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PRIVATE 2018 www.gourmetnews.com n NOVEMBER 2018 n GOURMET NEWS P 1 6 Agriculture Must Become Integral to Urban Life, Says Texas A&M Vice Chancellor Urban residents making up some 80 percent of the U.S. population remain disconnected from agricultural food sources and are in- creasingly afflicted by nutrition- and diet-re- lated chronic disease, said Dr. Patrick Stover, Texas A&M University System Vice Chan- cellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life Sci- ences. "About half of U.S. adults are acquiring some type of medical condition related to the food they eat, costing the country about $1 trillion each year," he said. Stover said agricultural science must shift its focus beyond generating food to generat- ing a "food environment that promotes healthy people." "We must enhance health- promoting qualities in agricultural commodi- ties and connect growing urban populations to the rural agricultural activity improving their health and quality of life," he said. The Vice Chancellor, who joined Texas A&M in March, made the remarks during a two-day tour of initiatives at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas. The center's new headquarters is slated to open late this year. "Agriculture must become integral to urban culture," he said. "People today, as we become more urbanized, don't know where our food comes from or its role in our health. That has to change." Meanwhile, he said, agricultural science must grow its capacity for harnessing big data to improve food quantity, quality and economic value based on the varying nutri- tional needs of individual persons. "Robust data does not exist yet for us to affect this," Stover said. "But these resources will enable us to begin setting recommenda- tions for food production and legislation based on reducing chronic disease." During his visit, the Vice Chancellor met with regional leaders of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to discuss efforts of the agency's Healthy Texas initiative on preventive health, which includes a range of food and nutrition programming. He also met with AgriLife Extension's regional 4-H officials to discuss ongoing learning initia- tives at local schools. Stover spent a day touring the field re- search plots and laboratories of the Dallas center's turfgrass breeding, plant disease im- munity and genome research teams, where he and center personnel discussed emerging technologies in fundamental plant sciences and their applications in better agricultural systems. He also met with turfgrass program stakeholders including the Turfgrass Produc- ers of Texas trade association, the U.S. Golf Association and Tanglewood Golf Resort of Pottsboro. Meijer Tests Specialty Concept with New Store Big-box grocery retailer Meijer is launching into the specialty marketplace with the Au- gust 29 grand opening of its Bridge Street Market in the West Side neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 37,000- square-foot store will test the concept for a small-format market focused on fresh food and artisan and local groceries in a store de- signed to reflect and to blend into its urban neighborhood. "Bridge Street Market is unique – unique to the region and unique to Meijer, and we are excited to finally share it with the com- munity," said Store Manager Ken Bair. "We listened diligently and soaked up the West Side's heritage and believe that Bridge Street Market will more than deliver." The market will offer a full assortment of fresh and prepared foods, including bakery items, fresh meat and deli offerings, along with an estimated 2,000 local, artisan gro- ceries and Meijer and national brand prod- ucts. Mayan Buzz Cafe coffee shop will also be in the store along with an expansive beer, wine and liquor counter and basic cleaning, health and beauty care products. Bridge Street Market will feature open air elements and a pedestrian-friendly design, with 22-foot ceilings and three garage-style doors that open onto the sidewalk along Bridge Street. It will anchor a mixed-use de- velopment spanning a city block. Neighbors include The Hendrik apartments and an of- fice and retail building. "Meijer is thrilled to open Bridge Street Market as part of this exciting development on the city's West Side," said Meijer Presi- dent and Chief Executive Officer Rick Keyes. "We believe there's no better place to launch this new neighborhood market than in our hometown, and in the heart of such an inspiring part of our city." Fourth Annual BrandStorm to Return to San Francisco United Fresh will host the fourth annual BrandStorm™ February 20-22, 2019, once again in San Francisco, California. The event, hosted by United Fresh's Produce Marketing & Merchandising Council, boasts the only annual opportunity for produce mar- keters to gather to dive into marketing edu- cation, idea-sharing and innovative dialogue with peers and colleagues alike. BrandStorm has been developed to engage all levels of brand and marketing profession- als in the produce industry looking to en- hance their knowledge of brand development, content creation, managing the creative process, segment marketing, chan- nels, tools, technologies and much more. "BrandStorm gets more and more exciting each year," said Mark Munger, Vice Presi- dent of Sales & Marketing at 4Earth Farms and Chair of United Fresh's Produce Market- ing & Merchandising Council. "I look for- ward to this event as a way to engage my peers in dialogue about produce marketing – we all benefit when we share ideas that ad- vance the industry's