Fair Miles?

First it was "free trade versus "fair trade" and now it is "food miles" and "fair miles." This article from across the pond again takes on the issue of whether depriving African vegetable exporters of their only chance for income is justified by the concept of "food miles" and buying food close to home. "Why buying local to cut food miles can do more harm than good."

What is a socially minded consumer to do -- deprive struggling farmers in Africa or buy food that has 10,000 jet-fueled frequent flier food miles in one intercontinental hop from Kenya?

Berry good in Canada

The USDA offers an update on not only the growth of U.S. strawberry exports to Canada, but also steady contraction of Canada's own strawberry acreage. 2006 strawberry acreage in Canada was off 12.5% compared with 2005, while Canada's imports of U.S. strawberries were up

"There are no developments to suggest that the trend to reduced bearing area will change during 2007," the USDA said.

Canadian imports of U.S. strawberries were up 11% in the first 10 months of 2006; with about 80,000 metric tons landed in Canada in 2006, U.S. strawberries account for about 97% of Canada's total fresh strawberry imports.

A reply from Wayne

There is a lengthy reply found in the post "The Wayne Gretzky of foodborne illness lawyers"
Bill Marler, the Seattle attorney referenced in the link, posts the comment himself.

His blog comment illustrates the reality that the industry has never been under greater scrutiny as it is now. Of course, his clear vested interest is for his clients and for greater regulation. Beyond that, Marler is taking a visible role in what promises to be a high profile debate on fresh produce safety. I can't disagree with Marler's statement here:

It is time that growers, producers, manufacturers, restaurants, grocers, and consumers were asked to the table to talk about these ongoing outbreaks and how to prevent them in the future.

On the high side

The f.o.b. for cantaloupe in south Florida is being quoted as high as $19-21 per carton today, more than double the price of the same time last year. Michael Warren of Central American Produce told me today that the volumes from Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica are not hitting expectations because of lower than expected yields in growing regions. Warren said the cantaloupe market should retain its strength through the end of the month, with the honeydew market expected strong into February.

The founder of the 30-year old company, 90-year old David Warren was traveling to Guatemala and seeing suppliers there for most of the week.
"He stays heavily involved; it is his passion and he loves it," Michael said.

What a blessed thing - to begin a company at 60 years old and still love it 30 years later.

Rewarding innovation

Some of Europe's most innovative fresh produce concepts are described in this link. The Innovation Award will be presented at Fruit Logistica 2007, Feb. 8 t0 10 in Berlin. Event organizers say 40,000 visitors from 110 countries will be represented, making it arguably the most important international produce show.
What is getting high marks for innovation on the Continent? Here are my finalists among a larger group listed in the release: microwaveable mini-potatoes, the 2.3 kilogram Boxidea box, the Juliet bi-colored apple from France, Masterlabel resealable labels for vegetables, organic fruit and vegetables for babies ("Mon bébé mange bio" means "my baby eats organic"), Vitamini's (small bags of ready-to-eat vegetables).

Lifting the category

The growth of grape tomato sales over the past deca10 years has been remarkable. Coverage in The Packer this week observes that the cherry/grape subcategory has grown from 6% of value in 1999 to 23% in 2005, according to statistics provided by The Perishables Group, Inc. Hothouse tomatoes on the vine have also show hot recent growth. This chart from The Perishables Group shows the tomato subcategories and their performance in the first 44 weeks of 2006. Note the strong 8.1% growth in dollar sales compared to year-ago numbers.

Coming to the table

Being an equal opportunity blogger, I left a comment about Secretary Johanns in www.mulchblog.com, which is written by Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group. He responded in an email-note:

On the substance of things, we’re sure seeing a lot of ‘specialty crop’ producers coming to the table.The cautionary note I’ll sound is this, having been there on conservation for several decades now: without an ironclad claim on funding, including a willingness to take it out of commodity programs, specialty crop growers shouldn’t count on much.


His point about the "willingness to take it out of commodity programs," illustrates the uphill climb that fruit and vegetable interests face. It is hard to fight City Hall, and no less the House and Senate Agriculture Committees.

Interesting gambit

A bill was introduced on Jan. 9 by Rep. Dennis Rehburg, a Republican from Montana, that would implement mandatory meat and produce country of origin labeling by Sept. 30 of this year by amending the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. This is likely a long shot, but it shows that this issue is still active. Where is the Congressional support for the industry compromise legislation? More to the point, where is the compromise itself? It's been a while since we've heard about it.