2009 PRESS RELEASES
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January 22, 2009
BAREFOOT, COHEN JOIN VIRGINIA’S SPECIALTY FOOD ADVISORY COMMITTEE; STEPHENS NAMED NEW COMMITTEE CHAIR
Contact: Marion Horsley, 804.225.3820
Two new members have joined the Specialty Food Advisory Committee and the group has confirmed a new leader. Todd P. Haymore, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), has appointed Pamela Barefoot, President and Founder of Blue Crab Bay Company in Melfa, and Sarah Cohen, President of Route 11 Potato Chips in Mount Jackson, to one-year terms. Scott D. Stephens, Director of Sales/Marketing for the Virginia Diner, Inc. in Wakefield, has been confirmed as the new Committee Chair.
Haymore created the11-member committee in 2007 to work with and advise VDACS on the marketing and promotion of Virginia’s specialty food industry. He commented, “Specialty foods are an excellent way to add value to basic agricultural commodities and they serve as an important outlet for farm products. I look forward to the contributions our new members and new chair will bring to the Committee and to the industry as a whole.”
The other committee members are Jane Riddick-Fries of FERIDES in Courtland; G. Willis Logan, President of the Virginia Wine of the Month Club in Stanardsville; Samuel W. Edwards, III, President of S. Wallace Edwards & Sons, Inc. in Surry; Jeff Bateman of the Integrity Food Group, LLC in West Point; Robert C. Williams, Assistant Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg;
Peter Pruden, III, Co-owner of Taste Unlimited in Virginia Beach; Jim Foster of Alpak Container Corporation in Chesapeake; and Oliver Turner of The Virginia Chutney Company in Washington.
The Committee has announced that its annual educational conference will take place March 23 – 24, 2009 at the Boar’s Head Inn in Charlottesville. Details and registration information are available at www.vafinest.com.
For more information about the Specialty Food Advisory Committee, contact VDACS’ Division of Marketing at 804.786.3530.