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Select San Joaquin Gets $10K Seed Money

Posted on: Monday, 10 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Greg Kane, The Record, Stockton, Calif.

Apr. 10--STOCKTON - A dormant program designed to promote fruits, vegetables and other crops grown in San Joaquin County is to be revived after a county supervisor pledged $10,000 in taxpayer money to fund its operation.

Select San Joaquin, launched as a pilot project in 2004, identified locally grown asparagus and cherries in four grocery stores so shoppers could support county farmers. The plan was eventually to include other crops, such as tomatoes, bell peppers and apples, said Scott Hudson, the county's agricultural commissioner.

Instead, the program ran out of money. A $5,000 grant from the San Joaquin Farm Bureau dried up last year, Hudson said, and county officials failed to include funding in the 2005-06 budget.

"It's kind of in storage right now," Hudson said.

Not for long. Supervisor Steve Gutierrez took $10,000 from a special-projects account typically used for sidewalks, gutters and other improvements in his south Stockton district late last month so Select San Joaquin could operate through 2007.

Most of the money will go toward hiring a part-time coordinator to monitor the program, Hudson said. It also will fund a renewed effort to single out county-grown crops in the produce aisle and even expand the program to include roadside produce stands and a "blossom trail" featuring orchards and farms.

The county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the money transfer, and Supervisor Jack Sieglock suggested using the county's primary accounts to keep the program operating in the future.

Gutierrez, who did not return calls last week, said during the hearing that he wanted to keep the program going to give the county's agricultural community a boost.

"My intent is to support our local farmers," Gutierrez said. "That's always been the impetus behind Select San Joaquin."

The program started in two Food 4 Less and two Centro Mart stores. The promotion included in-store brochures with facts about the crops, their local histories and recipes.

Cherries promoted by Select San Joaquin in summer 2004 fueled interest in local produce among customers, Hudson said.

"We got lots of positive feedback from consumers in stores that saw our displays," Hudson said. "They thought it was a great way to recognize our local agriculture."

John Quinn, president of Food 4 Less, said Thursday that the program helped his stores bring in more local produce. With the program, local growers became more likely to sell directly to the store instead of to wholesalers that ship all over the state, he said.

"It made more of the local growers aware that a locally based grocery chain like ourselves can take their whole crops," Quinn said.

Hudson also hopes to continue an aspect of the program that places an educational booth at fairs and festivals. The booth offers information on the more than 70 products grown in the region and has appeared at the San Joaquin Fair, the Ag Expo and Lodi's Zinfest, Hudson said.

"We're pretty excited about developing the program further and seeing where it goes," Hudson said.

Contact reporter Greg Kane at (209) 546-8276 or gkane@recordnet.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Record, Stockton, Calif.

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Source: The Record

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