Doyle on imports

Imported foods cause for concern is the headline of an article linked on K-State's Food Safety Network, and the story features Michael Doyle, who has rapidly become a household name in food safety stories. Doyle is the University of Georgia scientist who still shuns packaged spinach. Doyle plays a prominent role in the public policy/legislative debate, so it is well to pay attention to what he says. From the story:

A University of Georgia expert says the challenges in ensuring a safe U.S. food supply will continue to grow to unprecedented heights unless solutions are provided quickly. "Although most foods Americans eat are safe, with odds of greater than 1 in 1 million of becoming hospitalized from a serving of food, the dynamics of the U.S. food system are rapidly changing," said Michael Doyle (pictured), director of the UGA Center for Food Safety. "Consumers are much more vulnerable now to large episodes of foodborne illnesses."
Hundreds of illnesses from contaminated spinach, lettuce, tomatoes and even peanut butter have made U.S. newspaper headlines in recent months. Other reports tell of tainted shellfish, pet food and a variety of foods and food ingredients imported from countries such as China.
Doyle said imported foods and inadequate testing methods at U.S. ports are significantly affecting the safety of America's food.
He said 15 percent of the food Americans eat is imported from other countries. "That may sound like a small amount," he said. "But it represents 80 percent of the seafood and 45 percent of the fresh fruit consumed in the U.S."
The problem isn't where the food comes from, but how it's grown or processed before it reaches American soil.
"The centuries-old tradition of using human excreta on farmland is widespread in East Asia, especially in China and Vietnam," Doyle said. "And unsanitary polluted water is used in production and processing. The result of these practices is contamination by harmful microbes such as Salmonella."
Imported food also comes from Asian countries where growers are allowed to use pesticides banned by the U.S.
"They're not only using these pesticides, they're using them in excessive levels," Doyle said. "This leads to residue contamination in foods."
The solution to problems surrounding imported foods, Doyle said, lies in the hands of food producers, processors and such regulatory agencies as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"Solutions to today's food safety issues will not come easy," he said. "They will require a major research commitment to developing state-of-the-science methods to detect, control and eliminate harmful substances in foods.
"The food industry, whether it be growers, manufacturers or distributors, is responsible for providing safe foods," he said. "And regulatory agencies need more rapid and robust sampling and detection methods to verify that foods, especially those that are imported, are safe from harmful microbes and chemicals."
The percentage of food imported into the U.S. doubles about every 10 years. At this rate, the U.S. will be a "net food-importing country within 20 years," he said.
Doyle expects the number and frequency of foodborne illnesses to increase in the U.S. as the percentage of imported foods increases.
"Considering the dramatic changes occurring in our sources of food and the weaknesses present in our current food safety system, Congress needs to step up its funding of research to ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply," he said. "The longer we must wait for solutions the more challenging it will be to make effective corrective actions."

Food Banks post another record fresh Produce year

Okay, this “TOP TEN” is not as popular as Letterman’s (a fellow Hoosier), but I wanted to try something a little different this year (new fiscal year started July 1) thinking that as we share this type of data with all of you, it may serve as valuable tools for you to use when seeking the best food bank deals for our fresh produce program. Listed below are the top ten produce items moved last month (July). They account for 95% of our total and represent over 9-million pounds of produce or 237 truckloads worth of great nutritious food.

Naturally, potatoes top our list and are now being shipped almost entirely in consumer packed bags like 10# and 5# bags. Some member still like the 50# sacks, but that list is growing smaller and smaller for obvious reasons. Some food banks still supply food to agencies that have feeding sites, so it is there that bulk bags are useful to keep costs as low as possible, but for many members, 50# sacks are just too heavy for the agencies to distribute as the bulk of our food is distributed through food pantries.

I am pleased to report that we have been given an increase in produce program budgeting for this new fiscal year (started July 1). Our goal is to move as much produce as possible using the limited funds that are entrusted to us for this program/purpose.

I hope you all find this list useful as you continue to offer us best pricing on a variety of produce items. Please review how you are seeking pricing and offer some out of the box thinking this year. I would like to offer LTL’s (less than truckload qantities) this year to the network so smaller sized members can take advantage of the produce program as well. We tested this idea last year with some good results.

As always, let me know how else we can assist you so you can continue assisting us. I am always available to all of you, our partners in our mission to end hunger. Thank you all for your service to our cause. Last year, our members distributed 115,900,000 pounds of fresh produce through the national office program. Below is the list of most popular items that we shipped in July of this year...

