Peru

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group posts this:

Please find a quick translation from Spanish as well as the original news release from the Peruvian Exporters Association. It has already been a day but news just seem to be trickling in now as to the extent of the tragedy.
http://www.adexperu.org.pe/notas/Engnotas.htm
Concern about fresh product exports from affected zones
Thursday, 16 of August. - The president of the Exportadores Association (ADEX), Jose Luis Silva Martinot requested the installation of a portable, pre-fabricated bridge (i.e.Bailey bridge) in a damaged stretch of the highway between Lima and Ica so that humanitarian aid can be sent while simultaneously avoiding the disruption of products shipments to the capital destined for the internal market and for export.
"The request is that the government install a Bailey bridge in the damaged section of the highway so that aid can be sent in and perishable products can leave the Ica, Palpa and Nazca agro-exporting zones", said Silva Martinot to the Invertia news portal.
The head of the exporting association warned that if the government does not install the portable bridge "this could prevent export product from arriving at terminals and international markets". Also, he pleaded with lumber manufacturers to send wood to the zones shaken by the earthquake to construct houses for displaced families in Pisco, Chicha or Ica. Silva said that some agricultural and confectionary exporters in the Sur Chico (Chincha and Pisco) suffered material damage such as roof collapse and de-calibration of machines. "In Pueblo Nuevo, Chinchas, he regretted that the houses of exporting company workers were also are damaged".
The president of ADEX president said that the association is communicating with local affiliates in the most affected zones to know more about the real impact of the earthquake, as well as to evaluate how to assist the hundreds of Peruvians that have been affected. He said that the association is coordinating a campaign to take medicines, clothes and potable water to affected areas. "The campaign: Exportador solidario, our aid can make a difference", will take aid to the victims. This is a moment in which all Peruvians must stand up and show solidarity" he finalized.

Fresh Talk Poll #3

The second Fresh Talk poll is in the can, and it showed about three quarters of those voting favored a merger between United Fresh Produce Association and Produce Marketing Association. I'm sure the result of this very limited poll won't send the associations scurrying into emergency session, but the numbers in support of a merger were higher than I would have thought.

Look for all the details of the first two Fresh Talk polls here.

The poll this week, #3, was the brainchild of Luis, a member of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group. It tries to measure your perception of restaurant operator confidence in produce after last year's foodborne illness outbreak linked to spinach. Happy voting.

Also, I wanted to acknowledge Becca for sending me an online food section ad for Krogers and one from Brookshire's in Louisiana. How common are online food ads where you live? If you have links to online supermarket food ads, send me the links.

Stock Market Look in

A call for change

An email just slid across my inbox from Demian Moore, senior policy analyst for Taxpayers for Common Sense (http://www.taxpayer.net/) He linked me to this 181 page report from the President's Cancer Panel and this news coverage of the report from Maggie Fox of Reuters. If President Bush was looking for an affirmation of status quo policies, the panel did not comply.

From the report:

From the Reuters article:
A new presidential report on cancer takes on not only tobacco companies but the food industry while calling on the federal government to "cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods" and switch to policies that encourage Americans to eat vegetables and exercise.
The report, issued on Thursday, also urged changes in public and private insurance policies to encourage doctors to spend more time counseling patients on how to stay healthy by eating right, exercising and avoiding tobacco.

TK: Amen. Why can't there be more financial incentives to be healthy?

Federal, state, and local policies have actually made healthful foods more expensive and less available, have limited physical education in schools and created an environment that discourages physical activity, the report said.
"Ineffective policies, in conjunction with limited regulation of sales and marketing in the food and beverage industry, have spawned a culture that struggles to make healthy choices -- a culture in dire need of change," said the report.

TK: We have met the enemy and it is us.


Margaret Kripke of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson cancer center, a member of the President's Cancer Panel, said in a telephone interview, "What became clear to me is that we simply don't have the political will to protect the public health."
Several reports have shown that a third of all cancers are caused by tobacco use, and another one-third by obesity and inactivity.
"This country must not ignore its moral obligation to protect the health of all Americans. We can and must empower individuals to make healthy choices through appropriate policy and legislation, and the panel urges you to use the power of your office toward this life-saving goal," the panel, chaired by Howard University's Dr. LaSalle Leffall, wrote in a letter to Bush.

PURVEYOR OF UNHEALTHY FOODS
The report recommended much stricter control of the tobacco industry and urged Congress to authorize the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco.
"The report also supports increasing the federal cigarette tax, which is currently 39 cents per pack," American Cancer Society Chief Executive Officer John Seffrin said in a statement.
"The panel's recommendation runs counter to the president's public opposition to a tobacco tax increase."
The federal government also should "require the elimination of unhealthy foods from school breakfast and lunch programs" and "must cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods that lead to disease and increased health care costs," the report said.
This includes regulation of food advertising and changing agricultural support policies, it said.
"We heavily subsidize the growth of foods (e.g., corn, soy) that in their processed forms (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils, grain-fed cattle) are known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases, including cancer," the report reads.
"The people who are doing the U.S. agricultural subsidies need to connect their subsidies with the policy on public health and I don't think that has been done," Kripke said.

TK: No USDA official or agriculturally-connected member of Congress is willing to consider this argument, but its latent effect may benefit funding prospects for fruit and vegetable priorities.

