Been to Wegmans supermarket lately? Checked out their canned vegetable shelves since mid-November? If not, you may be in for a surprise. Wegmans is now selling canned peas and corn under IPM labels thanks to a cooperative state project involving Cornell. Look for a blue ribbon with the acronym "IPM" and a map of New York centered in it.
The backs of the labels explain that "Through IPM, growers use less pesticide over time by taking other steps to reduce pest damage. Your purchase supports the efforts of growers who truly care about the environment."
IPM (integrated pest management) is a multifaceted approach to the problems growers face due to insects, diseases, weeds and other agricultural pests. It focuses on alternatives to chemical pesticides, such as prevention and monitoring, biological controls and pest-resistant plant varieties. The New York State IPM Program -- created in 1985 as a partnership program of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Cornell and Cornell Cooperative Extension -- works with producers of 25 major crops in every county in New York to reduce their reliance on pesticides while maintaining high-quality, affordable products.
The new IPM labels represent the culmination of two years' efforts by growers, Wegmans, Comstock Michigan Fruit (the food processing company that supplies Wegmans' fruits and vegetables) and Cornell. These efforts have involved:
·Cornell Cooperative Extension educators teaching growers how to use IPM practices;
·growers, IPM experts at Cornell's agricultural experiment stations in Geneva and Ithaca, and representatives from Wegmans and Comstock jointly determining the "elements of IPM" -- IPM protocols -- for each of six vegetable crops plus fresh-market sweet corn (elements for beets, cabbage for kraut, carrots, peas, snap beans, and sweet corn are posted on the IPM homepage at http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ipmnet/ny/vegetables/elements/ index.html ); and
·brochures, radio ads, and in-store movies developed by Wegmans to enlighten consumers about the term "IPM" and how sustainable agriculture benefits us all.
One beneficial outgrowth of this effort is the defining of IPM in the form of the "elements." Curt Petzoldt, assistant director of the New York State IPM Program, senior extension associate at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva and a key player in this effort, points out that the elements have been designed "to be flexible so they will fit a lot of different operations with differing IPM needs."
Not only do the IPM vegetables provide an opening for increasing consumers' understanding of growers' positive efforts, but they are a means of communicating to the public about the work of agricultural scientists at Cornell.
"These new labels represent the most direct link we have been able to develop thus far between consumers and the agricultural research and implementation we do at Cornell," says James Tette, director of the New York State IPM Program. "They're a tangible message to the public that we are doing positive thingsright here in Geneva and Ithaca."