Tumbleweed gets all of its chicken from Kentucky Proud producers

Kentucky Proud and Tumbleweed Restaurants are partners in a project that’s putting Kentucky Proud foods on the plates of Tumbleweed diners while putting dollars in the pockets of Kentucky farmers. ... more

Horses added to Kentucky Proud program

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), and the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC) have announced that horses have been added to the Kentucky Proud program. As new members of Kentucky Proud, horse farms in the Commonwealth will be eligible to receive financial grants from the state Department of Agriculture, will be eligible to participate in a cost-share program, and will be able to use the Kentucky Proud logo in advertising their equine products. ... more

Kentucky Proud Weekend and Gift Shop/Tack Shop Sale!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

NEWS RELEASE Cindy Rullman 859-259-4209 Cindy.Rullman@ky.gov A Celebration of Food, Family and Fun! LEXINGTON, KY (September 27, 2011) The Kentucky Horse Park will offer a Kentucky Proud Weekend and Gift Shop/Tack Shop Sale Oct 8-9, 2011, to celebrate some of the things that make Kentucky wonderful: our military, our horse industry, our music, our food and more! Kentucky Proud Weekend will be a great time for families to enjoy the park while getting a taste of Kentucky home-grown and home-made products. To make it even easier for families, children ages 12 and under will be admitted free of charge. Highlights will include: - Meet two Kentucky Derby winners, - Cooking demonstrations with Chef Adam Wade, 2:30 pm both days, - Kentucky Proud product sampling, - Harvest sale at the Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop (25% off fine jewelry, 20% off apparel, 25% off framed art, 25% off everything in the Tack Shop!), - Bluegrass Army Depot displays - honoring our military, - Vendors: mums, pumpkins, handmade soaps, Old Kentucky Chocolate candies, Rimmer Family Favorites, etc., - Kentucky performers - clogging, singing, - Tour the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center on Saturday to see retired, adoptable Thoroughbred racehorses in a retraining program, - Book signing by Kentucky cookbook authors, - Tour new $10-million Al Marah Arabian Horse Galleries with lots of interactive displays for children, - "Ancient Bronzes of the Asian Grasslands" special exhibition in the International Museum of the Horse, a Smithsonian Affiliate, - "Celebrities: Saddlebreds and Personalities from the Silver Screen, Cinema and History" special exhibition in the American Saddlebred Museum, - Plus all that the park offers on a daily basis, including live equine presentations, Hall of Champions, and much more! The Kentucky Classic Combined Driving Event will also be taking place that weekend. The Kentucky CDE is a competitive horse driving event made very popular during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Visitors will enjoy watching this great competition with their park admission. Visitors can also enjoy having lunch or a snack in the Kentucky Horse Park's new Bit & Bridle Restaurant. For more information on Kentucky Proud Weekend, call our switchboard, 859-259-4200 or our Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop, 859-259-4234. Park Hours and Rates: Through November 6, the park is open seven days a week. Admission is $16 for adults, $8 for children 7-12. From November 7 to March 14, the park is open Wednesdays through Sundays. Winter admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 7-12. Children age 6 and under are always admitted free of charge. Admission includes the International Museum of the Horse - a Smithsonian Affiliate, and the American Saddlebred Museum and Gift Shop. -30 - The Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm/theme park and equine competition facility dedicated to man's relationship with the horse. The park is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet that hosted more than one million visitors and campers, as well as 15,000 competition horses in more than 100 special events and horse shows in 2010. The park is home to the National Horse Center which comprises more than 30 national and regional equine organizations. Located at Exit 120, Interstate 75, just north of Lexington, the Kentucky Horse Park is The place to get close to horses.

Kentucky Proud, state agriculture department will share the spotlight at the Kentucky State Fair

Visitors at the Kentucky State Fair can try delicious, healthy Kentucky Proud recipes and learn about some of the services the Kentucky Department of Agriculture provides for consumers and farmers during the 107th edition of the state fair Aug. 18-28 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. ... more

Commissioner Farmer, Dean Smith Invite Kentuckians to 'Plate It Up' With Local Kentucky Proud Foods

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 12, 2011
For more information contact:
Bill Clary
(502) 564-1137

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky families can try nutritious, easy-to-prepare recipes using fresh Kentucky Proud products through a new statewide initiative aimed at encouraging consumers to buy local food.

Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer and M. Scott Smith, dean of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, will officially kick off the Plate It Up, Kentucky Proud program at the Kentucky Commodity Breakfast Aug. 18 at the Kentucky Exposition Center. Two recipes from the program – a watermelon tomato salad and a cucumber, corn and bean salsa – will be featured at the Aug. 18 commodity breakfast, which traditionally is held on opening day of the Kentucky State Fair.

