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Agriculture leaders say the "Got to be N.C. Agriculture" program is a great start to tracking produce and identifying foods grown in North Carolina.
RALEIGH -- More than 300 farmers, food companies, and health officials met at the State Fairgrounds on Tuesday to talk about how to keep the nation's food supply safe, without hurting local farmers.
Agriculture officials say several nationwide beef and produce recalls this year have hurt North Carolina farmers, even though the food grown in the state has been safe.
"It's been a very challenging year," said Doug Patterson, a tomato, strawberry, and pepper farmer. Patterson and his brother are the third generation to run their 1,000 acre Patterson Farm, Inc. in China Grove in Rowan County.
This year, North Carolina farmers have had to deal with national beef recalls and warnings about spinach, tomatoes and jalapenos. Steve Troxler, North Carolina's commissioner of agriculture, says the salmonella scare cost tomato growers nationwide more than $200 million in lost sales.
Patterson believes the Food and Drug Administration took too long to clear safe crops, like the ones in North Carolina, for consumption.
Local Farmers
News 14 Carolina's Heather Moore has the story on state produce and how to help N.C. farmers
"Where we feel the FDA let us down as tomato producers, is that they let the situation go on and on and drag on for months and months," he explained. "It was very frustrating because we knew we had a product that was safe, that somewhere else in the country or in another country, had a problem and it was affecting our crop and our bottom line."
That was the main topic at Tuesday's fourth annual AgFirst! Symposium; how can the FDA warn the public about contaminated food, and not hurt farmers with safe crops?
"We've got to have a system that if there is a problem, we need to be able to go to the root of the problem and correct it and restore the public confidence," explained Troxler.
Agriculture leaders say one of the biggest problems is there isn't a national system to track produce. So when there's a contamination scare, it's extremely difficult to determine where the produce came from, and if it's safe to eat.
"Traceability is key," explained Dr. David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods for the FDA. "That speaks to the need for a national system. It's not going to work if the traceability breaks down once the product leaves the state border."
Agriculture leaders say the "Got to be N.C. Agriculture" program is a great start to tracking produce and identifying foods grown in North Carolina. However, they want to see a similar nationwide effort to keep problems with other crops from hurting North Carolina farmers.
Source: http://news14.com/content/local_news/triad/598479/leaders-call-for-produce-tracking/Default.aspx
