In the spring of 2009, the Mid-Atlantic specialty crop industry will benefit from a collaboration between producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, researchers, government, and educators. A grant of almost $100,000 was awarded to Penn State by the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative to develop a way to align consumer demand, agricultural industry resources, research, and education to service Mid-Atlantic fruit and vegetable markets. An invited group of experts will meet in March 2009 at a strategic planning workshop to discuss issues impacting the Mid-Atlantic specialty crop industry.

Some of these issues include rising energy costs, food safety, integrated pest management, processing, and understanding consumer behavior. The definitive goal of this effort will be to write an additional proposal to support the goal of improving the availability and profitability of edible specialty crops and value-added, processed products in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Signing up for a goal group
Signing up for a Goal Group can be done by visiting www.midatlanticspecialtycrops.com and selecting the "Goal Groups" tab. On this page, click on the name of the first Goal Group that you would like to join. You will then be taken to a webpage dedicated to the corresponding Goal Group. On the right-hand side of the page, you will find a "join" link. Simply provide a username, your e-mail address, check the boxes of the groups that you are interested in joining, fill out the optional organization profile, include your first and last name, and click "Create new account". Shortly after doing so, you will receive a confirmation e-mail that verifies your account was created. This will be followed by another confirmation email that verifies your account is activated.