Inspection reflections

In a previous post, I mentioned the declining numbers of USDA terminal market inspections and the need for further analysis. I hope to talk to Leanne Skelton about some of those issues later in the week.

Some time ago I was anonymously mailed the FY 2006 year end financial summary of the USDA's Federal-State Inspection Programs for the period Oct. 1, 2005 through Sept. 30 of 2006.


According to that document, the net loss for the federal market program in fiscal year 2006 was $3,675,492, an improvement of sorts from fiscal year 2005, when the federal market program lost $4,683,428.

The budget notes said, "Through the efforts of dedicated staff, continued efficiencies gained through automation, increased efforts in marketing services, and a fee increase, the Federal Market Program is positioned to return to break even financial operating status over the next couple of years."


Net gain (loss) of federal markets in fiscal year 2006
1. Philadelphia $116,913
2. Oklahoma $49,778
3. St. Louis $31,305

TK: and the last three markets:
35. Bronx ($324,549)
36. Chicago ($339,261)
37. Los Angeles ($612,741)


TK: It's tough to play from behind. How can the USDA translate apparently declining numbers of inspections to a break even point, even with gradual fee increases?

Global warming warning

In doing a profile on one of our candidates for Packer 25 leadership series, I had a interesting visit with a international marketer of produce. I asked him what industry issue keeps him up at night.

He mentioned climate change-global warming. I was somewhat surprised, because that is a topic that doesn't come up a lot in industry discussions. Yet clearly the evidence is around us. Even on the site today, there is mention of climate change in Peru.
Here is an excerpt.

Peru's Cordillera Blanca, the largest glacier chain in the tropics and one of the country's major tourist attractions, may have to be renamed to Cordillera Marrón in the near future. Rising temperatures let the glaciers melt rapidly and may turn the snowy and icy mountain tops from white to brown. Glaciologists consider the health of the world's glaciers an indicator of global warming, and they warn that what is happening signals trouble. Lonnie Thompson, a geologist from Ohio State University in the United States, warned that the melting has accelerated to a level that the ice cannot replenish itself. And this means trouble for Peru because it endangers future water supplies to the arid coast where most Peruvians live. The scientist used the Quelccaya in Southern Peru, the world's largest tropical ice cap, as an example which is retreating at about 60 meters (200 feet) a year, up from six meters (20 feet) a year in the 1960s. Peru's tropical glaciers feed the rivers that provide water to the cities on the desert coast line, not only for consumption but also for agriculture and electricity. Two third of Peru's 28 million population lives in an area that produces only 1,8% of the country's overall water supply. In the last ten years the ice layer of the Mt. Pastoruri, located south of the city of Huaraz, has reduced by almost 40% and since 1970 the Peruvian mountains in general lost 22% of their glacial surface.


At the same time, this article provides a skeptic's view.
From the story:

So one awkward question you can ask, when you’re forking out those extra taxes for climate change, is “Why is east Antarctica getting colder?” It makes no sense at all if carbon dioxide is driving global warming. While you’re at it, you might inquire whether Gordon Brown will give you a refund if it’s confirmed that global warming has stopped. The best measurements of global air temperatures come from American weather satellites, and they show wobbles but no overall change since 1999.
That levelling off is just what is expected by the chief rival hypothesis, which says that the sun drives climate changes more emphatically than greenhouse gases do. After becoming much more active during the 20th century, the sun now stands at a high but roughly level state of activity. Solar physicists warn of possible global cooling, should the sun revert to the lazier mood it was in during the Little Ice Age 300 years ago.



TK: If global warming is indeed happening, what do we do about it? Can we do anything about it? A higher level of awareness about this issue among the general population may well feed other consumer social responsibility trends, such as "food miles" and local produce. How much will we be sensitized - or in turn, desensitized - to this issue over the next few years? I think we will feel both in ample measure at different points in time.

Navel gazing

The California navel f.o.b. market has come off its post freeze highs in a major way. The USDA reported the market dropped from $32 per carton on Jan. 24 to about $17-19 per carton on Feb. 8 for first grade 72s.
One field buyer I visited with today said the full extent of the freeze damaged fruit may be known in the next couple of weeks. Up to 30% or 40% may be salvaged. There will be some navel supply in March and early April, but the source noted the late season late lane varieties got "blasted." Valencias were also hurt badly, as they had no sugar and not much skin to protect them.
Most navel shippers have installed weight density sizers, which help greatly in separating freeze damaged fruit from good fruit.
Some South Africa navels may start arriving into North America by March. Other world suppliers are moving into California's export markets, with Spain, Egypt and Turkey shipping to markets like Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Teens not keen

A study that The Packer's Susie Cable pointed me to from the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reveals predictably bad news about teens and fruit and vegetable consumption.
From the abstract:

Diets abundant in fruits and vegetables are associated with reduced risk for chronic disease, but intakes of adolescents are often inadequate. To design effective interventions it is important to understand how dietary intake changes longitudinally during adolescence and to monitor progress in the population toward fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal and secular trends in fruit and vegetable intake among two cohorts of Minnesota adolescents over the period 1999–2004.

