Farm-City Week Salutes The Efforts
Of All Those Who Make Agriculture Work
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) -- As Thanksgiving approaches,
state agriculture leaders are encouraging Floridians to remember
the efforts of all those responsible for providing safe, affordable
and abundant food for dining tables year-round.
“Thanksgiving is a truly American tradition with family,
football, festivities, and lots of food,” Florida Agriculture
Commissioner Charles H. Bronson said. “But most people
don't give much thought to how that food made its way to their
table. There are many vital links between rural and urban residents
that make our country’s agricultural system the envy of
the world.”
Farm-City Week, observed November 19-25, salutes all those whose
efforts make agriculture work under the theme “Partners
in Progress.”
“The key is the interdependence among those who produce
the products, those who consume the products, and all those
in the production and marketing chain between the producer and
consumer,” said Carl Loop, president of the Florida Farm
Bureau Federation. “These vital farm-city partnerships
-- with rural and urban communities working together -- have
made the most of our rich agricultural resources, and they continue
to contribute to our health and well being and to the strength
of our economy.”
Bronson, who is serving as state chairman of Farm-City Week,
will present a Cabinet Resolution designating Farm-City Week
in Florida to Loop on November 19 in Tallahassee.
“Farm-City Week emphasizes the complex network that brings
food from the field to the table,” Bronson said. “These
‘Partners in Progress’ include farmers and ranchers,
researchers, processors, brokers, truckers and shippers, advertisers,
wholesalers and retailers.”
Said Loop : “This network results in numerous benefits
to society. It provides an abundance and variety of food as
well as products used to make clothing, housing, medicines,
and countless other items used daily.”
Florida 's 44,000 commercial farmers grow more than 280 different
crops. Florida is the nation's “winter salad bowl,”
providing 80 percent of the fresh vegetables grown in the United
States during January, February and March of each year. Year-round,
Florida ranks No. 2 nationally in the U.S. production of fresh
vegetables. Agriculture is Florida 's second-leading industry
next to tourism, and has an estimated overall economic impact
of more than $62 billion annually.
The Florida Farm Bureau Federation is the state's largest
general-interest agricultural association with more than 152,000
member-families statewide and Farm Bureaus in 62 counties. Headquartered
in Gainesville , the federation is an independent, non-profit
agricultural organization.
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Florida Farm Bureau Federation