Ethan Berkowitz Unveils Agriculture, Food Security Plan

Posted by farmfresh

Posted: October 11, 2008 - 9:08 am

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Yahoo! I am thrilled to share this press release from Ethan Berkowitz with you all. I think this is the first time an Alaskan congressional candidate has added food security to their platform. Way to go Ethan!

October 10th 2008 - For Immediate Release:

House Democratic nominee Ethan Berkowitz introduced his plan to protect and strengthen Alaska’s agriculture and food supply. “Strong leadership, strategic investments, and community outreach and education will safeguard Alaska’s food system,” said Berkowitz. “Alaska can become more independent from outside food imports and develop a true renewable resource with far-reaching benefits for our residents.”

Alaska’s remote location, the rising cost of transportation, lack of adequate agriculture infrastructure, and shrinking farm acreage pose major challenges for the agricultural economy and our ability to become food secure. Alaska only has a three-day supply of food on our shelves.

“We grow a fraction of what we are capable of producing here in Alaska. Experts believe we supply less than five percent of food consumed by Alaskans,” said Berkowitz. “That leaves Alaska too vulnerable.”

Berkowitz believes the state must adopt a strategic plan to make Alaska more food secure, and it should link federal, state, local, and private sector resources. Developing local low cost energy resources and expanding agricultural research is at the heart of these vital efforts.

“It’s a critical situation,” said Paul Huppert, who has farmed in the Mat-Su since the 1950’s. “We are not doing enough research for northern climate agriculture, and we need this support to start in the House and Senate.”

Berkowitz’s agriculture plan includes:

·Support construction of regional cold food storage facilities and relocations of Alaska’s emergency food supply within our state. It is unacceptable and dangerous that we could be cut off from our emergency warehouses because they are thousand of miles away out of state. Creating cold storage facilities would also create a year-round, Alaska grown food supply by providing the facilities needed to store the summer’s harvest throughout the year.

·Support creation of local food marketing and education plans modeled after the seafood and wild salmon marketing plan. Alaskans should know that we can purchase foods from local farmers, year-round.

·Protect prime Alaska farmland by participating in existing federal farm and ranch lands protection programs.

·Promote and expand the role of the University of Alaska, a federal land grant institution, to work with Alaska farmers to adopt innovative techniques to increase yield and food processing potential.

CONTACT:
David Shurtleff
Press Secretary
907-230-2368

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