Oct 21, 2024Potato Sustainability Alliance welcomes new members
The Potato Sustainability Alliance (PSA) has welcomed seven new member organizations since the first quarter of 2024.
RPE LLC is the third member of the fresh marketer sector to join PSA and will offer access to PSA’s annual on-farm self-assessment, according to a news release. PoLoPo has joined the allied industry sector, while RD Offutt Co., Reed Farms, BKR Farms LLC, Sklarczyk Seed Farm, and Alsum Farms and Produce have joined as grower associates.
PSA members work to define, measure and advance potato sustainability by using metrics to drive improvements in productivity and profitability. Efforts are focused on protecting the environment and streamlining how farm-level data is collected and made available to end users.
The grower associate category was added this year to address potato growers’ needs and contributions, according to the release.
“At every stage of the value chain, from growers to retailers, sustainability issues
continue to grow in importance,” John Mesko, PSA CEO. “Our job at PSA is to help the potato industry work together, across business lines, to develop comprehensive sustainability guidelines.
“Every time we get to welcome a new member company or grower, our organizational reach extends further and we are able to be even more effective in our mission to advance potato sustainability.”
For more information, contact John Mesko at [email protected] or visit postatosustainability.org/join-us.
About PSA’s newest members:
- RPE LLC, established in 1971, offers russet, red and yellow commodity and baby potato supplies.
- Molecular farming company PoLoPo uses proprietary metabolic engineering techniques to turn potato plants into micro-biofactories that manufacture animal-based proteins.
- R.D. Offutt Co. has been responsibly farming potatoes for 60 years and has 15 potato farms across four states in the Midwest as R.D. Offutt Farms and five farms in the Pacific Northwest as Threemile Canyon Farms.
- Located in south central Idaho, Reed Farms boasts 500 acres of Clearwater Russets for processing.
- Sklarczyk Seed Farm is a third-generation farm located in Johannesburg, Michigan. Its hydroponic seed potato greenhouse produces more than 10 million seed potatoes of 100-plus different varieties annually.
- Alsum Farms and Produce Inc. is a fresh market grower, packer and shipper of Wisconsin-grown potatoes established five decades ago.
