ench atmosphere


international level. His lecture was followed by a pre- sentation of his colleague Bart de Leeuw. Before the next lectures, the participants were invited to a lovely lunch with excellent French food served in the restaurant or outside where guests could enjoy the first sunbeams of spring.


De Leeuw, the author, Joosten and the Dutch interpre- ter (left to right).


cers, and addressed certain issues that are not always pleasant for growers. He concentrated on the possibi- lities of increasing production efficiency and measu- res that can, or should, be taken by every grower to achieve this. Piotrowski tried to convince the producers of the importance of very well planned and constructed buildings. He explained that mushroom production is very aggressive to buildings, subjecting them to stable, extreme stress. He cited many concrete examples and explained what can go wrong if too little time or attention is spent on the building. He has noticed that growers often have to project manage not just one or two building teams for a few months, but sometimes as many as twenty. He complained that Polish producers are not accustomed to utilising the experience and expertise of others, and too seldom seek professional advice when building new facilities or renovating exis- ting ones. He advised growers to ask themselves if they are satisfied with the quality of construction work being done, if there were a lot of problems during the buil- ding phase (could they have been avoided?) and what type of guarantees they have for the coming years. The second part of his lecture concerned the current risks for the mushroom sector. Among the most signifi- cant ones, he highlighted problems with issues such as the Champion affair two years ago, when the company was wrongly accused after some harmful substance was apparently discovered in the shelving systems produced by the company. Using the example of his own company, Piotrowski also addressed other food affairs that nearly ruined the good reputation of many companies and resulted in huge losses (e.g. EHEC in cucumbers). He expressed his hope that countries can exchange their experiences on dealing with similar cases. The answer came immediately after his presentation from Wim Joosten (Havens MC Substradd), who talked about food safety in view of the recent nicotine affair in the mushroom sector and the Primechamp bankruptcy, after cheap labor problems. Solutions for the problems include tracking registers, working with quality marks (audits), supporting the positive image of the sector in publications and cooperation on both national and


Discussion and wine The next two presentations after the lunch break con- cerned hygiene related issues. Miroslaw Wesolowski from Wokas (also one of the event’s organisers) spoke about potential infection sources during casing and the representative of Agro-Trade, Krzysztof Smierzchalski addressed the most important points of successful disinfection of mushroom producing facilities. After the presentations, there was a very good discussi- on about the issues and the future of the branch. One of the positive developments mentioned was the latest ini- tiative of Mykogen and Champion, who have managed to secure EU funding for their experimental mushroom farm project linked to a compost combustion facility. The farm owned by Piotr Szmytko will measure 7000m2 and the investors hope for 70-80% energy recovery to be used for cooling or heating. In the debate, the problem of nicotine came up several times, as the substance was previously not entirely forbidden and there is no clear evidence that it can be absorbed by mushrooms. At the end of the discussion, Ryszard Gnus (director of the Polish branch of Euromycel) thanked all the parti- cipants for coming and expressed the hope that such meetings will be continued in the future. The conference ended with a presentation about French wines. During dinner, guests could sample some excellent French food and exchange opinions in a more informal atmosphere. ◗


13


Piotr Szmytko frorm Mykogen with his wife, and Filip Piotrowski in the back.


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