marketing success." BrandStorm 2019 will address the latest disruptors in brand marketing, from virtual reality, augmented reality and Internet of Things to private brand, home delivery and the latest consumer trends. On Wednesday, February 20, the event will kick off with a tour in the heart of San Francisco where an exclusive group of atten- dees will have access to the marketing teams behind some of the biggest brands in the Bay Area. Following the tour, all BrandStorm at- tendees will gather at the Welcome Recep- tion. On Thursday, February 21, the education storm rolls in with a breakfast general ses- sion followed by a day of idea deluge. Atten- dees will choose from over 20 topics in workshops and X-Change sessions. In addi- tion, a new interactive opportunity is brew- ing for Thursday afternoon that will require hands-on learning – be prepared to login and learn. BrandStorm will conclude on Friday, February 22 with a breakfast panel followed by a half-day of education, wrapping up after the lunch general session. "This event is an annual must-attend for all members of your marketing team," said Kim St. George, Director of Sales & Market- ing, Private Brands, Mann Packing Com- pany. "I find a level of renewed energy and excitement for our portfolio of brands through the ideas and conversations our team takes part in at BrandStorm." United Fresh members can attend Brand- Storm for $695 with discounts offered to marketing teams (from the same company) at the reduced rate of $645 each when you register two or more colleagues. Non-mem- bers can attend for $895. You can register at www.unitedfreshbrandstorm.org. For more information about BrandStorm edu- cation, registration or to sponsor at the event, contact Mary Coppola, Senior Di- rector, Marketing & Communications at 202.303.3425. FMI Honors USDA Official Andrea Gold with Consumer Service Award Food Marketing Institute (FMI) presented its 2018 Esther Peterson Award for Consumer Service to Andrea Gold, Director of the re- tailer policy and management division, Sup- plemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), at United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The presentation was made at FMI's State Issues Retreat, an annual con- ference that brings together food retail gro- cery associations and grocery company government relations professionals from each state to discuss state and local legisla- tive and regulatory issues of interest to the food industry. For more than two decades, Gold has been an indispensable resource in helping the food retail industry serve its SNAP consumers, es- pecially in times of emergency or natural dis- aster. As part of the National Response Framework, Gold helps the retail food indus- try provide SNAP nutrition assistance to those most affected by a crisis through USDA's FNS. President and Chief Executive Officer of FMI Leslie G. Sarasin said, "Andrea is liter- ally the calm in a storm and a source of order in the midst of chaos. When confronted with a crisis, she and her team work with speed and efficiency to provide sustenance to vic- tims of a natural disaster when they find themselves suddenly, and often critically, in need of the very basics of food and water. Andrea remains a front-line resource to states and food retailers when a Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) and related options are in place and we're grateful for her leadership." In addition to the support she brings low- income communities recovering from disas- ters, Gold leads efforts to expand SNAP consumer access to food. Examples include the upcoming online purchasing pilot which will allow SNAP consumers to order and pay for food online for the first time, and imple- menting incentives that provide greater ac- cess to healthy foods at SNAP authorized retailers and farmers markets. She has worked with colleagues to facilitate the con- solidation of the retailer operations functions formerly handled in seven FNS regional of- fices into a single national organization, and to further streamline aspects of the SNAP au- thorization process for owners with multiple stores in the Program. Throughout her career, she has worked to ensure the security of SNAP benefits and reduce fraud in the pro- gram. She continues to enhance the program by working toward efficiencies in the Elec- tronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) system. "In the spirit of award namesake Esther Peterson, Gold is devoted to finding solu- tions to critical SNAP customer issues, serv- ing grocery customers whenever a need arises – often after hours and on weekends," said Jennifer Hatcher, Chief Public Policy Officer, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, FMI. "She strives to make the pro- gram more efficient for food retailers and create a seamless payment experience for the grocery shopper." Gold began her career at FNS as a front- line staffer in the New York City Field Office, charged primarily with the licensing and monitoring of stores participating in the food assistance program. She later served as the retailer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) li- aison in the Northeast Region, and then as as- sistant director of field operations. She joined the national office in 2004 as the chief of re- tailer management. Since 2010, Gold has been the director of the SNAP Retailer Policy and Management Division. She oversees both retailer and issuance policy and manages systems that allow SNAP to license and mon- itor more than 260,000 participating firms.

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