PRESS

Monterey County Herald, The (CA)
September 1, 2004
Section: Business
Page: E2

HELPING AGRICULTURE

VICTORIA MANLEY

Setting out to make more money doesn't have to be a bad thing.

A broad cross section of farmers, educators, health-care advocates and community groups — all of who are behind the common goal of boosting the agricultural economy — are setting out to prove that point with Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Principles, or HELP, a nonprofit organization designed to increase awareness of the value of locally grown produce.

The group's creation was borne from Basil Mills of Salinas-based Mills Family Farms Inc., who has been working for more than a year with industry and Monterey County officials to create initiatives that capitalize on strategic alliances with the county's leading industries, agriculture, tourism and education.

HELP is really just one initiative of the Competitive Clusters project, which aims to group like-minded businesses together to form economic clusters. Group organizers hope to align education, health and farming in a way that helps people make smarter decisions about their eating while giving local produce some much-needed exposure.

The concept is fairly simple: Through education, get more people to eat more locally grown fruits and vegetables. They become healthier, and farmers dig deeper into the local economy.

"So many people are answering aspects of what we are trying to do already," said Mike Pippi, the group's executive director. The goal, Pippi said, is "to come together as a group to do unique programs."

The group is new — organizers began meeting six months ago. Its board of directors is still being formed and Pippi officially signed on as director just last week. The group has a mission statement and is ready to launch some of its core programs, including a nutrition education program in county schools and promotions at the children's fair Kidfest next month and a health summit in November.

It also plans to launch a Web site, www.helpunited.org, next month. Future plans include working with local restaurants to use exclusively and promote local foods, and possibly even lobbying for nutritional policy in the government.

Pippi will lead the group's programs and sees one of his major tasks to be helping the organization form its strategies and structure.

Its goals go beyond strengthening the economy. It's about helping county children become healthier by fighting obesity with fresh produce.

"It's an issue much broader than just eating," Pippi said. "It's exercise, physical activity and tying that into things like self-respect, teamwork and giving back to the community. It's about the whole person."

Participating members are diverse. They include Partners for Peace, YMCA, Grower-Shipper Association of the Central Coast, the county Health Department, Monterey County Office of Education, Big Sur International Marathon, CSU-Monterey Bay and various county school districts.

Businesses on board include Fresh Express, Tanimura & Antle, Mann Packing Co. and D'Arrigo Bros.

"What we have that's exciting is that we are multidimensional," Pippi said. "We have the power to do something unique here by showing the best of what Monterey County has to offer.

"It's becoming an alliance," he said, not much different than a chamber of commerce. "I like to call it the chamber of health."

Pippi's background is as diverse as HELP's membership.

He is the founder and former CEO of Frohman Academy for Musical Theatre Education in Carmel and had a short stint leading a local film festival. He left the area in the 1980s, and returned to Monterey County after working as Portland State University's founding director of creative industries studies, a recruiter for Walt Disney Feature Animation and special projects director for Turner International Broadcasting in Moscow.

Victoria Manley can be reached at 646-4478 or vmanley@montereyherald.com.

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