Ranked #1 - Potatoes at 33% of the total
Ranked #2 - Assorted combo produce loads (three or more items) 25%
Ranked #3- Watermelons at 16%
Ranked #4 - Sweet Corn 9%
Ranked #5 - Green Cabbage 4%
To finish out the list all in single digit percentages were onions, apples, bananas, carrots and sweet potatoes listed here respectively.

Last year: over 27 food banks each received over 1-million pounds of fresh produce. The program spend was just over $10M, 75% used for product procurement, 25% used for transportation. Over 200 member food banks received fresh produce through the program.

Please contact Rick Bella at 312.641.6507 or email rbella@secondharvest.org Join this new growing market!

Wal-Mart's woes

I was in Wal-Mart last night, picking up a few items for my wife's first grade classroom. Chocolate kisses, ziploc bags and designer pencils were on the list. I was in the Olathe Wal-Mart at about 10 pm and the store was mad with shoppers. Parents and children were scooping up school supplies, often reaching for the last few items. It was earlier that day that Wal-Mart revealed that its earnings for the year would fall below previous estimates, and Wall Street punished the stock severely. This Dow Jones interview explains why some analysts are so down on the stock. Analyst Burt Flickinger says Wal-Mart is a company of cost-cutters and bean counters, not merchants. Labor shortages have reduced the company's ability to keep product in stock on the weekends, and the company's competitive position is not as strong as it once was. Harsh words, but there is no doubt truth in them. The girls in my wife's first grade class will have "Pirates of the Caribbean" pencils in a gift bag from their teacher. Why not "High School Musical" pencils? Wal-Mart was out of stock.

A question from Richard

TK: While the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group has quite active the consumer oriented group has been very quiet so far. I haven't really promoted it. I did have a new member of the consumer group ask a question, though, and I would like to pass it on. I posted it below. Does anyone have any advice or resource for Richard's idea? Sounds like a greenhouse venture is something he is considering. I'll pass on whatever ideas you have or you can join the group as well and provide him direct feedback.


First of all, thanks for creating this group. I know that all of you are wise in the ways of produce. After having lived in some fairly good sized cities, San Diego and Denver most recently, and having decent if not good produce at most stores and farmer's markets, I find myself in North Central Wyoming. The produce in the area, about 100 miles in any direction, is sub par at best. The tomatoes are soft and ready to be thrown out, even when they first get to the store. At the most they will last one day once you get them home. Other produce is typically just as bad and the selection, even of vegetables, is limited to mainly the basics, apples, a few peaches, a few ears of corn, etc. Even the restaurants are not getting a terribly quality product, at least in my opinion. Sysco brings all of the produce in for all the restaurants and convenience stores. The question I have been leading up to is this: Are there any government or other resources available for financing an operation that would produce enough product to serve a small areas produce quality needs. I have been trying to find some info and just seem to run into roadblocks. I have found some viable greenhouses and a possible land to use for the venture. Also if anyone might be able to lead me in the direction of a Group or forum or some other site that I can find support for this.

Hass moving higher

Here is coverage from The Packer of the damage reports to Chilean avocados. The market remains active for Mexican and California fruit in view of the crop outlook in Chile.

Retail Prices - Bureau of Labor Statistics

Food safety for the MTV generation

Here is a link to an article in The Manhattan Mercury about Canadian transplant Doug Powell and K-State's Food Safety Network. Powell is one of the important voices in the food safety debatge and he has probably developed effective platforms for his message.
From the story:

With the help of his team of researchers, a barfblog, and T-shirts, Doug Powell is trying to make food safety more relevant for college students

