09/15/06 The Art of Agriculture

Art of agriculture. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. We've all seen images of the people and crops that make up the backbone of this great country. Brian Baum, Community Relations Coordinator for the Washington State Convention & Trade Center says their success is built on local products. BAUM: We are promoting in any way we can the quality and variety of Washington Agriculture here. Our food sales are quite phenomenal for a convention center of our size and part of the reason is a wonderful executive chef who's very good. He has a lot of talent and he has a wonderful range of products to work with right from our own back yard. And then on top of that what we are trying to do is get that message out beyond our convention center clients and let people know that by buying Washington agriculture you are not only getting great product you are also supporting the growers, the fishermen, the producers, the winemakers, the brewers all throughout the state. One way to get that message across according to Baum is an art show. BAUM: What we would have is an exhibition that would be running from December 2006 to August 2007 here at the convention center that represents the diversity and splendor of Washington State agriculture. The Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle is currently looking for artwork. Deadline for submissions is Friday, October 6, 2006. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.