MOSES LAKE, WASHINGTON (December 3, 2024) – Okanagan Specialty Fruits® (OSF), the revolutionary developer and grower of the world’s best-tasting sliced apple, Arctic®apple, is proud to announce they’ve been chosen to take part in a U.S. Division of Agriculture’s (USDA) climate-smart pilot program. The Worldwide Contemporary Produce Affiliation (IFPA) was awarded a Local weather-Sensible Commodities Grant by way of the USDA and shall be spearheading the four-year pilot venture titled “A Vibrant Future.”
“We’re thrilled to be one of many 100 growers in america, and certainly one of solely 4 in Washington State, to be chosen to take part within the venture,” stated Don Westcott, President of OSF. “We delight ourselves on being leaders within the biotechnology business and look ahead to persevering with to set the bar in the case of sustainable agriculture practices.”
Individuals in this system will profit from the event of customized plans for the implementation of climate-smart practices. Moreover, they are going to have entry to a licensed crop adviser, sustainability consultants, and software program knowledge to evaluate their progress.
“With the involvement of revolutionary members like Okanagan Specialty Fruits in IFPA’s ‘A Vibrant Future’ venture, supported by USDA’s Local weather-Sensible Commodities Grant, we’re strengthening the produce business’s resilience in opposition to local weather impacts and advancing regenerative agriculture on a world scale. Rising our consumption of fruit and veggies advantages each private well being and the well being of the planet, serving to to cut back our collective carbon footprint,” defined Tamara Muruetagoiena, IFPA’s Vice President of Sustainability. “These specialty crop investments will develop important instruments to measure inputs, ecosystem companies, and yields, whereas establishing programs to trace, confirm, and promote climate-friendly produce. By way of these essential agricultural analysis initiatives and the dedication of our specialty crop growers, we’re advancing our targets to adapt to local weather change, scale back greenhouse fuel emissions, and sequester carbon within the soil.”
As a part of this system, IFPA will ask growers of specialty crops to undertake certainly one of six climate-smart manufacturing practices, with the purpose of making a marketplace for fruit and veggies grown utilizing these strategies. These practices embrace short-season cowl crops, nutrient administration, residue and tillage administration, alley cropping, water administration, and soil amendments and mulches.
OSF was based on a dedication to sustainable agriculture and decreasing meals loss and waste. Their flagship Arctic apple merchandise use biotechnology to silence the enzyme that turns apples brown, leading to a discount of broken apples all through your complete provide chain and extends the shelf life for his or her contemporary sliced merchandise to an unprecedented 28 days. Know-how already carried out on OSF’s state-of-the-art orchards in Washington state additionally ensures that Arctic apples are grown with sustainability as a prime precedence.
“This can be a groundbreaking program and we’re dedicated to taking part in an energetic position in selling sustainable agriculture,” stated Joel Carter, Orchard Operations Supervisor for OSF. “By embracing climate-smart practices, OSF goals to contribute to a greener future whereas persevering with to supply customers with the best high quality specialty crops.”
About Okanagan Specialty Fruits & Arctic Apples
Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF) is a vertically built-in firm specializing within the growth, rising, processing, and advertising of novel tree fruit varieties developed by way of bioengineering. Based mostly in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, OSF was based in 1996 and purchased by an affiliate of Third Safety, LLC in 2019. OSF’s flagship product is its Arctic apple varieties. Arctic apples present a sustainable resolution to much less meals waste and improved apple consumption. For client info, go to www.arcticapples.com; to study extra concerning the firm’s latest enterprise, Limitless Orchard Onerous-Pressed Cider, go to www.eocider.com. For firm info and partnership alternatives, go to www.okspecialtyfruits.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rebecca Catlett, Director of Advertising and Communications(250) 404-0101 [email protected]
Pictures to accompany Press Launch could be discovered right here.
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