For Release: September 9, 1997

Contact: Stephen M. Volpe 277-2781

Stephanie Powell 277-2771 ext. 4418

PROVIDENCE - The RI Department of Environmental Management's Division of Agriculture and Marketing will sponsor the annual Rhode Island Harvest Festival at Warwick Mall Thursday, September 11 through Sunday, September 14.

From one end of the mall to the other, shoppers will have the opportunity to see and purchase a wide range of Rhode Island farm products, from honey and maple syrup to dried flowers, apple cider, and pumpkins.

Festival displays will include nursery stock, Christmas trees, garden statuary, apples, beeswax and candles. The US Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency will be present, and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank will conduct a produce food drive. In collaboration with DEM, the RI Community Food Bank is in the midst of a Community Harvest, gleaning excess produce from local participating farms for distribution in areas of high need.

Browsers can learn how to cook locally grown produce, pick up some egg recipes, find out how to care for pet rabbits, have gardening questions answered, and be treated to a display of tractors, including a 1935 Model B John Deere tractor restored to its original condition.

"Because agriculture plays such an important role in Rhode Island we think it is important to showcase its value and diversity in a centralized setting," said Stephen M. Volpe, Acting Chief of DEM's Division of Agriculture and Marketing. "Many people may think of farming only in the small ways it personally touches them, such as visiting one particular berry farm in the summer or a specific apple orchard on a late September drive through the countryside. But agriculture in Rhode Island has grown from a $38 million industry in 1980 to one in excess of $140 million today."

This is the 11th year DEM's Division of Agriculture and Marketing has sponsored the festival. The Division works with the State's 700-plus farmers, with municipalities, and with consumers in many ways: certifying health of livestock, offering conservation techniques, inspecting pesticides and training applicators, and promoting Rhode Island farm products under the theme, Rhode Island Grown - Just for You.

Other festival participants include Dave-Chris Farm & Nursery of West Kingston, Pippin Orchard Nurseries, Inc. of Cranston, Johnson & Wales University of Providence, Charlie's Sugarhouse of Greene, Westville Garage & Equipment of Taunton, MA, RI Beekeepers Association of Warwick, Hill Orchards of Johnston, Big John's Christmas Tree Farm of West Greenwich, RI Junior Horticulture Association of Saunderstown, Secret Garden Herb Farm of Cumberland, and Moosup River Farm of Greene.

Festival hours Thursday through Saturday will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.