June 2011 NHC NEWS A Monthly Bulletin of the Northwest Horticultural Council ANNUAL MEETING The nine trustees of the Northwest Horticultural Council met on May 19 at the W. L. Hansen Building in Yakima for the annual meeting of our trade association, which represents federal and international policy interests of special interest to the tree fruit growers, packers, and marketers of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.  Chairman Mark Zirkle was joined by his fellow members of the NHC’s governing board—Brian  Alegria, Fred Duckwall, Bob Price, Eric Shrum, David Smeltzer, Dar Symms, Richard Thomason and Mike Wade. Also present, in addition to executives of the member commissions and trade associations represented by the NHC and our own staff, were special guests Don Gibson, chairman of the NHC’s Science Advisory Committee, Bruce Grim, president of the Washington State Horticultural Association, Eric Strutzel, chairman of the Pacific Northwest Food Safety Committee, and Jim Archer, manager of the Northwest Fruit Exporters. The primary action taken at the annual meeting was the setting of a budget for the new fiscal year starting July 1.  The current fiscal year’s budget is $1,062,145. Our new budget will be $1,108,793. The dollar increase of $46,648 represents a percentage increase of 4.4%. Reports from the NHC’s Foreign Trade Committee, Science Advisory Committee, and discussions on food safety related issues absorbed much of the time not given over to budget issues during the meeting.  Also brought to the attention of the trustees was the need for them to initiate some thought on future staffing needs, given the likelihood of several retirements within the next six to eight years. ♦ NICKEL-PLATED Mark Twain once mockedly noted that the word “sustained” was sufficiently nickel-plated to replace the word “got” in one of his stories. However, efforts to this day continue unabated to keep the word “sustainability” alive in public discourse: it leaps from corporate policy statements, is embedded in “green” initiatives, and slithers out in speeches made by politicians. It is a word used by do-gooders to call for some undefined action by others (always others) that will lead to a better world.  It is a word adopted by companies in corporate America to reassure the general public they are truly sensitive, as opposed to simply money-grubbing. Sustainability continues to be used even though it has no useful meaning, except as a term of economics.  (Our nation’s trend toward an ever increasing level of debt is unsustainable.) Whole industries have popped up to take advantage of this empty word.  How do you as a consumer know if a farm—or any other company—is sustainable?  Why, create a measurable set of criteria out of wispy logic; establish a rigid grading system for the new standard; let loose the independent auditors with their clipboards to make site visits; develop a nifty logo that is trade-marked; and, sell that logo for use on the product at retail. Meanwhile there may be hope.  Media expert Frank Luntz is quoted as having recently told a group of agricultural executives: “The word sustainable is awful.  Stop using it.  It’s status quo.  Nobody can define what it is.” ♦ Travel   Christian Schlect June 2-3 – Annual meetings of the Pear Bureau Northwest, Portland, Oregon. June 7 – Annual dinner of the Washington Research Council, Seattle, Washington June 26-29 –Center for Produce Safety’s Advisory Board meeting and Produce Research Symposium, Orlando, Florida. Mike Willett June 6-8 – Meeting with USDA/APHIS regarding Pacific Northwest stone fruit access, Mexico City, Mexico. Mark Powers   June 2-3 – Annual meetings of the Pear Bureau Northwest, Portland, Oregon.   June 27 - Speaker at Apple Processors Association Conference, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho   Deborah Carter   May 31-June 2 – 2011 Maximum Residue Level (MRL) Workshop, San Francisco, California. Did you cast your eye over the account of Mrs. Lincoln’s Ball?  She’s like a damned old Irish or Scotch (or English) washerwoman dressed out for a Sunday at Highbury Barn.  As a Paddy friend of mine said when he saw her ‘My God!  Where’s her apples & pairs?’ William Howard Russell’s Civil War: Private Diary and Letters, 1861-1862 Northwest Horticultural Council 105 South 18th Street, Suite 105 Yakima, Washington 98901, USA Voice: (509) 453-3193, Fax: (509) 457-7615 E-mail general@nwhort.org