Fresh grown news [Mar. 21, 2014]

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2014 Georgia Grown Symposium
Registration now open for Georgia Grown Symposium April 22
The Georgia Grown Agriculture Commodity Commission and the Georgia Department of Agriculture are proud to announce the 2nd annual Georgia Grown Symposium. This year's symposium will be held on April 22, 2014 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry, Georgia from 8:30am-4:30pm. The focus of this year's symposium will be on helping Georgia's farmers and specialty food producers sell their products. The one day event will include four discussion panels with industry leaders covering topics such as food licensing, finding funding, getting product to market and retailing your product. Discounts and free registration are available to current Georgia Grown members.
--REGISTER HERE--
If you have further questions please contact Matthew Kulinski at 404-656-3680 or Matthew.Kulinski@agr.georgia.gov.
2014 Flavor of Georgia Winners
Gov. Nathan Deal and Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black announced the annual Flavor of Georgia category and grand prize winners as part of Georgia Agriculture Awareness Day at the Georgia Freight Depot in Atlanta March 18. Tim Young of Nature's Harmony Farm took home the grand prize with his Georgia clothbound cheddar cheese. The awards are listed below by prize name, product name, company name, company representatives and town. Several Georgia Grown members and Georgia Grown Executive Chefs are included in this list. Congratulations to all of the Flavor of Georgia winners!
People's Choice Award: Raspberry-Jalapeno Jam, Leoci's, Roberto and Lacie Leoci, Savannah. Adult Beverages: Richland Rum, Richland Distilling Company, Karin and Erik Vonk, Richland. Barbecue Sauces: Causey's Sweet N'Smokey BBQ Sauce, Causey Foods Inc., Wynn Causey Bakke, Smyrna. (The sauce was created in Vienna where the Causeys still operate a restaurant.) Beverages: Organic Blueberry Juice, Byne Blueberry Farms, Richard Byne, Waynesboro. Confections: Peachy Keen Pecan Praline, Loose Sugar, Lindsey Beckworth and her father Mike Beckworth, Harrison. Dairy Products: Georgia Gold Clothbound Cheddar Cheese, Nature's Harmony, Tim Young, Elberton. Jams and Jellies: Cinnamon Honey Spread, Weeks Honey Farm, Sonja Crosby and Michele Rosario, Omega. Marinades and Sauces: GA Mustard Marinade, Q Sauce, LLC, Jennifer and Chris Adams, Dacula. Meat and Seafood: Pork Vidalia Onion Sausage, Ogeechee Meat Market, Matthew and Andrew McClune, Savannah. Miscellaneous: Southern Sriracha Boiled Peanut Rub, Hardy Farms Peanuts, Robert Fisher and Brad Hardy, Hawkinsville. Salsas, Chutneys and Condiments: Sweet Onion Confit, Preserving Place, Martha McMillin and Virginia Willis, Atlanta. Snack Foods: Georgia Blues Blueberry & Peach Bar, M Chocolat, Maritza Pichon and Marlena Snyder, Alpharetta.

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Feed My School for a Week The Georgia Department of Agriculture is now accepting new applications for school districts interested in participating in this year's "Feed My School for a Week" program in Georgia. If you are interested in nominating your school for the program, please have your nutritional director contact Misty Friedman at Misty.Friedman@agr.georgia.gov.
Georgia Crafted gift box
Georgia Crafted, a monthly subscription gift box company promoting local Georgia artisans, will partner with Georgia Grown to create a co-branded gift box for the month of April. The "Georgia Crafted/Georgia Grown" box will ship by April 15th to customers around the country who sign up for the box on www.georgiacrafted.com .
The April Georgia Crafted box will include products from the six Georgia Grown members listed in the photo above. For more information or to order this gift box, please visit www.georgiacrafted.com .

Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association
Group promotes networking, industry trends to membership
The Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association was established to help support Georgia's produce industry and to increase the members that make up its network. By increasing the members who are involved, it will improve and increase the profitability of the industry.
"We are an ally for the industry and have a seat at the table with decision makers in both state and federal governments," said Directory of Communications Samantha Tankersley.
The services that GFVGA offers are intended to grow productivities, provide educational opportunities to members, promote new markets in the industry and improve communications between GFVGA members and industry suppliers. The association makes it a priority to keep members as educated and fully informed of new information on new industry trends.
GFVGA provides services such as food safety consultations, legislative representation and educational workshops. It also coordinates and plans the annual Southeastern Regional Fruit &Vegetable Conference with the Georgia and South Carolina peach councils.
Many of the members of GFVGA are also members of Georgia Grown and the association sees it as yet another chance for the state and the industry to work together as a team to support local, home-grown produce. The association is a proud supporter and promoter of the Georgia Grown program and is involved in many educational events and programs throughout the year at which it offers opportunities for Georgia Grown to be advertised.
The association is looking forward to continuing working with Georgia Grown to represent the state and hopes to continue educating people about the agriculture industry in Georgia and to help show how vital it is to the state economy's success. For more information on the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, please visit www.gfvga.org.

Georgia-grown cuisine flying to new heights, destinations on Delta menu
Georgia-grown cuisine is now traveling business elite on the menu, at least.
Thanks to a recent collaboration between Delta Air Lines and Georgia Grown Executive Chef Linton Hopkins, Georgia ingredients from as far north as Young Harris all the way to Bluffton and Vidalia are making their way across the pond.
"When you fly out of Atlanta, you should have a taste of Atlanta flying with you. I want to tell a story of where you're flying out of, where you're coming from. I think that's a fun story to tell for the traveler," said Hopkins, who owns Atlanta's Holeman & Finch Public House and Restaurant Eugene.
After winning the 2013 Delta Cabin Pressure Cook-Off, Hopkins was selected to assist with Delta's menu development in certain markets, said Peter Wilander, the airline's managing director of onboard services. The Southeastern-centric menu is featured in the business elite cabin seating on flights from Atlanta to London-Heathrow, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris.

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