The IMGGA started in the Huntsville Area of Alabama. The IMGGA director has had many discussions with growers throughout the U.S. and Canada, only to hear of their frustration a number of issues associated with the emerging industry of Microgreens. Issues with buyers such as Restaurants and Retailers that demand certification of compliance with laws & standards when there are none. Horror stories of Health Regulatory bodies demanding rules & standards be adopted from other industries when the law does not apply to microgreens. Confusion between Sprouts and Microgreens.
The USDA having no baseline on how many Microgreen growers actually exist nor having a collected record of the dollar volume of Microgreens actually grown in the U.S.A. As a result, a group of micro-farmers growing microgreens in Alabama, got together and concluded that an organization must be established by growers for growers in order to best represent our own destiny without being snared into a category by regulators that don’t have the appreciation and understanding of the Microgreens specialty crop.
A 2019 USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant was awarded to Nani - Waiata Koromete to collect data about the industry, increase the number of microgreen growers, and educate the public about the benefits of microgreens.
Rick Pate, Commissioner, along with Johnny Blackmon and their Team from of the Department of Agriculture & Industries, saw the vision of Microgreens as an emerging industry and recognized the need to create an organization to support "micro-farmers" not only in their state but nation wide. They recommended Nani - Waiata Koromete receive a 2019 Specialty Crop Block Grant Award from the USDA to start such an organization The USDA agreed and has charged the IMGA with the task of creating the organization to:
- Collect Data of the number of Microgreen growers in the USA.
- Collect Data of the Economic Activity of the Growers for 2019.
- Support Microgreen Growers with scientific studies compiled by the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa.
- Increase Microgreen Growers by 80% over the next 3 years.
- Educate the public on Microgreens.
- Provide Consumers with Information of the health benefits of Microgreens.
On October 7, 2019 in a ceremony at the Richard Beard Building on Federal, in Montgomery, Alabama, Commissioner Pate presented Nani Koromete with a USDA -AMS Award for the Purposes of "ESTABLISHING AN INTERNATIONAL MICROGREEN GROWERS ASSOCIATION" right here in Alabama.
