all you American agricultural journalists. I know some of you have travelled abroad but you’ve probably never had an international trip put on by your peers in another country if you haven’t been to an IFAJ Congress. This is looking like a good one and the organizers have put together affordable choices. See if you can get it on your agenda. I especially encourage farm broadcasters to get involved.

I think this was probably the healthiest meal I’ve had since getting to Berlin. No, that’s not true. We had an excellent pork and vegetable soup for lunch yesterday. I’ll be wandering around the exhibit halls later this afternoon and as you’ll see from upcoming pictures there’s going to be the temptation to sample and that’s going to be tough to fight.

Farm Shows, Food, IFAJ, International