Yet fresh fruits and vegetables are not subsidized in the same way. "And physical education classes in school have almost disappeared," Kripke said.
The American Cancer Society predicts more than 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and that 559,650 will die.

Bruce Peterson is Naturipe President and CEO

Wal-Mart may be struggling, but Bruce Peterson is doing just fine. Here is the news release announcing Peterson's new position at Naturipe Farms:

Naturipe Farms Announces Bruce Peterson As Its New President and CEO

August 16, 2007, Naples Florida – Edmundo Ruiz, Chairman of the Board of Naturipe Farms LLC, announced today that Bruce Peterson has joined the company as President and Chief Executive Officer. Peterson is a 37 year veteran of the produce industry, most recently president of Peterson Insights, Inc. Prior to that, Peterson spent fifteen years at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. where he successfully launched and built the perishable foods division. When he retired from Wal-Mart in March 2007, Bruce held the position of Senior Vice President of Perishables.

“The Board of Directors and principals of Naturipe Farms are excited that Bruce has joined our company. He brings a unique perspective to our organization, and will help us move the company to the next level of our development,” said Mr. Ruiz.

“I am thrilled to be joining Naturipe Farms. They have built a very special organization that has some unique characteristics to it. I believe there is a tremendous opportunity to expand their business model to other applications, and I look forward to helping develop the company to realize its full potential,” stated Bruce Peterson.

John Shelford, president of Naturipe Farms LLC since the partnership was formed in 2000, will be stepping away from the company. Shelford commented “I have been honored and proud to be associated with such a progressive company and an exciting industry. I am pleased and support Bruce as he takes the leadership of Naturipe Farms.” Edmundo Ruiz commented that John Shelford has been a key asset for Naturipe Farms, helping the company to become a leader in the berry category.



TK: The Packer will no doubt have a chance to cover this story in detail this week, but I recall one conversation with Bruce Peterson in Kansas City in January 2006 (link here is excerpt from interview with Peterson with Beth Ashby and myself) where he specifically mentioned how he successfully challenged Wal-Mart stores to raise the bar for berry sales in a particular year. Peterson knows what it takes to deliver the goods to a retailer, whether that retailer is big box or small town. We look forward to hearing more about Peterson's vision for Naturipe and also are keenly interested in the plans John Shelford has. Shelford's enthusiasm for the industry and upbeat leadership style will serve him well for his next challenge. Here are a couple of previous posts about Bruce Peterson,

http://freshtalk.blogspot.com/2007/04/weekend-rewind-peterson-reflects.html
http://freshtalk.blogspot.com/2007/02/bruce-peterson-resigned.html

Headline roundup 8/16

$22m plan aims to make one million healthier in B.C. From The Vancouver Sun:
Right now in British Columbia, only about half the population is considered at a healthy body weight, 20 per cent are smokers, 40 per cent are physically inactive and most -- 60 per cent -- don't eat the recommended daily serving of fruits and vegetables.
That may soon be about to change -- just in time for the 2010 Olympic Games.
Later...
The initiative has quantifiable short-term goals: To reduce the number of smokers in the province by 225,000 individuals; increase by 948,000 the number of British Columbians who eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily; increase daily physical activity in 351,000 individuals; and add 349,000 B.C. residents to the 50 per cent of the population who are already at a healthy weight, according to a body-mass index.
All this in time for the 2010 Olympics.
TK: BC government wants behavior change in time for the 2010 games, and don't we all respond well to deadlines? One wonders if the population will let themselves go after the Olympic spotlight passes.

Immigration rules: an economic disaster? Business Week reports:
Employers and immigrant rights groups are speaking out against rules announced Aug. 10 by the Bush Administration requiring employers to fire workers without valid Social Security numbers. Opponents argue that the regulations, effective in one month, will create a disastrous ripple effect in the U.S. economy and disrupt the lives of an estimated 12 million undocumented people in the U.S.
"Throwing this rock in the pond will have devastating consequences," says Craig Regelbrugge, co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform and spokesman for the American Nursery & Landscape Assn. "The anti-immigrant crowd hasn't thought through what would happen if this entire workforce went away. Who will be there to put meat and vegetables on American dinner tables? The only unaffected group will be Americans who do not eat."


Tesco building wind turbines to power checkout registers From the story:
It would be the first Tesco store to be part of a national drive to halve the supermarket chain's in-store energy consumption within three years

Tesco, other UK chains urged to end below-cost sales of alcohol Critics say own-brand alcohol priced at promotion levels below mineral water lead to teenage alcohol abuse

Discussion Board topics

GAO report on freight rates for railroads Big Apple provides link to GAO report on railroad rates

Big Mac index and real currency exchange rates Luis notes recent files uploaded to Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group:

At any rate, I am uploading both the nominal and real exchange rates from the USDA to the blog. For Chile (the straightforward nominal case) you can see that the amount of pesos bought by US dollars rises steadily (i.e. C. peso depreciates) and then the amount of pesos/ dollar decreases sharply around 2002 (i.e. C. peso appreciates). Similar situation can be seen in real, inflation adjusted terms. Check Canada and Australia.
Now, in terms of direccion, according to the July 2007 "Big Mac Index", the Chinese Yuan is 58% undervalued against its "fair value" against the US dollar, the Chilean peso is 13% undervalued, Mexico 21% undervalued and the Canadian dollar 8% overvalued. It is a useful indicator but as you know, China's central bank has been able to keep its currency undervalued for a long time so take it with a big grain of salt.