A new cure

There are stricter growing standards, there are advocates of irradiation and now advocates of biotechnology say that gene-splicing could improve food safety. And gee, if only organic growers would accept biotechnology, the world would be a better place.

Let's get the good agricultural practices in order and worry about irradiation and biotechnology on down the road.

St. Louis battleground

I traveled to St. Louis this past summer and did a profile of the city's wholesale and retail trade. In the Aug. 14 issue of The Packer, I covered the expansion of Wal-Mart into the region. Some wholesalers said that the city's consumers were loyal to the St. Louis chains.
I wrote then:

That's not the mindset of Mike O'Brien, vice president of produce for St. Louis-based Schnucks Markets Inc. since 2000 and a company employee for 34 years.
"I think some people will be (loyal), but we have Wal-Mart stores that aren't food stores, and they are all about price -- and people shop there," he said. "You say St. Louis is different, but if we believe that, we may be surprised."
"Our customers will be loyal to us if we are better than Wal-Mart," he said. "We need to be the best we can be."


The St. Louis Post-Dispatch today runs an update on Schnucks' latest move to lower the prices on 10,000 items in the metro area, part of its positioning to deal with the competitive pressure of Wal-Mart's Supercenter growth.


By the way, also in the Dispatch, check out the story about clutter. A quote:

The authors claim that if you're moderately disorganized — that is, you scatter things, mix things around, let things pile up, do things out of order, be inconsistent and wing it — you're probably more efficient, resilient, creative and in general more effective than someone who is highly organized.

Score.

Cardoza and company

Here is a report showing the just announced roster of the House Agriculture Committee. Two Kern County Congressman were named to the committee, which will oversee formation of the next farm bill. Here is a perspective on what Democrat Jim Costa and Republican Kevin McCarthy will bring to the table for Central Valley agriculture. Here is another California report sizing up the roles of produce ally Dennis Cardoza and newcomer Jerry McNerney, both Democrats.

While the House Agriculture Committee Web site hasn't updated with the new roster of members, here is the official list of Senate Agriculture Committee members. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa says the farm bill won't progress too far until they have budget numbers, expected by the end of March.

Unexpected bonus

The new Railex facility in New York is having some unintended but welcome benefits to eastern New York food pantries. Here is a report that says the rail head for produce trains is also proving to be a steady supplier of fresh produce to food banks. So far, almost 23 tons of produce have been donated.