PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 1:00 AM by Luigi

Making Money From Food

by Amy Levendusky, Kaselehlie Press Health Corner, Pohnpei

Three exciting days of workshops for individuals wanting to start theirown business and business owners looking to expand their food product line were invited to attend a series of food processing workshops held in Kolonia on the 10th, 11th, and 13th of October. These workshops were sponsored by the Island Food Community of Pohnpei (IFCP), which brought in a consultant, Dr. Richard Beyer, food scientist based in Fiji, to share his wealth of knowledge and experience on the subject of food processing. Dr. Beyer visited Pohnpei from October 3rd through October 16th.

While in Pohnpei, Dr. Beyer visited government officials to discuss howthe government could support local entrepreneurs in the food processingindustry. Dr. Beyer also met with local entrepreneurs on an individualbasis to assist them in developing and marketing new products usinglocal foods. "Everything that can be bought in your supermarkets, we can make using your own local foods and we can do all this at a low cost", Dr. Beyer explained in his workshops.

Dr. Beyer emphasized that we should not have to rely on imported goodswhen all the food we need is right here in front of us. The topics of food handling, food safety, product development, recipe formulations,marketing, and making a profit were all covered in the workshops.

Delicious, new products using local foods were made during the course of these workshops including breadfruit tuna patties, breadfruit cheese patties, lime (karertik) marmalade, banana syrup, pickled cucumbers, and fried snacks in an assortment of fun shapes made out of giant swamp taro (mwahng) and breadfruit. The workshops were held at Condon Hall and at the Mercedes Hall with an average of 25 people in attendance each day.

At the end of the workshop, participants decided which products theywere going to work on developing over the next few months. They alsorequested to meet once a month with IFCP while they are developing their food products in case there is a need for further assistance. Dr. Beyer plans to return to Pohnpei if there is significant progress made by individuals or local businesses in the processing and selling at a profit of local food products.

Sincere thanks are extended to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for providing the consultancy by the food scientist Dr. Richard Beyer and financial support for this workshop.

IFCP would also like to thank Dr. Beyer for visiting Pohnpei and working with members of the community to promote local food processing and all the people who participated and worked with Dr. Beyer during his stay on Pohnpei.

Dr. Lois Englberger, PhD
Island Food Community of Pohnpei
Research Advisor
P. O. Box 2299
Kolonia, Pohnpei 96941 FM
Federated States of Micronesia
Telephone: 691-320-8639 Fax: 691-320-4647
Website: http://www.islandfood.org



