Certified
"Environmentally Grown" by
the
Midwest Food Alliance
Kitchen Kleen Potatoes - grown by Nuto Farms - are certified
"Environmentally Grown" by the
Midwest
Food Alliance, a non-profit organization that provides third-party
approval of farms that grow food in environmentally and socially
responsible ways.
Food
Alliance's Midwest Affiliate promotes the expanded use of sustainable
farming practices by recognizing farmers who produce food in
environmentally friendly and socially responsible ways through our
certification program. We also educate consumers about the benefits of
sustainable agriculture. Food Alliance certified farmers share common
guiding principles.
When a consumer purchases our
potatoes, he/she knows they are buying a healthy food and supporting a farm that protects the
environment and provides safe and fair working conditions for employees.
Sustainability and
Agricultural Practices
Environmental Sustainability
We rely on nature’s
bounty to bring our product to thousands of families across the
Midwest. Our
direct connection to the earth’s resources reinforces our longstanding
commitment to stewardship and responsible operation.
Our environmentally
friendly growing methods help to ensure a safe wholesome product for
consumers and a continued reduction in our overall carbon footprint.
We have implemented many initiatives that have cut down on our use of
energy, water, and materials also save us money. That translates
into what is good for the environment is also good for our business.
We continue to be
involved with Food Alliance Midwest, a nationally recognized certifying
organization for environmentally friendly and socially responsible
agricultural practices. Through this cooperative effort, we are
able to continually find new ways to grow crops using
natural pest controls,
weather monitoring and scouting. The long-time goals of Food Alliance
Midwest partners are to provide quality locally grown products to
consumers that continually reduce the impact on the environment.
Advanced
Agricultural Practices
The potatoes grown on
our farms are part of a larger operation involving corn and soybeans.
These crops grown in rotation with potatoes, allow us to break disease
and pest cycles naturally, reducing pesticides and fertilizer use,
creating a more wholesome product and less impact on the environment.
We apply fertilizer to ensure vigorous
plant growth and abundant yields without leaching into groundwater or
washing off into nearby waterways. As fertilizer and seed costs
increase, soil testing and continued research into new growing methods
are an integral part in our sustainable farming practices.
Water usage is
becoming a hot topic in today’s agriculture. At Kitchen Kleen, nearly
all of our irrigation
systems have been updated to
low pressure systems
to reduce evaporation. Through these changes, water usage can be
reduced by up to one-third. Constant weather monitoring and on-hand
moisture testing eliminates over watering to prevent wasting this
precious resource.
New technology, such
as variable speed planting and fertilizing equipment, helps to reduce
seed and fertilizer use on non-irrigated land.
The
satellite guidance systems
on machinery, reduces overlap, saving fuel and other
non-renewable resources. Our goal is to continue to reduce the
impact of our total operation on the environment to maintain a
sustainable business
for
future generations.
It's
a Yearly Process at Nuto Farms
Planting
Our planting season begins the end of April with
two-to-three ounce potato
seed pieces. It takes approximately 2,000 pounds of potato seed to
plant one
acre of potatoes. One acre of potatoes on average yields 50,000 pounds
of
potatoes.
Growing Season While continually searching for new
high-tech advances, Kitchen Kleen, stresses natural controls rather
than a reliance on chemicals and fertilizers. This "green" agriculture
was practiced and perfected by Nuto Farms long before it became
politically correct. The use of additional cultivation to eliminate
weeds and rotating potatoes with corn, clover and soybeans reduces the
chemical and fertilizer use while improving tilth, health and fertility of the
soil. This attention to detail guarantees a consistent crop.
Continuous soil monitoring through
manual checking, in conjunction
with a satellite weather connection
eliminates weather surprises and
correctly forecasts soil moisture demands. Proper soil moisture is
extremely important for a uniformly shaped, high quality potato.
Harvesting
When Kitchen Kleen Potatoes are ready for
harvest, state-of-the-art equipment
is used to eliminate bruising once the potato leaves the ground. All
loads are
covered with tarps when necessary to protect the freshly dug potatoes
from
adverse weather conditions on their way to the warehouse. A mechanical
potato or the "Smart Spud" is also used to measure the softness of ride
from
the field to the bag -- a potato that's handled gently keeps better and
performs
better when used.
Storage
Kitchen Kleen
Potatoes are kept at a computer controlled temperature and
humidity level throughout the winter. Once the potatoes have reached
the proper temperature, they are removed from storage and brought to the
packing shed where they are washed, not once, but twice.
Packaging
Once our potatoes reach the packing shed
they go through a series of
inspection stations to ensure only the finest potatoes reach Kitchen
Kleen
bags. Our potatoes are packed and available from October through June
each year.
www.kitchenkleen.com
