Section 284. Establishment of statewide direct marketing activities

The
  department shall conduct statewide  direct  marketing  activities  which
  shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
    1.  Communications  and  promotion  of direct marketing activities, to
  include, where appropriate, cooperation with the  cooperative  extension
  service in the area of education.
    2.  Development of institutional direct marketing programs to increase
  the purchase of New York state farm and food  products  in  coordination
  with the office of general services and the department of education.
    3.  Development  of  a  technical  assistance  program for initiating,
  improving, and expanding direct marketing activities and developing  new
  forms of direct marketing.
    4. Development of guidelines for direct marketing operations that will
  assist   individual  producers  in  reducing  costs  and  improve  their
  financial returns and help assure consumers of high quality food.
    5. Assistance to retail food stores in purchasing  directly  from  New
  York state food producers.
    6. Assistance to direct marketing organizations in areas identified as
  having  poor  consumer access to high quality and reasonably priced food
  and farm products.
    7. Assistance to producers or consumers to initiate or improve  retail
  and wholesale farmers' markets.
    8.  (a)  Submission  of  a quinquennial report to the legislature, the
  first of which shall be submitted in the year two  thousand  six,  which
  shall  include an evaluation of the regional and institutional effect of
  direct marketing activities during the previous five years.
    (b) Between report  due  dates,  the  department  shall  maintain  the
  necessary  records and data required to satisfy such report requirements
  and to  satisfy  information  requests  received  from  the  legislature
  between such report due dates.
    9.  Establish  the  Hudson  valley  agricultural  center to serve as a
  marketing, promotional, informational and cultural center for the Hudson
  river valley  agricultural  region  and  greenway  and  to  promote  the
  production  of  fruits  (including  juices,  jellies, and preserves made
  therefrom), wine, cider, vegetables, and other agricultural products.