“Kentucky Proud means fruits and vegetables at their peak of freshness,” Commissioner Farmer said. “When you buy Kentucky Proud, you buy nutritious foods that you can serve to your family with confidence. You also help Kentucky farm families make a living.”

Students in the UK nutrition program will rework traditional recipes using Kentucky fruits, vegetables, and herbs to make the recipes healthier while still delicious and easy to prepare. A panel of family and consumer sciences agents will judge the recipes. The winning recipes, along with videos of the recipes being prepared, will be posted on the Kentucky Proud website, www.kyproud.com. They also will be distributed through Extension to all 120 Kentucky counties. Extension agents will educate local consumers on how to prepare the recipes and how to use the Kentucky Proud products in the recipes.

“The goal is to get consumers to buy, prepare, and preserve more locally grown Kentucky Proud products,” said Janet Johnson, Allen County Cooperative Extension agent for family and consumer sciences. “By developing delicious new recipes each season that focus on the freshest commodities, consumers can sample the benefits provided by ‘plating up’ the best Kentucky foods.”

Plate It Up, Kentucky Proud is a partnership of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, and the UK School of Human and Environmental Sciences. The program is funded with federal Specialty Crop Block Grant funds administered by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

Along with the Commodity Breakfast, recipes will be featured in demonstrations at noon daily at the Kentucky Beef Council’s stage in the South Wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center during the state fair. Information and recipe cards will be available at the UK College of Agriculture’s exhibit in the West Hall lobby and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s display in the South Wing.

Kentucky Proud is the Commonwealth’s official farm marketing program. Kentucky Proud generated more than $200 million in retail sales of Kentucky food products through member retailers in 2010. More than 2,500 farmers, processors, retailers, restaurants, school districts, farmers’ markets, Kentucky Farm Bureau roadside markets, and Kentucky state parks are members of Kentucky Proud.

“I’m pleased that the Kentucky Department of Agriculture again is working with our good friends at UK on this important project,” Commissioner Farmer said. “I encourage all Kentuckians to ‘Plate It Up’ with fresh Kentucky Proud foods. This effort will boost Kentucky’s farm economy while making Kentuckians healthier.

Kentucky Proud business with a rich tradition is poised for a bright future

Bloomfield Farms’ Kentucky roots can be traced back six generations to the 18th century. In 1797, just five years after Kentucky became the 15th state admitted to the fledgling United States of America, William Sutherland was born in largely frontier Adair County. He was the great-great-great-grandfather of current Bloomfield Farms chief executive officer Dan Sutherland. ... more

Kentucky Proud surpasses 2,500 members

News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 9, 2011
For more information contact:
Bill Clary
(502) 564-1137

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Proud welcomed its 2,500th member on May 2, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer announced.

“I’m thrilled that Kentucky Proud has reached this milestone,” Commissioner Farmer said. “We’ve come a long way from the days when we had just a few dozen members. The success of this program has exceeded my wildest expectations.”

“We’re so proud to be a Kentucky Proud food supplier,” said Larry Kezele of Ruth Hunt Candy in Mount Sterling. “Kentuckians have come to appreciate the small businesses that have survived the bad economy and try so hard to provide quality products for Kentucky consumers. People also are beginning to understand all the secondary benefits of buying local – jobs, energy savings, and higher quality. The Kentucky Proud program has been right out front promoting our Kentucky Proud products, and the success is evident! Thank you!”

“People are amazed at the variety of Kentucky Proud products that are available in our store,” said Beth Drennan, co-owner of Broadbent Gourmet Market and Broadbent B&B Foods in Kuttawa. “We allow customers to sample products, and our customers are sold on them instantly. The words ‘Kentucky Proud’ are very fitting because these products are truly something in which we can take pride.”

Kentucky Proud is the state’s official farm marketing program. Members include farmers, processors, retailers, restaurants, school systems, farmers’ markets, Kentucky state parks, and Kentucky Farm Bureau roadside markets that grow, make, or sell Kentucky farm products.

Kentucky Proud generated more than $200 million in retail sales of Kentucky farm products just through member retailers in 2010. A 2008 University of Kentucky study found that every dollar invested in Kentucky Proud generated up to $4.70 in new farm income.

“I want to thank our marketing staff, the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, and all the members for everything they have done to make it possible for Kentucky Proud to reach 2,500 members,” Commissioner Farmer said. “Most of all, I want to thank all the Kentucky consumers who have embraced Kentucky Proud and the importance of buying local. On to the next 2,500!”

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Kentucky Proud receives funding from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund (KADF), which provides grants to diversify and modernize Kentucky’s farm economy. Kentucky Proud is administered by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.