California Cotton Tour Planned for October
The textile and apparel industry is invited to take a look at California’s cotton industry at the source during a free tour of cotton farms in the San Joaquin Valley on Oct. 19.The annual event is organized by Sustainable Cotton Project, a California nonprofit founded to promote the “Cleaner Cotton” in the supply chain.
The all-day tour will highlight Sustainable Cotton Project growers and their sustainable farming methods and bio-intensive pest-management practices. Attendees will visit farms before harvest, meet with farmers and visit a cotton gin.Lynda Grose, fashion design professor at California College of the Arts, will lead the tour.
Grose, who founded eco collections for Esprit, is a marketing consultant for the Sustainable Cotton Project.“People in the fashion industry rarely have the opportunity to experience cotton cultivation first-hand,” Grose said. “These tours bring together farmers, brokers, supply-chain partners and brands to understand the challenges and possibilities of making changes in the cotton industry. This experience stays with people for years.”
Founded in 1996, the Sustainable Cotton Project promotes domestic cotton grown in a sustainable method that “lessen[s] the toll that the soil-to-shirt cotton-production process takes on the earth’s air, water and soil and the health of people in cotton-growing areas.” The organization has several programs to promote “Cleaner Cotton” practices among growers, manufacturers and retailers.
More information about the sustainable Cotton Project and the Oct. 19 tour is available online atwww.sustainablecotton.org.—A.A.N.
