KFB Director Russell Poore of Logan County was appointed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to the new Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee. The 25 committee members were selected from individuals nominated by their peers. Committee members represent fresh fruit and vegetable growers/shippers, fresh fruit and vegetable wholesalers, retailers, industry trade associations, importers, fruit and vegetable processors, food service suppliers, fresh-cut processors, brokers and state departments of agriculture. Each member is appointed to a two-year term.

Originally chartered in 2001, the advisory committee advises the Secretary of Agriculture on issues affecting the fruit and vegetable industry. In May 2009, USDA approved a new two-year charter for this committee.

KFB nominated Poore for the position. Russell raises about 30 acres of produce. He has a roadside market and greenhouses.

Poore said the committee is "very diverse" and includes the largest strawberry producer in California, a small-scale organic producer and the head of a large raisin company. He said one of his primary issues of concern is federal food inspection programs.

"The inspection programs can be costly and have a big effect on smaller-scale operations," he said. "I want to make sure those programs are cost-effective."

Poore said the committee was re-established because the last farm bill included horticulture in farm income support programs, plus due to growing concerns about food safety. The group will meet at least twice annually, he said.

Russell is very active in Logan County serving on the local Farm Bureau Board and the Logan County Cooperative Extension Council, among many other organizations. He recently announced his candidacy for magistrate of District One.

Russell is very committed to helping people and improving agriculture in general. Logan County and Kentucky are honored to have a producer to serve on such a prestigious committee on the national level.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 provides for the establishment and operation of advisory committees within the executive branch of the federal government.

USDA's Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee Members, 2009-2010:

Andrea Caroe, EarthClaims, LLC, California; Lorna Christie, Produce Marketing Association, Delaware;,Jeremy Gillam, Gillam Farms, Arkansas;,Alan Hardison, Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo, California; Michael Hollister, Driscoll Strawberry Associates, California; Edwin Kee, DE Department of Agriculture, Delaware; Beth Ann Knorr, Countrywide Conservancy, Ohio; Vaughn Koligian, Sun-Maid Growers of California, California; Tom Lovelace, McEntire Produce, South Carolina; Lisa McNeece, Grimmway Enterprises, Inc., California; Guy Moore, Larriland Farms, Maryland; Paul Newman, First Fruits Marketing, Washington; Robert Nolan, Deer Run Farms, LLC, New York; Dianne Nury, Vie-Del Company, California; Michael O'Brien, Schnuck Markets, Missouri; Russell Poore, Poore's Nursery and Farm, Kentucky; Howard Popoola, Topco, Inc., Illinois; Brent Roggie, National Grape Coop Association, New York; William "Gee" Roe III, W.G. Roe & Sons, Inc., Florida; William Smittcamp, Wawona Frozen Foods, California; J. Allen Swann, Swann Farms, Maryland; Maureen Torrey, Torrey Farms, New York; Oscar Vizcarra, Becker Farms, New York; Jennifer "Jin Ju" Wilder, Coast Produce, California; Rebecca Wilson, Tom Lange Company, Illinois.