Education, cooperation & compliance.

Two training programs recently were offered to mushroom farms in Pennsylvania. AMI's MGAP Sessions A Great Success reveals that classes held in April were well attended and very effective. The Mushroom Good Agricultural Practices (MGAP) workbook is available to all mushroom farms, and materials from the sessions can be down loaded from a new Web site. Mushroom Farm Employees Graduate from Supervisor Training Course highlights supervisors who attended an eight-week class to learn about motivating employees, conflict resolution, on the job productivity and effective communication skills. Attendees at both programs received certificates for their participation.

Labor Letters Focus on Practical Solutions, by attorneys at Fisher & Phillips LLP, reviews three topics of common interest to all employers. "Emails, Memos and Other Smoking Guns," "Creating and Managing a Diverse Workforce" and "It's Midnight, Do You Know Where Your Sensitive Information Is?" highlight possible problems and solutions related to these issues. The law firm represents management in the areas of labor, employment, civil rights, employee benefits and immigration law.

Cooperation between a Chester County, PA, social service agency and a mushroom farm resulted in a successful venture. Kaolin Mushroom Farms approached La Comunidad Hispana to provide an English as a Second Language (ESL) program at the workplace. The agency provides ESL classes throughout the area but this was the first time a company asked for services at the farm, La Comunidad Hispana and Kaolin Mushroom Farms Build Language Skills tells the story of the collaboration and the success of the program.

Field Sanitation Standards Will Be Enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reminds mushroom growers that it is their responsibility to provide a safe and healthy working environment for employees. Authority for enforcing the standards is the Wage and Hour Division of DOL.

Marvelous Mushrooms by Carol Bareuther outlines successful promotions in food service. According to an industry food survey, 77 percent of the Top 200 restaurant chains have mushrooms on their menus. Specialty mushrooms were ranked among the Top 10 hottest produce items by 1,600 American Culinary Federation-member chefs from across the country. Sales directors from several mushroom farms are quoted in the article as well as well as Mushroom Council President Bart Minor.

In this edition, the Industry News column reminds mushroom companies to participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA/NASS) Mushroom Survey. Growers should receive a questionnaire by June 30. The 2008 Import Report is available in the AMI Update. The data in the charts is derived from a report from the Foreign Trade Division of the Census Bureau.

Sara Manning, Mushroom News Editor