Appalachian Harvest Growers Network Recruiting Producers Informational Meeting At W&L November 12th   On Thursday, November 12, 2009, the Appalachian Harvest growers network will hold a recruitment meeting for anyone interested in becoming a certified organic grower from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Elrod Commons Room 345 at W&L. The meeting is co-sponsored by Washington & Lee University. No experience is necessary and there is no minimum acreage required. According to Robin Robbins, the sales and marketing manager for Appalachian Harvest, “It’s exciting to see so many new farmers interested in joining with our current growers because we still have a tremendous amount of unfilled demand. That means there are still a lot of opportunities for people considering growing produce in the coming season.â€� The meeting is free and open to everyone interested in growing organic produce for the network. A variety of speakers will be present including Anthony Flaccavento, Executive Director of Appalachian Sustainable Development. The following topics will be covered at the meeting: • Opportunities with area supermarkets • Types, quantities and volumes of crops that can be produced • Resources, services, training and other support mechanisms • Next Steps Appalachian Harvest (AH) is an enterprise of the Abingdon, VA based non-profit Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD). AH is a network of farmers of varying sizes who raise organic produce for large, established markets secured by Appalachian Harvest. In addition to aggregating supply and distributing it to supermarket chains such as Ukrops and Whole Foods, AH provides comprehensive, hands on training in organic production and certification, disease and pest management, drip irrigation, crop selection and more. For information contact Appalachian Sustainable Development at (276) 623-1121 or go to www.asdevelp.org or Christopher Carpenter at W&L, 540-458-8636 or email Foodwineguy2@aol.com.

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