Prunings A
series of new agricultural agreements between Canada and China has been
welcomed enthusiastically by the president of the Okanagan- Kootenay Cherry Growers Association. David Sterling, responding to
results of a February trade mission to China headed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, noted that B.C. cherries are exported all over the world, particularly Taiwan and other Asian destinations. “Gaining access to the Chinese market will let us compete on the same terms as our American cousins.” Sterling said this province’s cherry production has been growing by more than 10 percent annually in recent years and is now at least $40 million in sales. He attributes B.C.’s success in developing export markets to the new varieties and research advances from the PARC research station in Summerland, progressive and innovative growers willing to manage the big risks and high costs of cherry growing, “and brokers that have built the reputation and put B.C. on the world map.” Stirling and his wife Linda produce about 30,000 boxes of cherries annually on their 35-acre family orchard in Kelowna... Long-time Kelowna grape grower
Mary Serwa of Kelowna passed away Nov. 30. She was a founding member of the B.C. Grape Growers’
Mary Serwa
Association, and grew grapes in the Glenmore area with her husband Albert for many decades, before his death in 2001. As well as her abiding interest in the grape growers’ association, she served as a city council member
in Kelowna from 1973 to 1982 and she served on the regional district during that time as well as the Glenmore Ellison Irrigation District board... South of the line, Bob McDougall,
a well-known figure in the Washington State apple industry, died Feb. 6 in Mesa, AZ. He was 87. One of four founding partners in Columbia Marketing International, McDougall had a 60- year career in the industry in the
34
Wenatchee Valley. He formed McDougall Orchards Inc. in 1960. In 1977, he and sons Stuart and Scott established Wenatchee-based McDougall and Sons Inc. A legislator as well as a grower-shipper, McDougall served in the Washington State House of Representatives for eight years and in the state senate for four, where he was minority whip... The Canadian Horticultural Council's CanadaGAP On-Farm Food Safety (OFFS) manuals have been updated for 2012. The revised manuals have been reviewed and the changes approved by Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The documents are available as a free download on the CanadaGAP website at:
www.canadagap.ca Documents summarizing commodity-specific differences and changes made from previous versions of the manuals are available at:
www.canadagap.ca /en/ manuals/offs-
JUDIE STEEVES
manualdownloads.aspx. Five commodity-specific manuals (used by operations producing, packing and storing field, orchard and vineyard- grown crops) have been consolidated into one manual, called the Fruit and Vegetable OFFS Manual. The hort council says the change was made to consolidate program materials and facilitate implementation of the manuals by the many companies that grow, pack or store multiple commodities within their operations. “Merging the manuals also ensures ongoing alignment of requirements that are common to all crop groupings. Where differences exist, commodity- specific requirements are clearly outlined...” Speaking of food safety, a compound found in apples and strawberries is a powerful antidote to a virulent strain of the E. coli bacterium, according to a recent study. The compound, phloretin,
Anew style of award was presented for winning wines at the 31st annual Okanagan Fall Wine Festival last year. Instead of a wall plaque that wineries had difficulty finding room for, the new style award is a unique medal that hangs around the neck of the bottle. Winefest coordinator Christina Ferreira shows off the new style award in winemaker Howard Soon’s tasting room, where quite a number of the first ones found a home.
suppresses toxins found in
E.coli 0157:H7 while allowing a beneficial strain to do its work, says a paper published in the December issue of Infection and Immunity, a publication of the Washington, D.C.-based American Society for Microbiology.
E.coli 0157:H7 is a cause of foodborne illnesses in leafy greens and other foods. In addition to fighting that particular germ, phloretin reduced colon inflammation and body weight loss in an experiment conducted on rats afflicted with colitis. In apples, phloretin accounts in part for the fruit’s antioxidant capacity, as well as helping with inflammation, according to the study. “This study suggests that phloretin
in apples could reduce the risk of
E.coli 0157:H7 infection and intestinal inflammation,” writes Jintae Lee, a Korean scientist and one of the study’s authors.
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Spring 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36