Longitudinal trends indicated that adolescents decreased their daily intake of fruit and vegetables by an average of 0.7 servings during the transition from early to middle adolescence and by 0.6 servings from middle to late adolescence. Analyses of age-matched secular trends at middle adolescence showed a mean daily decrease of 0.7 servings among girls and 0.4 servings among boys between 1999 and 2004.


TK: The upshot of the report is that more research is needed to understand why teens are eating less fruits and vegetables as they go from middle school to high school. The intuitive answer is that they need more access to fruits and vegetables at schools, such as could be provided the fruit and vegetable snack program.
Another factor may be the heavy advertising promotions by companies like Twizzler and Coke and other nutritionally challenged foods compared with the paltry advertising for fruits and vegetables. Beyond the food safety issue, the industry needs a national promotion agreement to establish its pitch to each demographic group, including teens.

Look at how many celebrities have been a part of the Got Milk? campaign. How much more would celebrities get excited over a huge media campaign for fresh produce!? We may never know.

Canada's organics

Here is a new USDA FAS report about Canada's organic agriculture rules.
From the report:

The annual retail market for organic food in Canada is estimated at US$2.6 billion, accounting for approximately 2.0 percent of total Canadian retail food sales. As stated earlier, Canada’s growing demand for organic food is mostly satisfied by imports from the United States. The introduction of Canadian organic regulations is not expected to change the degree of dependence on U.S. product over the medium term. It is expected that the popularity of organic food in Canada will be enhanced as Canadian consumers familiarize with the new logo and as Canadian retailers continue to promote and expand the retail shelf space for organic food. A recent Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada announcement (see below) to launch a pilot project to measure organic trade is expected to result in wider exposure for organic food. While the Canadian organic industry is hopeful that measuring organic food imports will encourage Canadian domestic production of organic food over the next several years, it is expected that the major share of the anticipated increase in demand will be continue to be met via increased imports of U.S. organic product.

TK: The U.S. and Canada are reportedly planning "equivalency" discussions over the next two years that will determine how the "organic" label will be applied to various commodities.

Feared and respected

That's what Seattle lawyer Bill Marler would like to be, as he relates in this interesting profile published on his blog site.
From the profile:

Health officials are usually more responsive to his message than the food industry, Marler says. "Some people don’t want to hear what I have to say. When I meet with them they don’t know if I’m Daniel in the Lions Den, or the Fox in the Henhouse."
But Marler continues to seek out opportunities to advise companies how to keep him from suing them."I want to be feared by my opponents, but I also want to be respected" Marler says. "I believe that doing what I do, and doing it well, has influenced the food industry. And I hope that means fewer kids are getting sick."


TK: Earlier in the profile, Marler drew chuckles from a Wyoming audience when he said "chasing ambulances is only part of what I do." Perhaps the industry should put Marler on a food safety advisory committee as a public representative. What is the proverb....Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.


Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer

Lettuce rejoice

The USDA ARS has released info on two new iceberg varieties that offer resistance to big vein virus and lettuce mosaic virus.

In 2004, the plants became the first publicly available iceberg lettuces to boast resistance to both diseases. That's why lettuce breeders and seed companies in California and elsewhere were quick to request samples of the tiny black seeds.
Dual-resistance enhances survival because a lettuce field can easily be besieged by both viruses at once.

TK: This is good news. What would be even better if plant scientists could build in resistance to E. coli.

A paradox

Here is a post from a Canadian environmental blog. It poses a paradox as it considers the positive environmental steps taken by the world's largest retailer.
From the blog:

The superstores’ green conversion is astonishing, wonderful, disorientating. If Tesco and Wal-Mart have become friends of the earth, are there any enemies left?
We environmentalists developed a picture of the world that seemed to be repeatedly confirmed by experience. Big corporations destroy the environment. They are the enemies of society. The bigger they become, the less they can be constrained by democracy or consumer power.


