Tuesday 7/17 headline roundup

Move over pineapple Honolulu Star Bulletin reports: Even though Hawaii tropical fruit growers are challenged by inconsistent supplies and lower-priced Asian imports, specialty fruits such as lychee and rambutan have become a multimillion-dollar industry.
On the Big Island, thousands of exotic fruit trees are being planted each year, and as they mature, production is expected to increase. As Hawaii's pineapple production falls off, exotic fruits have become more common.

TK: Story quotes Bob Hamilton of Hula Brothers Inc. Bob showed me around his farm last summer and it's encouraging to see that demand is strong for exotic fruit as pineapple declines.


Hidden Valley announces grant to schools From a news release:
The makers of Hidden Valley(R) ranch dressings, owned by The Clorox Company , today announced it will be awarding more than a half million dollars in grants next year to elementary schools nationwide to support increased access to, and consumption of, fresh vegetables during lunch. The grant program - the Love Your Veggies(TM) Nationwide School Lunch Campaign - was created to help schools implement a recent federally mandated local wellness policy that requires schools to develop and execute programs to improve their students' overall health and nutrition, and in response to the overwhelming shortage of funds available for the execution of these programs.
Today at the School Nutrition Association's Annual National Conference in Chicago, Hidden Valley, along with its partners the School Nutrition Association (SNA) and its foundation and Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH), announced it will provide $10,000 grants to 51 elementary schools in the United States - one grant per state plus an additional grant to a school in Oakland, Calif., Clorox's hometown. Beginning Aug. 1, schools can visit www.LoveYourVeggiesGrants.com to get more information on the grant program.
TK: A stroke of public relations genius for a worthy cause by Hidden Valley.


Democrats eye politics of farm bill New York Times coverage of how Democrats may handle balance between farm state interests and calls for reform. From the story:
The farm bill could come to the floor at the end of this month, and the issue most likely to divide Democrats is whether to cut subsidies. Leadership is under pressure to end what critics describe as expensive, trade-distorting farm payments to the richest farmers.
Some Democrats — such as Ron Kind of Wisconsin, who touts his own version of the farm bill — would like to steer the money spent on subsidies toward conservation, rural development, biofuel and nutrition programs — all priorities of the Democratic leadership.
House Agriculture Chairman Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., also is under pressure to cut subsidies, largely because his budget to write the farm bill is tighter than in past years.
His committee can spend $20 billion over the measure’s baseline of about $226 billion, but only by finding offsets. Leadership says it is working to find funds in other federal spending programs, but expects Peterson to redistribute cash within his own bill. Peterson now is toying with ways to limit subsidies; those changes are likely to come up when the full Agriculture Committee begins debating the bill Tuesday.
TK: I'm waiting on word if Rep. Dennis Cardoza will offer amendments today during the farm bill markup session, but no indication yet what is planned. Generally, Cardoza is still not happy with where the f/v priorities stand in the process, one Capitol Hill staffer told me. Here is an edit from the Contra Costa Times about California's interest in farm bill reform.

Another benefit seen in buying organic produce New York Times coverage of study claiming higher levels of flavonoids. From the story:
Writing in The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, researchers said the level of one flavonoid in the organic tomatoes was almost twice as high as that in conventionally grown tomatoes.
TK: Let's not get jump to big conclusions based on this very limited research.


Diamond Foods opens Bentonville office


Whast's rotten at Whole Foods Business Week takes a swing at Whole Foods management. From the story:
There's something rotting at Whole Foods Market (WFMI) and it isn't in the produce department. It's in the company's management team: John Mackey, the chief executive who spent years anonymously posting on the Web about his company and its rivals, appears to share a cynical arrogance with other corporate self-promoters who believe they don't have to personally uphold the values they publicly proclaim.