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March 25, 2008

Marketing local goods subject of conference

Business people, farmers join in effort; Tupper conference set

By DENISE A. RAYMO

TUPPER LAKE -- Agriculture professionals are teaming up to help the region's farmers find new ways to market what they grow and the livestock they raise.

The Role of Adirondack North Country Foods in Community and Economic Development conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 18, at the Wild Center, 45 Museum Drive, Tupper Lake.

It brings together farmers, growers, agriculture professionals and others to raise awareness of local goods and increase the marketing and name branding of North Country products.

"It's a day for networking and learning to create new partnerships and associations for local-food products," said Katherine Lang, an extension educator with the St. Lawrence County Cornell Cooperative Extension and coordinator of the North Country Regional Foods Initiative.

"It's also so folks can see the successes there have been with this kind of strategy and the challenges they have gone through."

LEARNING THE RULES

Those invited include farmers and entrepreneurs who grow food as a business, economic developers, town, county, state and federal officials, planning-board members and representatives from institutions that may want to use more local food in the meals they provide.

Lang said 30 people signed up after the initial mailing went out and that about 100 people are expected to attend.

Town, county, state and federal officials and agency representatives are an important component, Lang said, because there may be regulations in place that prevent farmers from getting their goods to market easily and cheaply; rules that could be adopted to aid farmers and growers; or programs, services or grants available to farmers and growers that the inexperienced may not know are out there.

"It's a benefit to all of us to work regionally because there may be better ways to get to markets for processing meats or distribution."

It may take a lot of work, at first, to coordinate such a cooperative, Lang said.

But once it is in place, farmers and growers would all benefit from the streamlined approach rather than each trying to market their own, smaller volume of product.

TARGETED WORKSHOPS

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., followed at 9 a.m. by the featured guest speaker, Jerry Cosgrove, deputy commissioner of the State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

The programs cover the challenges and opportunities for economic development using local food and agriculture, as well as advice and support on strengthening the markets for the products.

Seminars include developing community-based marketing strategies, entrepreneurships, regional identities for products, connecting local food with better health initiatives and land-use ideas.

Additional conference sponsors include the Adirondack North Country Association, Adirondack Harvest, the Community and Rural Development Institute at Cornell University, GardenShare Inc. and the Cornell Economic Development Administration.

TO SIGN UP

The conference costs $25. To register online, go to www.

regonline.com/builder/site/

Default.aspx?eventid=187914.

draymo@pressrepublican.com

COOKING DEMO
A cooking demonstration using locally raised lamb will be offered at the Wild Center Saturday at its Featured Farmer event.
Waterside Cafe Manager Ian O'Brien will use lamb raised at Kirbside Gardens in Chateaugay and feature a talk from farmers Kirby Selkirk and Jo Ellen Samier on how and why they raise sheep and grow vegetables.
The demonstration begins at 1 p.m. at the Wild Center, where visitors can taste the prepared lamb, get the recipe of the day and have a chance to buy some meat to take home.
In a news release, O'Brien said he uses regional meats, cheeses, breads and seasonal produce to support local farms and growers.
He said 15 percent of what he sells is locally produced and that he hopes to increase that number to 35 percent by the end of the year.
"The public feedback from museum visitors is very positive," he said. "They try the local foods, like them and want to know how they can buy them. So we are making the products available the day of the Featured Farmers demonstrations and at the cafe."

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