Food Processing License Revoked, Supporting Specialty Crops & Hard Cider Workshop
Food Processing License Revoked, Supporting Specialty Crops & Hard Cider Workshop
I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.
After numerous Washington State Department of Agriculture inspections Mu Kung Hwa Oriental Food, a producer of traditional Korean rice cakes located in Pierce County, has had their food processing license revoked due to on-going sanitation problems that were not being addressed. All products at the facility are to be destroyed and processing is to stop immediately. Consumers should dispose of any Mu Kung Hwa Oriental Food products they may have purchased.
Applications for Specialty Crop Block Grant Program funding are now being accepted by the WSDA. Applicants should submit a brief concept proposal that highlights how the project will either promote international and domestic trade, develop new crop varieties, increase water availability, control pests and diseases, reduce regulatory barriers, or increase production through innovative technologies for the state's fruit, vegetable and nursery industry. Roughly $3 million will be available to Washington state. Proposals are due Feb. 28.
On March 18 the NABC will be offering an all day workshop at the Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake to educate and recruit future cider fruit growers. Karen Mauden, with the Northwest Agriculture Business Center expounds.
MAUDEN: The purpose is to reach out to the people that are orcharding. It doesn't matter if they're doing grapes or any kind of tree fruit. We want to give them a look at where the hard cider industry is now and the phenomenal growth, and let them see what potential is there - that there are not enough hard cider apples grown in the U.S. to support the industry. We feel it's important to reach out to people that have the assets, they have the land, have the know how, but this is a new area for them.
On Monday Mauden will talk about the topics to be covered during the workshop. For more information visit agbizcenter.org.
That's Washington Ag Today.
I'm Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.
