State Division of Agriculture no friend to farmers

The Anchorage Farmers Market is once again stuck in a hard spot.

As president of the AFM, I am required to write a summary of the success of advertising for our market while using the Alaska Grown logo in order to complete the stipulations of the Cooperative Marketing Program grant we received.

The CMP grant is federal money that is administered by the state's Division of Agriculture to advertise and market local agriculture. In addition to the CMP grant, we rely on funds from the Mat-Su Chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau to help us with our expenses, which include advertising for the Alaska Grown farmers. The Mat-Su chapter donates 100 percent of its profits from selling T-shirts and sweatshirts at the Alaska State Fair to agriculture and agricultural causes. It donates to agricultural scholarships, agricultural events, agricultural dinners and events that would benefit agriculture in Alaska. It donates without question to our market and its success.

The previous director of the Division of Agriculture, Larry DeVilbiss, decided to sue the Mat-Su Chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau because the chapter filed for the federal trademark of the Alaska Grown logo. The Mat-Su chapter did this because the Division of Agriculture failed to protect the logo from 5th Avenue bootleggers and wanted to sell the rights of the logo to Wal-Mart. All proceeds from the logo's sale would have been put into the general fund for the state instead of going towards agriculture, as was the original intent of the Alaska Grown program.

Under the current director of the Division of Agriculture, Franci Havemeister, there is a temporary injunction tying up any proceeds from T-shirt sales made by the Mat-Su chapter at the Alaska State Fair.

We (the AFM) are counting on a generous gift of money from the Mat-Su chapter to finish the season's advertising for the Alaska Grown vendors at our market. Since the Mat-Su chapter's funds are locked and unavailable (due to the lawsuit by the Division of Agriculture) I have had to cancel all remaining ads in local media to advertise our hours of operation and location. This in turn will cause us to fall short on the spending commitment of our CMP grant, which will imperil our receiving the last installment.

The Mat-Su chapter has had to spend tens of thousands of dollars to defend itself against an irrational lawsuit. It seems contradictory, but on reflection, the Mat-Su chapter spends 100 percent of its profits for the benefit of the agricultural community. The Division of Agriculture's list of accomplishments for farmers pales in comparison. Perhaps that explains the lawsuit.

Nonetheless, it is contradictory for the Division of Agriculture to be suing the farmers when we want to advertise selling Alaska Grown produce to Alaskans! By suing the Mat-Su chapter, the Division of Agriculture is no friend of the

farmers.

River Bean lives in Palmer and is president of the Anchorage Farmers Market.