Every day in newspapers around the country, food safety issues make headlines.
At Kansas State's International Food Safety Network, director Douglas Powell and his staff are seeking to make that news culturally relevant to the MTV generation. By launching a website that features commentary, a barfblog and even sells T-shirts that read "don't eat poop", Powell and his team of researchers are trying a new approach to food safety, which he admits can often be boring. So far, it appears to be working, as hits on the website (foodsafety.ksu.edu) went from 985 unique visitors in May to more than 1300 in June, with significant increases each week.
"It seems to be catching on," Powell said. "But we don't push it too much."Boring or not, food safety is a serious issue, as Powell said 76 million people in the US get sick from the food and water they consume each year, and about 5,000 die. Twenty-five percent of people in developed countries fall ill each year due to unsafe food, and that number is probably higher in reality, according to the World Health Organization. The FSN is focused on microbial safety and focused on helping people eliminate bacteria, beginning with farms that produce the food.
What you really need to do is make sure every farmer and every employee on that farm is doing what they're supposed to do," Powell said.
Powell came to Kansas State from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, in fall 2005. He was visiting a fellow professor, Justin Kastner, and after a few meetings with professors and president Jon Wefald, he accepted an offer to move his lab to KSU.
In the beginning, Powell and his staff mostly did research and found articles relating to food safety and sent them out on a listserv to thousands of interested people and groups. The FSN research team finds about 200 articles each day by using Google and other more advanced searching tools.
Then, in 2004, the FSN reported a research project that showed during 60 hours of watching celebrity cooking shows, mostly in Canada, the chefs made a food safety mistake every four minutes. Powell said the report drew a huge response, and he realized he'd discovered a new way to communicate to his audience.

TK: What a great angle, but who had to sit through 60 hours of celebrity cooking shows. Well, it's better than the fishing shows, I guess.

Soon, the FSN website was redesigned, and Powell, who had briefly been a reporter, began writing commentary designed to catch people's attention.
Rather than just telling people to wash their hands or take care of their food, the FSN uses catchy slogans and pictures and disgusting stories designed to liven up issues that can sometimes be deadly.
"If I say, 'Wash your hands', people might not listen, but if I say 'Don't eat poop'…" Powell said as he smiles, knowing he doesn't have to finish the sentence.
The "don't eat poop" campaign has spawned a website (donteatpoop.k-state.edu) and warns people of how poop and bacteria gets into food if farmers or other don't wash their hands properly. This problem was illustrated most vividly in the fall 2006 outbreak of E. Coli in fresh lettuce and spinach.

TK; I hesitate to call "Don't Eat Poop" a master stroke of messaging. It's disturbing, but I guess that's the point.

The FSN also puts out info sheets, which attempt to find interesting ways to highlight the most important parts of each week's food safety news for the general public. In one sheet from October 2006 that draws a laugh from Powell, a researcher lies face down on the floor with a spilled glass of carrot juice forming a skull on the floor. The sheet tells of the dangers of the deadly botulin toxin, which results from leaving baked potatoes and carrots at room temperature with no oxygen.
The latest experiment from the FSN is the "barfblog". It's a collection of musings from the group's staff about relevant issues in the news ranging from food poisoning for celebrities to outbreaks of diseases like salmonella.
In a college town, the focus on food safety at all levels of production is especially important, since so many restaurants have students on their wait staff. Powell said he's always skeptical of whether or not food safety guidelines are being followed when he eats out in Aggieville.
"You're vulnerable to the last person touching your food and that's some kid who's more worried about their date tonight," Powell said.
College students have also been part of a nation-wide trend toward organic foods. Powell said many hold misconceptions that organic procedures make their food safer.
"Right now, the biggest impediment is everyone is talking about local food and natural food," Powell said. "Organic is a production system, not a food-safety system."

TK: Powell occassionally rattles the cage of advocates of local food and organic agriculture.

Powell described himself as "a one-man show", and he works mostly at home, staying in contact with his staff via the Internet. He has four undergrads at KSU working for him and Brae Surgeoner, who owns a masters degree in Food Safety and Risk Communication, serves as his full-time research assistant. His wife, Amy Hubbell, is a French professor at KSU and the Language and Culture Coordinator for the FSN.

Powell said he's looking for more help and students may e-mail him if they'd like a job working with the website and the additional multimedia he'd like to add to it. Some funding deals are pending, and he has plans to enhance the site and continue to find better ways to inform the masses about food safety."The ultimate goal is fewer sick people," Powell said.

TK: Kudos to K-State's Doug Powell. Largely a one-man band, he puts out a lot of food safety news and frank analysis that is widely read.

