Beyond Fresh, a Value-Added Guide

In this episode, Sue Beckwith and Mike Morris, co-authors of the new book Beyond Fresh: a Food Processing Guide for Texas Farmers, discuss the book and the issues it addresses.The book, a workbook, is focused mostly on Texas farmers, helping them decide whether they should move beyond just selling fresh and whole fruits and vegetables by trying to create and sell value-added food products.Beyond Fresh isn't a how-to book for creating particular products. Rather, it looks at product development, storage and distribution, regulations, labeling, market trends and more - as part of determining whether a product will be profitable for the producer.A team of farmers, economists, and food experts led by the National Center for Appropriate Technology studied opportunities in Texas to create value-added food products from sustainably-grown fruits and vegetables, and created this workbook.Though the information is derived from the market in Texas, its benefits are easily transferable to producers in other states.If you would like more information on this topic, you can contact Mike Morris at [email protected] ATTRA ResourcesBeyond Fresh: A Food Process Guide for Texas FarmersATTRA: Value-Added Food ProductsOther ResourcesTexas Center for Local FoodPlease call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 1-800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website.Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages!Southwest Regional Office: Website / FacebookWestern Regional Office: Website / FacebookRocky Mountain West Regional Office: FacebookGulf States Regional Office: Website / FacebookSoutheast Regional Office: Website / FacebookNortheast Regional Office: Website / Facebook