| MARCH 6, 2011 -- The question before Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was to the point: What are you doing to preserve and build upon jobs where people actually produce things?
In this case, the jobs were in agriculture, an important industry but one that's been under siege for a host of reasons, from suburban sprawl to giant agribusiness competition.
Malloy, who was speaking to a packed Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut breakfast meeting this past week, said he supports jobs that produce things, from manufacturing to farming. He said Connecticut has a $3.5 billion agriculture industry, which provides 20,000 jobs and products ranging from dairy to beef to wines.
He pointed out that he named Steven Reviczky to be his agriculture commissioner. Reviczky is no stranger to the industry. He's the former chief of the Connecticut Farm Bureau Association, which has more than 5,000 member families.
Malloy also stressed that a balanced state budget and a diminishing deficit would shore up Connecticut's finances and its economy - and that helps all industries.
Agriculture, after all, is part of our heritage. It produces things - daily, in the case of dairy products like milk and butter. In fact, our dairy industry in Connecticut is a $1.1 billion industry. Agriculture also helps to preserve Connecticut's family farms and open spaces. In eastern Connecticut, we still have farms that are increasingly producing products for our local markets. It's hard to go to any local farmers market without finding an assortment of home-grown products, from fresh produce to dairy, beef, pork and eggs.
And the "Connecticut Grown" marketing initiative is succeeding. It's a broad initiative, from agricultural signage to farm-to-school and farm-to-chef programs.
"I believe that agriculture has a bigger upside in Connecticut than a downside," Malloy told the group. We need to get people back into farming, he said, back into producing from the land. "When you drive through New York State, you see farms coming back," the governor said. "I want to celebrate that in Connecticut." |