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This weblog documents the activities of Pacific Agricultural Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN), along with other information on plant genetic resources (PGR) in the Pacific. The myriad varieties found within cultivated plants are fundamental to the present and future productivity of agriculture. PAPGREN, which is coordinated by the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), helps Pacific countries and territories to conserve their crop genetic diversity sustainably, with technical assistance from the Bioversity International (BI) and support from NZAID and ACIAR. SPC also hosts the Centre of Pacific Crops and Trees (CEPaCT). The CEPaCT maintains regional in vitro collections of crops important to the Pacific and carries out research on tissue culture technology. The CEPaCT Adviser is Dr Mary Taylor (MaryT@spc.int), the CEPaCT Curator is Ms Valerie Tuia (ValerieT@spc.int). PAPGREN coordination and support IPGRI ACIAR NZAID CTA SPC PAPGREN CEPaCT Click on the thumbnail to see a map of the locations of Pacific genebanks. Click here to download a regional directory of genebanks in the Pacific, including information on their location, contact details and holdings. PAPGREN partners Mr William Wigmore Director of Research Ministry of Agriculture Department of Resources & Development P.O. Box 96 Rarotonga Cook Islands Tel: (682) 28711-29720 Fax: (682) 21881 Email: cimoa@oyster.net.ck Mr Adelino S. Lorens Chief Agriculture Pohnpei Office of Economic Affairs P.O. Box 1028 Kolonia Pohnpei 96941 Federated States of Micronesia Tel: (691) 3202400 Fax: (691) 3202127 Email: pniagriculture@mail.fm Dr Lois Englberger Island Food Community of Pohnpei Research Advisor P.O. Box 2299 Kolonia Pohnpei 96941 Federated States of Micronesia Email: nutrition@mail.fm Mr Apisai Ucuboi Director of Research Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forest Koronivia Research Station P.O. Box 77 Nausori Fiji Islands Tel: (679) 3477044 Fax: (679) 3477546-400262 Email: apisainu@yahoo.com Dr Maurice Wong Service du Developpement Rural B.P. 100 Papeete Tahiti 98713 French Polynesia Tel: (689) 42 81 44 Fax: (689) 42 08 31 Email: maurice.wong@rural.gov.pf Mr Tianeti Beenna Ioane Head, Research Section Division of Agriculture Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development P.O. Box 267 Tarawa Kiribati Tel: (686) 28096-28108-28080 Fax: (686) 28121 Email : agriculture@tskl.net.ki; Beenna_ti@yahoo.com Mr Frederick Muller Secretary Ministry of Resources & Development P.O. Box 1727 Majuro 96960 Marshall Islands Tel: (692) 6253206 Fax: (692) 6257471 Email: rndsec@ntamar.net Mr Herman Francisco Director Bureau of Agriculture Ministry of Resources & Development P.O. Box 460 Koror 96940 Palau Tel: (680) 4881517 Fax: (680) 4881725 Email: bnrd@pnccwg.palaunet.com Ms Rosa Kambuou Principal Scientist PGR NARI Dry Lowlands Programme Laloki Agricultural Research Station P.O. 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DIVA-GIS	Friday, November 04, 2005 Posted 1:00 AM by Luigi Making Money From Food by Amy Levendusky, Kaselehlie Press Health Corner, Pohnpei Three exciting days of workshops for individuals wanting to start theirown business and business owners looking to expand their food product line were invited to attend a series of food processing workshops held in Kolonia on the 10th, 11th, and 13th of October. These workshops were sponsored by the Island Food Community of Pohnpei (IFCP), which brought in a consultant, Dr. Richard Beyer, food scientist based in Fiji, to share his wealth of knowledge and experience on the subject of food processing. Dr. Beyer visited Pohnpei from October 3rd through October 16th. While in Pohnpei, Dr. Beyer visited government officials to discuss howthe government could support local entrepreneurs in the food processingindustry. Dr. Beyer also met with local entrepreneurs on an individualbasis to assist them in developing and marketing new products usinglocal foods. "Everything that can be bought in your supermarkets, we can make using your own local foods and we can do all this at a low cost", Dr. Beyer explained in his workshops. Dr. Beyer emphasized that we should not have to rely on imported goodswhen all the food we need is right here in front of us. The topics of food handling, food safety, product development, recipe formulations,marketing, and making a profit were all covered in the workshops. Delicious, new products using local foods were made during the course of these workshops including breadfruit tuna patties, breadfruit cheese patties, lime (karertik) marmalade, banana syrup, pickled cucumbers, and fried snacks in an assortment of fun shapes made out of giant swamp taro (mwahng) and breadfruit. The workshops were held at Condon Hall and at the Mercedes Hall with an average of 25 people in attendance each day. At the end of the workshop, participants decided which products theywere going to work on developing over the next few months. They alsorequested to meet once a month with IFCP while they are developing their food products in case there is a need for further assistance. Dr. Beyer plans to return to Pohnpei if there is significant progress made by individuals or local businesses in the processing and selling at a profit of local food products. Sincere thanks are extended to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for providing the consultancy by the food scientist Dr. Richard Beyer and financial support for this workshop. IFCP would also like to thank Dr. Beyer for visiting Pohnpei and working with members of the community to promote local food processing and all the people who participated and worked with Dr. Beyer during his stay on Pohnpei. Dr. Lois Englberger, PhD Island Food Community of Pohnpei Research Advisor P. O. Box 2299 Kolonia, Pohnpei 96941 FM Federated States of Micronesia Telephone: 691-320-8639 Fax: 691-320-4647 Website: http://www.islandfood.org * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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