Inside the Food Safety Modernization Act Is Greenhouse Produce Safer?
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January 2014 n Inside the Food Safety Modernization Act n Is Greenhouse Produce Safer? Page 10 PAGE 14 PAGE 20 PAGE 34 IT'S GE, NOT FROM CONCRETE GROWING GMO The real TO GREEN Local LETTUCE story behind Garden expands the HYDROPONICALLY genetic perception of urban Tips for growing this engineering ag gourmet food 1 Reader Service Number 114 Reader Service Number 115 From Your Editor ers, and how growing in controlled green - house environments can help alleviate some food safety concerns (starting page 10). Perhaps an even more contentious topic than food safety regulations—at least in the mainstream media and among con - sumers—is the GMO debate. Jennifer Duffield White tackles the real story behind genetic engineering and the debate that has, at times, crippled itself (page 14). Among the more challenging questions for growers beginning hydroponic produc - tion is how to design the crop’s fertilizer pro - gram. Providing all of the essential elements in the right quantity and the right propor - tion to each other can be a daunting task for growers. Experts Neil S. Mattson and Cari Peters bring us some tips and recipes for hy - droponic success on page 16. David Kuack brings us more tips for hy - droponic success on page 24, discussing how to get vegetable seedlings off to a good I recently hit the send button start by selecting an appropriate growing medium and providing optimum germina - on the 50th issue of Inside Grower. For tion conditions. Delving deeper into the more than two years, I’ve been devoted to propagation and production of hydroponic lettuce specifically, Dr. Vijay Rapaka dis - keeping you inspired by—and connected cusses how to optimize this popular gour - met crop on page 34. to—this relatively new industry in the U.S., Taking hydroponics skyward is a young go-getter cultivating his passion for green de - providing up-to-date information about velopment through vertical farming. Anne- Marie Hardie shares the story of Donovan growing methods, new products, market Woollard, a strategic advisor for Alterrus Sys - trends and a whole lot more. tems, Inc. and developer of the VertiCrop growing system (page 20). And with greenhouse vegetable production continuing An advantage of growing in controlled environment to be one of the fastest-growing sectors of the greater green - greenhouses is the ability to minimize the risk of exposure house industry, it’s time to bring another issue of Inside to pests and diseases. Unfortunately, there’s still some risk Grower from your email inbox to print. You’ll find this Inside and it’s not unheard of—even in the cleanliest of green - Grower edition takes you deeper into the topics that matter houses—to battle devastating outbreaks. On page 26, Dr. most in the business of growing edible crops in controlled Vijay Chopplakatla explains how to battle botrytis on toma - environments. toes with peroxygencompounds. Dr. Raymond A. Cloyd edu - Bringing all this information and inspiration to print is cates us on whitefly identification, prevention and control an impressive lineup of well-known researchers, academics on page 30. Bringing even more pest and disease prevention and technical writers—all well-versed in various aspects of information, Dr. Robert L. Wick and M. Bess Wicklow discuss controlled environment agriculture. how to fight the rise of basil downy mildew on page 32. The safety of the food we grow, sell and feed to our own We hope you enjoy this publication of Inside Grower and families is a critical topic for the fresh produce industry. In find its content useful to your growing endeavors. As always, fact, we think it’s so important that it’s our cover story. Food - we welcome your questions and feedback. borne illness outbreaks are an unfortunate reality when growing and distributing fresh food, and in addition to being a major public health issue, bringing a contaminated product to market can have severe economic conse - quences for the grower. As an industry insider and an expec - tant mother taking the safety of my own food options very Annie White seriously, I take a look at how the new Food Safety Modern - MANAGING EDITOR ization Act will affect greenhouse growers and other farm - feedback: [email protected] 4 January 2014 EDITORIAL CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE EDITOR Chris Beytes MANAGING EDITOR Annie White CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ellen C. Wells Jennifer Duffield White Jennifer Zurko Jennifer Polanz INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Ron Van der Ploeg DEPARTMENTS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dr. Gene Giacomelli Michael F. Munday 4 | From Your Editor David M. Ingram | ON THE COVER 6 Insider The safety of the food we grow, sell and feed to our families is a critical topic for the PRODUCTION MANAGER Kathy Wootton 29 | New Products fresh produce industry, so we run down the CREATIVE DIRECTOR Chris Truesdale latest regulations and standards for growing PHOTOGRAPHER