Have a Happy Virginia Grown Thanksgiving

 

 

 

At the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), we all look forward to Thanksgiving because it’s one of the great agricultural celebrations of the year.  Thanksgiving is the one holiday that focuses solely on food and drink.  This is not to downplay the importance of family togetherness, football and parades, but the feast came first.  In fact, Thanksgiving derives from thankfulness for the harvest.

 

 

This year, for the most part, Virginia was blessed with a good harvest.  We set records for wheat; peanuts did well; and despite drought conditions for part of the year, summer vegetables and pumpkins had a very good season.  Today I want to focus on two products in particular, ones that are at the heart of the Thanksgiving celebration: turkey and wine.

 

Let me begin by telling you just how important these two commodities are in Virginia where agriculture is our largest industry.  That may surprise some people, but a recent study done by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia confirms that agriculture is still Virginia’s biggest business with a $55 billion annual economic impact.  When combined with our sister industry of forestry, that impact climbs to $79 billion a year and provides jobs for more than 500,000 people, or one of every 10 employed Virginians.

 

The study also determined that in Virginia's agricultural economy, what's done to process food, textiles, and tobacco is worth more than the raw products alone.  While production of raw agricultural products in 2006 had a value of $2.89 billion, the first time those products were processed, their value jumped to $6.95 billion.  At the extended processing stage, their value jumped to $17.47 billion.  First-time processing takes wheat and grinds it into flour; extended processing takes that flour and produces cookies, bread or crackers. 

 

For most of us, Thanksgiving dinner is a feast that celebrates extended processing.  Instead of wheat, we eat bread or rolls.  The peanuts we serve as appetizers, snacks or ingredients in dishes like creamed onions probably were roasted, salted and perhaps even flavored before we purchased them.  We buy fresh apples for use as an appetizer or dessert course with cheese, but we also purchase processed apples as juice, cider, or pre-seasoned slices for pies.  We may buy fresh vegetables like broccoli, sweet or white potatoes, or winter squash, but few of us purchase a live turkey and dress it ourselves.  Many people order their bird from their local market already stuffed and cooked and simply heat it up for dinner.  That’s extended processing.

 

Whatever form of turkey we purchase – fresh, frozen, pre-cooked, organic, free-range – when we buy a bird, we are supporting the largest segment of Virginia agriculture.  Broilers are our number one agricultural commodity; turkeys are number four and eggs, number 13.  Added together, these poultry products have a cash receipt value of more than $916 million annually.

 

When you round out your Virginia celebration, extended processing really shines.  Coffee, tea, prepared desserts, chocolates, sauces; soups, nuts, cheese, and wine are just a few of the offerings from the Virginia’s Finest line of trademarked products.  You’ll find many more at www.virginiasfinest.com. 

 

Among Virginia’s processed products, one of the highest on my list is Virginia wine.  Wine may well be the original value-added product, and the winemaker’s art is thriving in Virginia.  In 1979, we had just six wineries and only 286 acres devoted to wine grape production.  By 2007, this remarkable growth rate translated into more than 130 wineries and almost 3,000 acres of vineyards, with annual production of 5,600 tons of wine grapes and 350,000 cases of wine.  In 2007 Virginia ranked 8^th nationally in commercial grape production and 8^th for bearing acreage.  That year Virginia’s 2,400 bearing acres produced cash receipts of $7,560,000.  It may surprise you to know that Virginia now ranks fifth in total wine production nationally.

 

In October of 2008 we marked the 20^th Anniversary of October Wine Month in Virginia with a grand celebration in the State Capitol. Governor Timothy M. Kaine highlighted the occasion with a gubernatorial proclamation.  Joining him in the anniversary celebration was former Governor Gerald Baliles, who signed the first Virginia Wine Month proclamation in 1988 in the rose garden of the Executive Mansion.  Governor Baliles made the promotion of Virginia’s wine industry a high economic development initiative of his administration.

 

In the 20 years since the first Wine Month, Virginia wines have grown not only in quantity, but also in quality and in their worldwide reputation.  In 2007, Travel + Leisure magazine named Virginia as one of the top five worldwide wine destinations.  Virginia shared that honor with Chile, Italy, New Zealand, and Spain.  Virginia was the only regional area as opposed to a country.

 

This Thanksgiving as you sit down to dinner with family and friends, I hope your table is groaning under the weight of our abundant Virginia products.  Before you start carving that Virginia turkey or ham, please take a moment to raise your glass of Virginia wine, juice, or milk and offer a heartfelt and thankful toast to the bounty you enjoy thanks to our hard-working farmers and vintners.  So, on behalf of everyone at VDACS, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

 

By Todd P. Haymore, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

 

Date Published: 2008-11-05 04:30:05

Section: Holidays 2008,