Farm bill edits

Editorial pages are weighing in on the 2007 farm bill, and most aren't enthralled with the House passed farm bill. Here is a sampling:



2007 Farm Bill: A missed chance to slow the decline of the family farm From KC Star:
With passage of the farm bill, the House of Representatives forfeited the opportunity to do something this country hasn’t tried since the New Deal of the 1930s: It could have taken steps to rejuvenate rural America.
In the year I was born, 1950, there were 13 houses along our road in the far northwest corner of Missouri. All of them were farm homes. Today, nine houses are left, and I am the only farmer or farm owner living here.
What’s happened along my road is also true across vast areas of the Midwest, where farm consolidation over the last three decades has taken its toll, not just on farmers, but on the rural communities that once relied on farmers for trade and taxes.
Consolidation and loss of rural population have been direct consequences of the past several farm bills. By increasing subsidies, Congress made it profitable for the most aggressive operators to accumulate more land and scoop up a large share of the farm bill’s allotments.
While the stated purpose of farm bills has always been to maintain the family farm, in reality the Congress has brought about the family farm’s decline.
The House might have fashioned a 2007 New Deal for Rural America. It would have started with real subsidy limits, making mega-farms less profitable. That step should have been easy.

Don't miss opportunity offered by farm bill From The Des Moines Register:
Iowans can see the fruits of an agriculture revolution out their car windows - a maturing corn crop stretching unbroken to the far horizon.The demand for corn to produce ethanol has driven up prices and prompted Iowa farmers to plant their biggest crop since 1981. Nationally, farmers planted the most corn since 1944.Growing crops to produce energy is transforming the economics of agriculture. Drafting of the 2007 farm bill should not only reflect the dramatic change under way, but also shape that change to benefit rural communities and the national good. This bill, at this time in history, offers an unprecedented opportunity to further agriculture's role in meeting some of the nation's energy needs and also boost farm incomes in the process.But the temptation to plant fence row to fence row to reap higher crop prices threatens to exacerbate soil erosion and worsen water quality. So this farm bill should provide greater incentives than ever for farmers to protect the nation's rich soil.Unfortunately, the bill approved by the House last month is less aggressive than it should be in promoting development of energy from crops and other agricultural sources. And it took a step backward in promoting conservation on cropland. That leaves much of the heavy lifting in beefing up conservation funding to Iowa's Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.The Senate will consider the farm bill in September. Harkin told the Register on Monday that he would restore funding for the Conservation Security Program "or there won't be a bill." That's tough talk, but he shouldn't back down.

23 hours and counting

Fresh Talk Poll #2 with 23 hours left for voting. Again, I say I'm surprised with the voting so far. I would have anticipated that each answer in the poll would have pulled about equal percentages. Would a merger of associations make the dues or financial obligations any less? Not necessarily. Do industry members want to get to a place where they have fewer events to attend, fewer decisions to make as to what convention/expo to support, fewer demands on their time? Perhaps. Do industry leaders want to see less redundancy in association programing? Probably. I would like some of Fresh Talk readers to give arguments that support their votes.

Dutch Disease

Big Apple and Luis continue to dominate our Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Board, but I do note we see steadily increasing membership (now 71) and I have no doubt other members will chime in as they are inspired.

On the topic of Chile's troubles, Luis writes this interesting post that I wanted to pass on:
From Luis:


The currency situation resembles what economists term "Dutch Disease"
(please see "Core Model" if interested) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease
It has been a long-running Chilean issue due to their ample mineral resources and there is no clear "solution" that does not involve trade- offs. Salmon exporters are also feeling it and had their share of disputes with miners over mine run-off leaching into fjords. What is disturbing is that there have been strikes not only at major produce exporters but also at the largest copper mine. Not to mention, discontent regarding the bungled Plan Tran-Santiago (i.e. urban transport in Santiago) and more speculatively, generally higher reported incidences of crime. Not much in the way of higher employment is expected from the mineral boom.
This not be alarmist or anything as Chile is far from being a basketcase and one should not generalize. It is a wonderful, modern country and as safe as here in the US if one exercises common sense.
Please find a link below to a video report on the freeze. It is in Spanish but here is the gist:
http://www.zshare.net/video/3140091c480862/
The worse freeze in the last 20 years have prompted the government to declare the provinces of Coquimbo and regions of atacama, valparaiso, libertador Bernardo Hill as disaster areas.
Growers report the freeze was like a torch going through the fields of various kinds of produce as well as dead mature avocado trees. Growers will have to incur repair/re-planting costs besides foregone sales and also point out that the lack of employment may lead to an unstable workforce. The figure of $100 million dollars has been floated as a damage estimate but the official government estimates are due in a few days. Assistance may include debt relief and emergency funding.
The calamity of frozen crops does not translates to frozen prices. Retail produce prices in the La vega supermarket have been climbing.