In Vermont, Food From Family Farms is Good Business

IN VERMONT, FOOD FROM FAMILY FARMS IS GOOD BUSINESS -- (Extensions of Remarks - June 02, 2004)

SPEECH OF
HON. BERNARD SANDERS
OF VERMONT
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2004

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to recognize that two businessmen in Vermont, Steve Birge and Mark Curran, the owners of Black River Produce of Proctorsville, Vermont, were recently selected runners-up for the National Small Business Person of the Year by the Small Business Administration.

Twenty-five years ago Steve Birge began Black River Produce, today a $27 million produce company, when he saw the poor quality of the produce used in the local restaurant in which he worked. Black River originally delivered fresh, local produce to local restaurants in the Proctorsville area of central Vermont. But after he met Mark Curran (while hitchhiking!), the two expanded the company, working with local farmers so that they could supply restaurants with the freshest and most healthful produce available. Today, Black River delivers high-quality produce not only throughout Vermont, but also into parts of western New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts, and eastern New York. It supplies not just restaurants, but grocery stores, schools, hospitals, ski areas, and nursing homes.

Black River Produce has sales of more than $27 million a year, a work force of 100 employees, and a fleet of 30 refrigerated trucks and two tractor trailers.

I salute Black River Produce's commitment to providing its customers with the highest quality foods. The company distributes high-quality Vermont foods, supporting not only local farmers, but other small businesses such as Grafton Cheese, Cold Valley apples, and products from Vermont Butter and Cheese. They are an integral part of the Vermont Fresh Network, which links local farms to local chefs.

Although during out-of-season periods (Vermont, after all, has long winters) Black River distributes produce from out of state, and although it buys fish in Boston, its commitment to local agriculture and local business is noteworthy. In a time when both agribusiness and outsourcing have wrought havoc with traditional American family farms and with American businesses, I salute the remarkable accomplishment of Black River Produce in supporting local access to locally produced foods. Steve Birge and Mark Curran, and their many employees, have shown businesses around the nation that distributing the products from family farms is and can be good business, and that profits can flow both from helping local businesses, and from providing consumers with healthful foods.

END