News Releases

For Immediate Release:  July 14, 2018

Contact: Robert Sakata 303-947-3097  RTSakata@aol.com

BRIGHTON–Sakata Farms was the site where Colorado agriculture groups yesterday met Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., to address their priorities for the next farm bill as well as to ask the senator, who is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to keep pushing for solutions to the acute agricultural labor shortage and the impact of trade tariffs on their current business and future opportunities.

For Immediate Release:  May 16, 2018

Contacts:            Robert Sakata  303-947-3097  rtsakata@aol.com
                           Marilyn Bay Drake   303-594-3827  admin@coloradoproduce.org

BRIGHTON, COLO.—Members of the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) met with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue yesterday afternoon at Sakata Farms to discuss the biggest challenges facing their farms. Also participating in the discussion were Gov. John Hickenlooper and Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Don Brown.

For Immediate Release:  Mar. 5, 2018
Contact:              Marilyn Bay Drake   303-594-3827  admin@coloradoproduce.org
Robert Sakata, Sakata Farms, Brighton, Colo., was named the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association’s (CFVGA) 2017 Member of the Year Feb. 20 during the association’s fourth annual conference.  Not only was he the first recipient of this award, the award will henceforth be known as CFVGA’s Robert Sakata Member of the Year Award.

For Immediate Release:  Mar. 2, 2018
Contact:              Marilyn Bay Drake   303-594-3827  admin@coloradoproduce.org
Tortuga AgTech, a robotic harvesting and precision agriculture company from Lakewood, Colo., was the judge’s top pick in the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association’s (CFVGA) Tech Pitch. The competition, which featured four of the best applicants from a field of highly qualified companies

For Immediate Release: Dec. 4, 2017
Contact: Marilyn Bay Drake 303-594-3827 admin@coloradoproduce.org
The Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) will hold its fourth annual conference Feb. 19-20, 2018, at the Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel, expanding the event to a two-day format and adding a Produce Innovation Technology Pitch, fashioned along the lines of the well-known television series Shark Tank.

For Immediate Release: Oct. 15, 2017
Contact: Marilyn Bay Drake 303-594-3827 or admin@coloradoproduce.org

Growers representing the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) met Oct. 10 in Colorado Springs, Colo. with farmworker service providers and other advocates on opening day of the first-ever Colorado Agriculture and Farm Labor Summit.

For Immediate Release: Sept. 14, 2017
Contacts:           Marilyn Bay Drake 303-594-3827 or admin@coloradoproduce.org                             

The Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) is pleased to see schools throughout the state focus on serving local foods in their school cafeterias and applauds yesterday’s celebration of Colorado Proud School Meal Day. According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA), an estimated 200,000 students statewide will saw their school’s food service incorporate Colorado foods into meals as a springboard to discuss healthy eating and its connection to Colorado agriculture.

“Not only does buying local foods make sense from a health and nutrition point-of-view, it is important for Coloradans to provide economic support to Colorado farmers and ranchers,” said CFVGA Roger Mix, Center, Colo., CFVGA vice president and chair of the CFVGA Nutrition & Health Committee.

For Immediate Release:  Aug. 15, 2017

Contact:   Marilyn Drake 303-594-3827 or admin@coloradoproduce.org          

Food waste is a topic receiving a lot of attention currently. Since perishable produce is especially vulnerable to spoilage and, therefore, waste, the Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) is working with its growers to offer options to reduce waste, which can occur for a number of reasons, including:

For Immediate Release:  July 13, 2017

Contact: Robert Sakata  303-947-3097 or rtsakata@aol.com
 
Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) President Robert Sakata July 11 was one of two growers on a panel at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting in Tampa, Fla. The panel, titled It’s going to take a Village: Grower Perspectives on FSMA Implementation, was one of many sessions at the meeting which draws more than 3,400 of the top industry, academic and governmental food safety professionals from six continents.