[USCC] compost and food safety issues

[Nancy Roe]

Some of you may know that some vegetable growers have been told by buyers that they would not buy crops grown in fields on which any kind of compost has been used. Obviously, in most cases, it is a matter of educating buyers and the public about what compost really means. At the American Society for Horticultural Sciences Meeting in Orlando, FL this summer, our Waste Utilization in Horticulture Working Group is sponsoring a workshop called: "If I use that on my crop, can I sell it?" It is meant to address some of the concerns that growers and their buyers have about the use of compost and perhaps other organic byproducts, and how we (most ASHS members are University Extension or Research faculty) can work towards overcoming them. 

We can, of course, talk about the importance of following composting rules, guidelines, and testing-for organic as well as conventionally grown crops. In addition, we are gathering experiences and, if possible, examples of how this resistance to compost use has been or can be overcome. (Maybe the skyrocketing prices of fertilizers will help!) We’re sorry, there is no travel money available to pay speakers for this workshop, but if anyone lives in or will be visiting in the area, we would love to have some additional knowledgeable speakers. It will be from 8-10 AM on Wed. July 23 at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando. You may contact me at the address below, or Bill Evans wbe at ra.msstate.edu at Mississippi Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station 601-892-3731 x 11 phone; 601-892-2056 fax

Nancy Roe
Farming Systems Research
P.O. Box 741112
Boynton Beach, FL 33474
561-638-2755 ph and FAX
ner at bellsouth.net
www.veggies4u.com