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market-farming - RE: [Market-farming] Thanks, everyone! Plus, my berry packaging

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  • From: "Brigette Leach" <avalonfarmshomegrown AT earthlink.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>, market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] Thanks, everyone! Plus, my berry packaging
  • Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 15:23:45 -0400

Jenny,
The overkill of regulations, permits and insurance costs isn't specific to
New Mexico or to agriculture of any size. Far too many legislators,
regulators, bureaucrats, etc., think that regulation and permitting will
solve problems. Wish that were the case.IMHO it just adds cost to the
businesses impacted and increases taxes to implement. In Michigan, we've
worked very hard to move away from *permits* to voluntary, incentive driven
programs and projects for agricultural producers of all sizes, and it is
working. This approach doesn't generate inflammatory newspaper articles,
but it does actually help producers protect soil and water resources.
Sometimes money to implement practices is involved, sometimes protection
from liability, sometimes a tax exemption, all around this approach helps
to provide a more stable business environment and that benefits everyone.

I found your origami cups idea fascinating. I think it would be great for
blueberries and the dark sweet cherries that we sell. People eat a quart of
dark sweets before they get to their car! Where might one find directions
for the cups?

Enjoy the "green"!

Brigette Leach
Avalon Farms Premium Homegrown

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> [Original Message]
> From: Jennifer Albert <jalbert AT cybermesa.com>
> To: <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: 5/3/2005 2:37:23 PM
> Subject: [Market-farming] Thanks, everyone! Plus, my berry packaging
>
> This is such a good list! You all have so much wisdom to offer!
>
> I really look forward every day to all the postings here.
>
> I love Willie's idea about "Sacrificial Peaches," and Tom's for bagging
up
> pints and quarts.
>
> I've thought about U-Pick, but I'm finding that insurance is a huge
issue,
> along with the need (according to the state) for public washroom
> facilities(!!!), including hot water for hand-washing. For an area that
has
> for hundreds of years relied on very small farms, New Mexico has made it
> increasingly difficult for them to survive because of increasing
> regulations, insurance requirements, and permit fees.
>
> I've actually been making origami cups (I found the instructions on the
> web) for my straw-, black-, and raspberries (each cup holds about a
> half-pint), from white paper freezer wrap (plasticized surface to the
> inside of the cup), and placing each filled cup in a 24-compartment
> cardboard flat from the liquor store discard pile, and picking directly
> into the cups in the cartons.
>
> At market, I move the cups into old wooden soft-drink crates (which also
> have 24 compartments) to display them for sale. The origami cups have a
> flap at the top that I can grab, and that I scotch tape shut when the
> customer buys the berries. Most people love the very disposable
packaging,
> and everyone really likes the soft drink crates, but some complain that
the
> berries get crushed, and I have lots of people who would like larger
cups.
> Actually, the berries don't get crushed, because the cups, by their
nature,
> taper toward the bottom. The cups are especially handy for those who want
> to eat their berries on the go.
>
> I can make the cups really fast now, once I've cut the squares of paper
> (while I watch a DVD---I don't do TV---or listen to the radio), and
they're
> quite cheap. Once I've done all the folding, I put one staple through the
> front layer with a stapler that you squeeze, to reinforce the cup, and I
> nest the cups to store them before I use them.
>
> I'm going to try some fiber cartons this year, in addition to the cups in
> the crates. I will have more berries to sell this year (last year, I sold
> about 20 dozen cups per week), and I'd like to see how it changes both my
> labor and my sales.
>
> Jenny in Northern New Mexico,
> where it's looking more and more like Ireland, since it seems like it's
> been raining all spring!
>
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