02/17/2021
It is not too late to join Georgia Berry Exchange. Contact [email protected] for a membership form today.
Do you want to know why you should join?
Our goals:
1. Education for our members. To give them opportunities to learn new techniques, strategies, and to have the latest research-based information at their disposal.
2. Promotion of our product. (Before COVID) We went into schools and gave presentations about Georgia blueberries and the health benefits along with the history and growing necessities of blueberries. We went wherever we were invited to clubs, churches, and schools to get the word about our valuable product.
3. New additional goal: Governmental for the pursuit of our industry. We are trying to get the message out about our industry to the various levels of Government and to make our voices be heard in Atlanta and Washington. These groups need to be made aware of the incredible impact blueberries have on our state and nation and why American grown produce needs to be promoted and protected.
Why we need you to join:
1. More members means more voices, more voices mean a more powerful and influential force in the political realm. Politics makes policies that affect our production, harvest, water, land management, labor and on and on. It is absolutely vital that the importance and value of Georgia blueberries be noticed in our state and nation. We need representation that can lobby for our needs and tell the truth about our production, labor needs, land management problems and so forth. All this takes money and time. You may not have the time to help us but your membership allows us to pay for folks who can!
2. We need funds to purchase promotional items to be used at programs at our schools, clubs, legislative events, and so much more. We try to give out brochures on Georgia blueberries, blueberry activity booklets to school children, blueberry recipes to families, dried blueberries to a various legislative groups that meet and have an impact on our farms, along with stickers and blueberry scented pencils that encourage children to eat more blueberries. Promotion of our product needs to start in Georgia and move out from there. Reaching the children can impact the family that can create a huge surge in consumption. Part of your membership fee goes to help us provide these promotional items to anyone who requests them.
Funds are also needed to run the office which includes accountant fees, copy paper, printer ink, envelopes, stamps and more.
3. The newsletter that is printed and sent to our members is costly to produce and mail so your membership helps to defray the cost of this magazine. It is designed to give you, the grower, research-based information to help you make wise decisions on your farm and in growing your berries. We offer articles from UGA specialist on various topics of interest, advertising from the blueberry allied industry so you can make informed decisions, and an advertising section for members to use to sell machinery, equipment they no longer needs.
4. Meetings are of great value to our membership and hopefully in the future we will be able to offer these meetings again so you can network with other growers/vendors.
