S. 654

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced the Safe Food Act on Feb. 15th with these words.

The E. coli outbreaks from fresh produce that occurred at the end of 2006 may prove to be the critical events for the produce industry as the Jack in the Box outbreak was for the meat industry. Three people died and nearly 200 were sickened in 26 States due to E. coli that was traced back to packaged spinach.
The breadth of the problem of foodborne illness is stunning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that as many as 76 million people suffer from food poisoning each year. Of those individuals, approximately 325,000 will be hospitalized and more than 5,000 will die. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to foodborne pathogens. Despite these statistics, our food supply is still the safest in the world; however, there are widening gaps in our food safety system due to the fact that food safety oversight has evolved over time and is spread across several agencies.

TK: From the farm bill to food safety, there is a lot of activity on Capital Hill in the next few weeks. While some talking points for a single food safety agency resonate - "USDA has jurisdiction if the sandwich is a packaged open-face meat or poultry sandwich that contains one slice of bread. If the sandwich is a closed-face meat or poultry sandwich, meaning it has two slices of bread, FDA inspects it" -- other arguments such as cost/benefits of a new agency militate against it. The industry should stay out of this debate if possible.

Border traffic yielding

The International Herald Tribune reports here that illegal immigration from Mexico to the U.S. has slowed. That fact could exacerbate what is sure to be an already tight agricultural labor market in 2007.

From the story:

The only barometer to gauge whether migrants are being discouraged to attempt entering the United States is how many migrants are caught. In the past four months, the number has dropped 27 percent compared with the same period last year. In two sections around Yuma and near Del Rio, Texas, the numbers have fallen by nearly two- thirds, officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security say. Many veteran officers in the force are now beginning to believe that with sufficient resources, the border can be controlled. The new measures range from simply putting more officers out on patrol to erecting stadium lights, secondary fences and barriers of thick, steel poles to stop smugglers from racing across the desert. The Border Patrol has deployed hundreds of new guards to watch rivers, man surveillance cameras and guard fences. The U.S. government has also begun punishing migrants with prison time from the first time they enter illegally in some areas. For instance, along the 210 mile border covered by the Del Rio office of the Border Patrol, everyone caught crossing illegally is charged in federal court and sentenced to at least two weeks in prison.


While AgJobs waits for action in the Congress, more growers are are showing interest in the H2A program, this news story notes. Several thousand agricultural workers in the guest worker program will be employed on the West Coast, officials say. This story recounts a visit to Washington by California Farm Bureau leaders.
From the California Farm Bureau Web site:

CFBF board member Wayne Vineyard of Lincoln said this about John McCain: "I was impressed with him. He seemed like he was on our side when it comes to immigration reform. He said he thinks we need an agriculture-workers-only piece of legislation and that its the only thing that's going to pass before the presidential campaigns get started in August. McCain told us he thinks the votes are there to do it, if the legislation ever gets out of committee and onto the floor for a vote."

TK: California industry leaders say the alternate bearing cycle means heavier yields for peaches and nectarines for 2007. The challenge of harvesting more tree fruit while facing the biggest shortage of workers ever is creating uncertainty in the market.

All clear or not

I checked in today with William Hallman, lead researcher of the New Brunswick, N.J.-based Rutgers Food Policy Institute, of spinach research notoriety. You can check out this for the conclusion of the Rutgers study, posted earlier on my blog. Other posts about the study can be found with the blog search function.

In an interview for a story about fresh cut processing, I asked Hallman if consumers are frustrated the FDA has not nailed down what happened with the E. coli and spinach.
"I think it was more frustrating during the event," he said. "They expect food to be safe, they expect the government is doing a good job of assuring safety and the fact that weeks went by (without clear answers) was both surprising and frustrating," he said.

Now, he doubts that most consumers are at the edge of their seats to find out more details. "What consumers are interested in is that someone has solved what the problem was," he said. But some consumers may still be waiting, he said. The fact that there was really no all clear signal that involved information of how the E. coli got on the spinach is likely troubling some consumers, he said. "The all clear signal was less than all clear," he said.


TK: Hallman noted that because the FDA has not been able to pinpoint the farm or specific way the pathogen got on the product, it suggests to consumers the problem is large. Hallman has some keen observations about consumer behavior, including the basic question asked by many; "Why can't something be done about this?" The industry is moving fast to do something, but Hallman correctly notes that the E. coli tainted spinach will be a point of reference by the media for every E. coli outbreak that occurs in the near future.

Sunkist meet

Sunkist Growers will hold its annual meeting in Visalia today, and this story notes that representatives from crop insurance companies and government agencies will be on hand.
Sunkist President Tim Lindgren will give the annual report for 2006.

TK: A key player as Sunkist move forward is Mark Tompkins, general manager of Sunkist Global Sourcing. I think my first conversation with Mark goes way back to the early days at Pronet, the Vance commodity news service that kicked off in 1984. From a Sunkist press release last year

As General Manger Sunkist Global Sourcing, Tompkins is responsible for securing production and folding it seamlessly into the Sunkist international sales and delivery network. Currently Sunkist is sourcing complementary citrus fruit from South Africa, Australia, and Mexico and delivering it to customers in North America and Asia.

TK: Getting Sunkist's U.S. growers comfortable with the idea of sourcing citrus from other countries is one thing, and that hurdle has largely been cleared. Getting growers from other countries in the Sunkist fold is yet another formidable challenge, and little easier than the first.