Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
03/13/2006 05:00 PM House ECONOMIC DEV., TRADE, AND TOURISM
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HCR34 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HCR 34 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL
TRADE AND TOURISM
March 13, 2006
5:18 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mark Neuman, Co-Chair
Representative Jay Ramras, Co-Chair
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Nancy Dahlstrom
Representative Harry Crawford
Representative Beth Kerttula
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative John Coghill
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 34
Relating to promoting Alaska grown produce and food products to
the visitor industry through the Arctic Fresh program.
- MOVED HCR 34 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HCR 34
SHORT TITLE: ALASKA AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FOR TOURISTS
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST OF ECON. DEVEL., TRADE, & TOURISM
03/01/06 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/01/06 (H) EDT
03/13/06 (H) EDT AT 5:00 PM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
JANE PIERSON, Staff
to Representative Jay Ramras
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the reasoning behind HCR 34 and
the intent of the Arctic Fresh program.
LARRY DeVILBISS, Director
Central Office
Division of Agriculture
Department of Natural Resources
Palmer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of wider distribution
of Alaska grown products.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CO-CHAIR MARK NEUMAN called the House Special Committee on
Economic Development, International Trade and Tourism meeting to
order at 5:18:29 PM. Representatives Neuman, Ramras, Lynn,
Dahlstrom, and Kerttula were present at the call to order.
Representative Crawford arrived as the meeting was in progress.
HCR 34-ALASKA AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FOR TOURISTS
5:18:39 PM
CO-CHAIR NEUMAN announced that the only order of business would
be HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 34, relating to promoting
Alaska grown produce and food products to the visitor industry
through the Arctic Fresh program.
5:19:09 PM
JANE PIERSON, Staff to Representative Jay Ramras, Alaska State
Legislature, explained that the intent of the Arctic Fresh
program is to bring together the [Division] of Agriculture,
farmers, related farm associations, processors, seafood
processors, distributors, the visitor industry, restaurants, and
related culinary support associations to provide the visitors to
Alaska with wholesome, quality Alaska produce and products. She
opined that this program should provide a win-win situation for
everyone involved. She added that the establishment of this
program is designed to shift the buying preferences of the
visitor industry, thereby creating an additional market for
Alaska farmers and producers to sell their goods as well as
providing visitors throughout the state with fresh Alaska
produce and products. She further added that it's also the
intent of the program to work hand-in-hand with other already
established programs, such as the Alaska Grown program and the
Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI)'s Wild Alaska Seafood
campaign, thereby creating brand recognition for Alaska's fine
products.
5:20:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KERTTULA requested that Ms. Pierson discuss how
[the Arctic Fresh program] is going to differ and/or overlap
with the Alaska Grown program.
MS. PIERSON reiterated that the plan is to have [the Arctic
Fresh program] work hand-in-hand with the Alaska Grown program.
She informed the committee that last year there were carrots and
potatoes that were warehoused and didn't get distributed.
Therefore, the hope is that a market can be created with the
visitor industry so that there will be another place for
[farmers and producers] to sell their products.
5:21:15 PM
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS remarked that [the] Alaska Grown [program] has
been highly successful at selling Alaska grown carrots and
potatoes in Fred Meyer and Safeway grocery stores. However, he
noted that at the restaurant level, for on premise consumption,
there's no buying preference expressed by chefs and kitchen
managers. He relayed that [the committee] wanted to set up an
alternate program, under the same umbrella, which requires no
funding and no fiscal note. He further noted that at the end of
the year/tourist season, it would be a scoring mechanism for the
Alaska Hotel and Lodging Association (AkH&LA) and the Alaska
Travel Industry Association (ATIA), who by switching their
buying preference, would be able to buy, acquire, and use Alaska
grown products. The legislation provides an incentive for
[farmers and producers], statistically, to keep score under a
separate record keeping, rather than to just contribute
incrementally to the 20-year success of the Alaska Grown
program.
5:23:15 PM
CO-CHAIR NEUMAN referred to a meeting in Fairbanks which allowed
for the opportunity to speak with tourism industry
representatives, some of who are already selling Alaska
products. He opined that [HCR 34 and the Arctic Fresh program]
would help identify those in the [tourism] industry as well as
the restaurant [business] who want to ensure that they're
selling the mystique of Alaska.
5:24:11 PM
LARRY DeVILBISS, Director, Central Office, Division of
Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources, relayed that [the
Division of Agriculture] is very happy to see the step toward
wider distribution of Alaska grown products. He further relayed
that the division already received a phone call from the Delta
Meat and Sausage Co. in Delta Junction, inquiring about the
Arctic Fresh [program] because it had already received phone
calls from hotels wanting to know whether they could buy Alaska
meat. He opined that this is just the beginning of what's going
to happen before the program is even publicized.
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS inquired as to the [large amount] of carrots
and/or potatoes that were thrown away at the end of the season
last year because [farmers and producers] weren't able to find a
market. He asked, "Do you have any kind of statistic on that?"
MR. DeVILBISS acknowledged that last August, the division
documented 1,500 tons of potatoes that had to be thrown away.
He noted that the product was good, but the market didn't absorb
it. He further noted that this year, the division is looking at
an inventory of carrots which are in good condition. Therefore,
by May, the industry is going to be in a good position to kick
off [the season] with at least carrots and potatoes.
5:27:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN inquired as to whether homeless shelters
would be able to utilize these potatoes that were thrown away.
He opined that it seems almost sinful to discard that many
potatoes when there are people out there who are hungry.
MR. DeVILBISS explained that [the potatoes] are owned by
individual farmers and the expense of getting them to homeless
shelters or food banks would be almost as great as getting them
to the marketplace. He surmised that those locations would not
be able to absorb large quantities of [potatoes]. He further
surmised that the farmers would be willing to work with those
agencies willing to pick up the potatoes.
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN inquired as to whether there was any attempt
to communicate with the homeless shelters regarding the surplus
[potatoes].
MR. DeVILBISS responded that there wasn't [communication] from
his office.
CO-CHAIR NEUMAN, in regard to getting product to homeless
shelters, remarked that it would be in direct competition with
[farmers and producers'] own sales.
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN commented that these are products which
[farmers and producers] couldn't dispose of anyway - the market
had absorbed all it was going to and [the potatoes] were just
leftover.
5:29:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to report HCR 34 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. There being no objection, HCR 34 was reported out of the
House Special Committee on Economic Development, International
Trade and Tourism.
5:29:36 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Economic Development, International Trade
and Tourism meeting was adjourned at 5:29 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|