CELEBRATING 136 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
JANUARY 2015
VOLUME 65 NUMBER 01
BAR CODE TRACEABILITY
How a celery swizzle stick meets its bar code in the field
Celery is finicky to grow, but even more demanding to harvest. At Hillside Gardens in Bradford, Ontario, in-field packing requires a well-trained workforce to follow the protocols of the CanadaGAP food safety program. Owner Ron Gleason (pictured below) custom-built a trailer to make the process tick like clockwork. Photos by Glenn Lowson.
INSIDE Ontario to restrict neonic pesticides
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Focus: food processing, food safety Page 14
CanadaGAP reports
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www.thegrower.org P.M. 40012319 $3.00 CDN
KAREN DAVIDSON Bradford, Ontario – On a July morning, work starts at 6 am at Hillside Gardens – no rooster required. It will take an hour to fill the 500-gallon water tank, an integral part of the in-field packing of celery. Refilling the tank with fresh water will be repeated during the lunch hour. By day’s end, 25,000 bundles of celery will be hand cut, trimmed, washed and packed in ready-to-cool plastic cartons. Now the biggest celery grower in Ontario with 90 acres, Ron Gleason is shipping 12 trailer loads of the vegetable every week from July 1 to October 15 to Toronto-area distribution centres for Loblaw and Sobeys. Celery is a tough crop to grow because it’s a “heavy feeder” requiring not only nitrogen but a balance of micronutrients. Think of calcium, manganese and boron. Finicky celery can crack easily without its fix of boron to maintain cell walls, especially during hot
weather. These agronomic challenges aside, Gleason must ship celery according to the food safety protocols of the CanadaGAP program. A participant since its start in 2010, he says these standards and third-party certifications have been good for his Holland Marsh farm and the industry. “Nobody loves an audit but I do think it’s good for business,” Gleason says. “There is now a layer of organization which
is synonymous with professionalism.” All the major retailers – Loblaw, Metro, Walmart, McCain Foods, Simplot Canada, LambWeston and Cavendish -- now require growers to be part of a food safety program. “Since when does the customer not decide what’s a good idea,” says Gleason. “By complying, we are protecting our good name in the business community.” Part of the compliance for Loblaw, for example, has been the requirement to rent Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs). For some growers, this has been a controversial move, but Gleason argues otherwise. “I love them,” he says. “Loblaw mandated the program four years ago. These rented plastic cartons are less expensive than waxed corrugated boxes. I don’t have to stock $40,000 to $50,000 of cardboard inventory through the winter. I order RPCs when I need them.” Gleason adds, “Our company brand is lost when we’re selling
naked celery without a cellophane sleeve, but our Hillside Gardens’ sticker is still on the RPC in our customer’s warehouse. I’ve had no problems renting the cartons from IFCO, one of the suppliers.” The record-keeping requirements of food safety programs can be daunting however Gleason advises implementing a fully integrated system from seed to warehouse to the retailer. “Do it once,” he says. “Your system doesn’t need to be fancy but rather functional. Make sure you capture the information you need, but don’t overcapture meaningless data.” Gleason’s systems are working well for his 450 acres of celery, carrots, onions, beets, parsnips and turnips. Another 400 acres in Georgia help him supply produce year-round. “I see a lot of opportunity for young farmers right now,” Gleason concludes, “if you want to become a business person.”
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