House hearing on produce safety

I flew into town too late to cover the hearing in person, but this morning the House Agriculture Subcommittee Horticulture and Organic Agriculture had a public hearing on the industry's response "to the safety of fresh and fresh-cut produce."

Here is the testimony of Lloyd Day, Administrator of the AMS.

Here are the remarks of Robert Whitaker, vice president of processing and technology for NewStar Fresh Foods, Salinas.

Here are the remarks of Joseph Pezzini, vice president of operations for Ocean Mist Farms.

Here are the remarks of Lorna Christie, senior vice president for the Produce Marketing Association.

Here is the link to Dr. David Acheson of the FDA, published as pdf in Fresh Produce Google Groups.


I expect to pull together some coverage of the hearing for The Packer later this week.


Finally, here are the remarks of Testimony of Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Immigration D-Day looms

In the immigration press conference today, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday is D Day for immigration reform in the U.S. Senate. The Senate is expected to take up the issue of immigration reform, but there is no comprehensive bipartisan solution in hand.

At the press conference, Sen. Feinstein noted the broad support of AgJobs, with some 880 organizations supporting the legislation. Some farmers are planting less, others are moving production to other countries. The consequences are dire if Congress can't deliver a labor solution to agriculture, she said.

"What happens if you can't harvest? Prices will soar and people won't pay their mortgages and farmers will be going out of business," she said.

"Senator Craig and I remain steadfast that this bill, negotiated over a ten year period, should go forward as written ,and I'm very hopeful it will be."

TK: There are close to 200 specialty crop industry leaders in town to lobby Congress tomorrow on this issue. The immigration debate ain't over till it is over, and it's not over yet.