Speaker:
Joseph Heller, USDA- Natural Resource Conservation Service Resource Conservation and Development Coordinator
Abstract:
The Lower Hudson - Long Island RC&D Council mission is to connect Urban and Rural Communities. The Council has developed a variety of programs aimed at increasing public awareness of locally grown food products and wise use of natural resources.as an overview, the programs that will be discussed in this session are the venison donation program where hunters have enabled the delivery of over 25,000 lbs of venison to local food kitchens, reducing deer populations and assisting urban communities with hunger issues. Fresh off the Barge " A floating Farmers' Market" encourages farmers to reduce their reliance on typical truck transportation to deliver food to urban areas. This pilot project is not only a study to take a look at alternate transportation modes of agricultural products but has increases regional awareness of the importance of buying local.
Biography:
Joseph Heller has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Horticulture from Empire State College. Joe Pioneered the first IPM position in Westchester County assisting them in the collection of pesticide data on all county properties and eventually provided technical support for the development of a plan to phase out the use of synthetic pesticides on all public properties. Joe is currently working for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in New York as the Resource Conservation and Development Coordinator for the Lower Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island New York. For the past three years he has worked on developing new farm markets and alternative transportation methods for agriculture products, including a Hudson River initiative "Fresh off the Barge a Floating Farmers' Market".