Mark Widhalm veggies and greens, starting on page 10. COPY EDITOR Sue Olsen Photo by Mark Widhalm FEATURES SALES 866.888.4237 10 | Growing Safer Produce | by Annie S. White PUBLISHER | Paul Black A farm-to-fork look at current food safety issues in the produce industry and how SALES MANAGER [email protected] greenhouse growers can grow even safer produce. ACCOUNT MANAGER Kim Brown [email protected] 14 | The Real Story Behind Genetic Engineering SALES ASSISTANT Adriana Heikkila [email protected] by Jennifer Duffield White The GMO debate that has, at times, crippled itself. CUSTOMER SERVICE Melissa Parrish CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING [email protected] 16 | A Recipe for Hydroponic Success | by Neil S. Mattson & Cari Peters Providing all of the essential elements in the right quantity and the right proportion to each other can seem like a daunting task to even the most mathematically gifted A Friend Remembered growers. G. Victor Ball, Editor from 194 9–1997 GrowerTalks general offices are located at: 20 | Expanding the Perception of Sustainable Farming PO BOX 1660, West Chicago, Illinois 60186 U.S.A. by Anne-Marie Hardie ph: 630.231.3675 | fax: 630.231.5254 | Toll-Free: 1-888-888-0 013 www.growertalks.com A young go-getter finds a way to cultivate his passion for green development with a new way to grow food in the city. 24 | Best Beginnings | by David Kuack GrowerTalks (ISSN 0276-9433) is published monthly by Regardless of the growing medium selected, growers should provide optimum Ball Publishing, PO Box 1660, West Chicago, Illinois 60186, germination conditions to ensure seedlings get off to a good start. United States. Subscriptions are free to qualified readers in the US. Subscription price for non-qualified readers is $35 per year US and Canada. All other foreign subscriptions must pay 26 | Battling Botrytis with Peroxygencompounds $99/year to receive/continue to receive GrowerTalks and Green Profit . GrowerTalks is a registered trademark of Ball Horticultural by Dr. Vijay Chopplakatla Company in the U.S. Periodicals postage paid at West Chicago, Thanks to advances in field/greenhouse/high-tunnel production, tomatoes are IL and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send address changes to GrowerTalks Magazine, PO Box 1660, West Chicago, available all year long, but this doesn’t come without some fungal disease problems. Illinois 60186, United States. ©2010 GrowerTalks Magazine. All rights reserved. Posted under Canada publications mail agreement #40612608. Canada returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, 30 | Controlling Whiteflies | by Dr. Raymond A. Cloyd P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 Identify, prevent and control this tomato-destroying scourge. Printed in the U.S.A. Supplement Enclosed GreenProfit 32 | Fighting the Rise of Basil Downy Mildew by Dr. Robert L. Wick & M. Bess Wicklow This disease isn’t new to the world, but it is relatively new here in the States and looks like it’s here to stay. There are few fungicides to combat it, so prevention is key. 34 | Propagation & Production of Hydroponic Lettuce by Dr. Vijay Rapaka Although hydroponic lettuce production is much smaller compared to field production, it’s considered a high-quality gourmet product. 5 Insider A Look Back at the Genetically Basics of Growing Microgreens Engineered Flavr Savr Tomato Microgreens, those tiny edible crease. In a recent newsletter, seedlings that are perking up fresh Johnny’s offered advice for choos - The recent debates over new GMO labeling laws are causing quite a stir dishes from coast to coast, con - ing the best varieties for getting among both critics and supporters of genetically engineered food. tinue to grow in popularity. The lit - started with microgreens. No matter what your personal opinions are on this contemporary tle flavor-packed greens are If you’re just getting started matter, taking a historic look back at the first genetically engi - showing up at restaurants, farmers’ with microgreens and want to neered food—the Flavr Savr tomato—is quite fascinating. markets and even some grocery keep things simple, Johnny’s rec - Retro Report, a nonprofit online video project that stores. In addition to flavor, micro - ommends trying a couple of pre - takes a long-term look at some of the biggest news greens offer a refreshing crunch, a mixed microgreen blends. headlines, made a short film on the genetically engi - beautiful assortment of colors and A micro mix consists of many neered Flavr Savr tomato from the company Cal - are packed with nutrients. different kinds of vegetables, in - gene. (Calgene was later bought by Monsanto.) At “This fast-growing market has cluding amaranth, arugula, beets, the time that the Flavr Savr tomato was introduced to become tremendously popular broccoli, cabbage, kale, mizuna, consumers, genetically engineered food was a much with both growers and chefs. For mustards, pac choi and radishes. less contentious topic, perhaps because of Calgene’s growers, microgreens have a low Micro mixes may also contain an - transparency.