During a tour of southwest Ontario on 21 August, Canadian environment minister Jim Prentice visited Mastronardi Produce, the largest greenhouse-grown fresh produce marketer in North America, to observe first-hand the group's green initiatives.
These initiatives include The Green Grass Project, launched on Earth Day this year, which highlights the key environmentally friendly elements in the group's business, identifying aspects of Mastronardi's day-to-day operations that contribute to an eco-friendly environment.
'It's the kind of leadership Mastronardi Produce has shown in terms of the environment that I want to come here and see first hand,' said Mr Prentice. 'I am blown away by what I have seen here today, you (Mastronardi) are the largest, most innovative, most successful producers of vegetables in North America under glass. It's an extraordinary Canadian success story.'
In addition to admiring the eco-friendly aspects of the company, MrPrentice, his wife Karen and local Member of Parliament Dave VanKesteren visited the group's greenhouses to sample Mastronardi'sChampagne Cocktail Tomatoes.
At the conclusion of the visit, Paul Mastronardi presented the minister with his own Green Grass Project shirt, thanking him for his interest and encouraging him to develop government-funded programmes to help businesses get on board and invest in creating a sustainable environment in their own company.
