Feb. 27, 2009 — St. Croix school children may get a little more fresh local fruits and vegetables at lunch if farmers and the Agriculture Department succeed in dealing with factors such as water supply that affect crop consistency and can work with Education to meet the needs of the school-lunch program.
It was the first Agriculture oversight hearing of the Labor and Agriculture Committee of the newly seated 28th V.I. Legislature, taking place Friday. Commissioner Louis "Akil" Petersen and top department staff were in Frederiksted to talk about the future of farming and the department's role in bringing it about.
Petersen mentioned the school-lunch program as one example when Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone asked about areas where there might be potential for increasing the sale of local produce.
"What products are sold to the school-lunch program?" Malone asked.
"Right now watermelons and tomatoes I think are the most prevalent — and cucumbers, lots of cucumbers, senator," Petersen said. He has written a letter to the head of the school-lunch program and plans to talk more with the Education Department about how more volume and more types of fresh, local produce could be served in the schools. But schools, as well as stores and restaurants, need much larger volumes and much more consistency and predictability than most local farming is able to supply currently, he said.
The territory's dry spells and unpredictable rainfall make predicting crops difficult.
"A consistent water supply is the single main reason affecting the consistent supply of agricultural goods on St. Croix," Petersen said.
To try to address this, the department has increased its rainwater-collection and storage facilities, and is hoping soon to use reclaimed fresh water from the newly modernized Anguilla water-treatment plant.
"Two million gallons go into the sea every day," Petersen said. "We are advocating redirecting some of it inland for use by farmers. Infrastructure is an issue, but we believe in the (recent federal) stimulus package there is money for that water-distribution plan, possibly in the state stabilization funds, which are somewhat flexible."
Increasing the use of drip irrigation from perforated water hoses will help make the most of available fresh water, too.
"With a drip system, you are using 95 percent of the water instead of letting 95 percent evaporate," Petersen said.
Agriculture has used a $100,000 federal grant to promote beekeeping and local honey production.
"Why bees?" Sen. Nereida "Nellie" O'Reilly asked.
"Beekeeping is year-round, not seasonal and it is not very water dependent, so it can be more consistent," Petersen said. "And, while all farming is always labor-intensive, it’s the bees that do most of the work."
There is a strong, consistent demand for local honey, too, he said.
The Agriculture Department budget for fiscal year 2009 is $3.5 million, plus another $1 million in federal funding. Aside from hosting the annual V.I. Agriculture Festival on its grounds, the department's mission is to provide basic services, technical advice and programs to the farming community. It provides an array of services to farmers at subsidized or at-cost rates. These services include grass cutting, hay baling, land clearing and tilling; low-cost seeds, seedlings, saplings and fertilizers, veterinary services, and safe, sanitary abattoir facilities, according to Petersen's testimony.
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