Agriculture

V.I. Agriculture Industry Can Recapture Hundreds of Millions in Revenue, But Members of Advisory Council Must Be Competent, Farmers Say

It has been called “the blueprint to grow agriculture” and “the most comprehensive and publicly engaged plan for agriculture ever developed” in the U.S Virgin Islands by Dr. David Hall, president of the University of the Virgin Islands.  Mr. Hall is part of a task force that was formed to design that agricultural plan. But its members say for the plan to be successful, people who are knowledgeable on food production and its challenges must be the ones to seat on a proposed Agricultural Advisory Council. Establishing the advisory council is the first tier to implementing the plan that Mr. Hall believes will create and maintain a sustainable local food system, able to supply the territory’s school program and local markets.  For that to happen, Sommer Sibilly-Brown, the founder and executive director of Virgin Islands Good Food Coalition, made clear that what is needed is people who are familiar with the daily challenges that farmers in the territory face.  “It just can’t be 10 gover...