TK: I think the bigger that retailers become, the more they must listen to consumers. And thus, the "astonishing" conversion.

Too cool for E. coli?

What is the history of E. coli in Arizona's vegetable growing region? That's what this article seeks to address in a Feb. 11 story from The Arizona Republic.

"In the history of Yuma agriculture, we have never had any sort of an outbreak with our leafy-greens," said Kurt Nolte, area agriculture agent for the Yuma County Cooperative Extension, part of the University of Arizona. "The nature of food outbreaks occurs during the warm periods of the year."


TK: The colder irrigation water of the Colorado River, and fewer wild animals, may also be factors, experts say. I wonder if Yuma''s apparently spotless record will create resistance among growers to go the extra mile in food safety precautions.

Meanwhile, this report reveals the FDA said the central coast region of California is responsible for the Taco Bell food borne illness outbreak of last fall.
From the story:

A final FDA report on the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak is a month or more away, according to Herndon. Before then, the agency will issue a report on September's E. coli outbreak among about 200 people in 26 states who ate fresh spinach, Herndon said. That outbreak has been traced by the FDA to fields in Monterey and San Benito counties of California.

Kenya cleared

This report from East Africa talks about the excitement shared by Kenya vegetable exporters to access the U.S. market.


The three — baby corn, baby carrots and shelled peas — are among 14 products earmarked for export to one of the world’s most sophisticated markets.
The announcement was made last week at the end of a week-long tour of the country’s farms and processing facilities by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (Aphis) and the US Department of Agriculture. Both are top US agricultural regulatory authorities.
The breakthrough in accessing the US market is a culmination of efforts that have taken three years and mooted by the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK) to open outlets following the thinning of the traditional EU market because of rising competition.


TK: Good luck. Depending on the prospects of baby corn, baby carrots and shelled peas as an entree to the U.S. market takes an incredible amount of determination and vision.

The new coffee shop

Here is an interesting AP story about the rising use of the Internet by farmers.

Fifty-one percent of U.S. farms have Internet access, according to a July 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture , up from 48 percent in 2003. More than two-thirds of them, however, still use dial-up modems to connect.


TK: It's painful to think how badly various companies missed in anticipating the migration of farmers to the Web. My first job out of college was at Harris Electronic News, which aimed to convince farmers in central Kansas, circa 1982, to dial up a database to receive grain prices and commodity analysis. We were slightly ahead of our time. Even today, a slim majority have Web access and two thirds of those have to use dial-up. But it is getting better. Now my folks in south central Nebraska have high-speed Web access. Hey folks!

Potatoes to Japan

The U.S. can ship fresh potatoes to Japan again. This report details conditions of the reopened trade. One of those conditions is that Idaho is excluded.
From Seattlepi.com:

The microscopic worm, called the potato cyst nematode, feeds at the roots of potato plants and can reduce crop production by 80 percent. Officials say the pest is not harmful to humans and doesn't have any effect on the potatoes themselves.
On top of the current requirements - to brush off brush or wash off all dirt from U.S. potatoes before being exported to Japan, send them in sealed containers, and limit their use to processed potato chip snacks, Japan decided Wednesday it will allow imports of U.S. potatoes if the four new conditions will be taken by the U.S. side, the Agriculture Ministry said on its Web site.
The four conditions will be: to exclude Idaho from a list of export permissible states, to thoroughly check soil to confirm it is free from pest, the Ministry said. Potatoes will be produced other than those of seed tubers of Idaho used - a step taken until its efficiency of washing for Idaho-made potatoes is confirmed.

Tk: This is good news, though past dealings with Japan suggest they won't be too active with fresh potato imports.

Moving up from the kids' table

It is a great mental picture. Eating at the kids' table at Thanksgiving meant waiting for your parents and aunts and uncles to take their fill of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, bread and cranberry sauce before the leftovers would trickle down to be passed around to the kids. Maybe the kids got the first shot at the relish tray - maybe.

Here is a link to a farm bill story from The Bellingham Herald that references the kids's table in a quote by Robert Guenther of United.
From the story:

“We used to be at the kids’ table,” said Robert Guenther, vice president of public policy for the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, a coalition of 75 fruit and vegetable organizations. “Now we’ve got a seat at the real table. It is still a tall task.”
Fruit and vegetable growers point out that their crops are worth as much if not more than subsidized crops, and yet they have basically been ignored when it comes to the farm bill.


TK: It's time that specialty crop growers get the food passed when the white meat is ample and the gravy hot.