America's most obese cities

It is not something the Memphis, Tenn., Chamber of Commerce will publicize, but that city has just been named the most obese city in the U.S. Forbes magazine made the list up based on 2006 stats. From the story by Rebecca Ruiz:

To better understand the local and state implications of the obesity epidemic, we ranked the nation's heaviest cities. In doing so, we discovered states with multiple offenders, metropolitan areas with expanding waistlines and a high representation of Southern cities. Worse yet, after claiming the title of the most sedentary city, Memphis, Tenn., has also ranked first as the country's most obese.

Later...

While fast-food consumption is a minor factor influencing obesity rates, purchasing patterns often reflect larger health issues and habits in certain communities. The average American had purchased fast food 16 days of the month between January and September of this year, according to Quick-Track research conducted by the consumer tracking group Sandelman & Associates. Thirteen cities on our list, including Memphis, Austin, Texas, and Indianapolis, met the national average or higher. Residents of San Antonio eat fast food 20 days of the month, and had the highest frequency of the cities on our list.

Later.....


Others, such as Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, believe our salvation lies mainly in ridding the grocery store of food he calls "not fit for human consumption." Among the items he would like to see purged, he says, are the "shelves of sugar water, the breakfast cereal section, dominated by refined starch and sugar, and white bread and rolls."
According to Willett, a healthier diet, in combination with increased levels of physical activity and environments that promote exercise, would drastically improve the country's obesity problem. "If we do this right," he says, "we'll improve our quality of life in many different ways."

TK: Good luck with trying to get rid of the cereal aisle. This story should reinforce the notion in Congress that the farm bill should be used to help expand the USDA''s fruit and vegetable snack program to begin to change the youth of America's eating habits.

The coming crisis and commodity boom

If there is a compelling reason to rethink farm subsidies - particularly direct payments that are distributed regardless of the market price of program crops - we can find it in reports of long term trends that suggest rising prices, riots over food in developing countries and potential food rationing in developed countries. We can also ask if these alarmist projections have any basis in fact. Here is a link to a story that looks at the convergence of China's move to improve their diet from grain to protein and the impact of biofuel demand on world grain stocks.
From the UK Telegraph story:

Malthus may have been right after all, though two centuries early and a crank. Mankind is outrunning its food supplies. Hunger - if not yet famine - is a looming danger for a long list of countries that are both poor and heavily reliant on farm imports, according to the Food Outlook of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

TK: Solving political and governance problems in Afria would go a long way to improvement in agricultural performance in those countries.

The farm crunch has been creeping up on the world for 20 years. Food output has risen at 1.3pc a year: the number of mouths at 1.35pc.
What has abruptly changed is the twin revolution of biofuel politics and Asia's switch to an animal-protein diet. Together, they have shattered the fragile equilibrium.
The world's grocery bill has jumped 21pc this year to $745bn (£355bn), hence the food riots ripping through West Africa, Morocco, Yemen, Bengal, and Indonesia.

TK: Here is a report about riots in India, here is a report out of China that described the science when a Carrefour offered a limited time deal on cooking oil.

Three people were killed this month in China at a cooking oil stampede in Chongqing. Mexico has imposed a ceiling on corn prices to quell a tortilla revolt.
Russia has re-imposed a Soviet price freeze on bread, eggs, cheese, milk, sugar, and vegetable oil until January. Russian bread prices have doubled this year. Global wheat prices have surged from $3.75 a bushel to $8.26 since mid-2006.
The FAO says the food spike has a different feel from earlier cycles. "What distinguishes the current state of agricultural markets is the concurrence of the hike in world prices of, not just a selected few, but of nearly all, major food and feed commodities," it said.
"Rarely has the world felt such a widespread and commonly shared concern about food price inflation."
"There is a sense of panic," says Abdolreza Abbassian, head of the FAO's grains trading group. As so often these days, China is the swing player. It is replicating the switch to a diet of beef, pork, chicken, and fish that occurred in Taiwan and Japan when they became rich.
The US Department of Agriculture says the Taiwanese eat nine times as much animal protein as the Chinese.
Why does it matter? Because it takes 16lb or so of animal feed - mostly soya or corn - to produce a single pound of beef. It is considerably less for poultry. It takes 50 times as much water.
Until last year, China was able to grow enough grain to supply its ubiquitous poultry and fish farms. It has now become a net importer of corn for the first time in its modern history.
Urban sprawl across China's eastern seaboard is stealing most the fertile land, and the water tables of northern China are drying up. The same trends are under way in India, Vietnam, and much of emerging Asia.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration aims to supply 20pc of total US fuel needs from biofuels within a decade, up from 3.5pc today - a ploy to break dependence on oil demagogues and slash the trade deficit.
Credit Suisse says worldwide biofuel targets will take up 12pc of global arable and permanent cropland in 10 years, although new technology using the non-edible stalks will mitigate food displacement up to a point.

TK: Alarmists touting a no growth agenda have been wrong before but the convergence of ethanol and the improving Asian diet does suggest a golden age for grains over the next few decades. Given rising grain and food prices, there is all the more reason to rethink the largess of direct payments to U.S. program crop growers.

Fresh Talk Agenda

A little more going on this week than last week, and you can browse to the calendar at the end of the blog for specific event details. We can all dream of being in Maui with the NOA. Here is the Fresh Talk agenda as it stands for this week. Remember to send in notice of coming industry events to tkarst@thepacker.com

Monday, November 26
Packer sections: Chilean Produce/m Tex-Mex Winter Produce/m Michigan KYM/m Combo
Wednesday, November 28
National Onion Association annual convention
Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook
Thursday, November 29
National Onion Association annual convention
Friday, November 30
National Onion Association annual convention
USDA Agricultural Prices
Saturday, December 1
National Onion Association annual convention
Sunday, December 2
National Onion Association annual convention

"Killer App"

I thought the Fresh Talk blog was the "killer app" for the Web, but apparently the folks at http://www.tvworldwide.com/ beg to differ. The Internet TV site offers a bunch of archived videos for viewing, and many of them are educational (more than we can say about www.youtube.com). Big Apple of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group notes that an archived version of the U.S. Maritime Security expo is offered here and the soon coming Web broadcast of this year's event is found here.

"Not so fast" and "While you are at it"

There is push back and some alternative ideas on the proposal to create a national marketing agreement/order for leafy greens. Luis notes coverage of the issue from Supermarket News in this post. From SN coverage:

Community Alliance with Family Farmers, a small-farm advocacy group based (in Davis, Calif.) has said it opposes the proposed federal marketing agreement for leafy greens, a national food safety program modeled after the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. Although many growers have publicly expressed support for the plan, CAFF argues that if the U.S. Department of Agriculture makes the agreement mandatory -- by imposing a marketing order -- small farms and local growers could be bankrupted by expensive mandates that are really designed for large, national operations.
"We don't think the federal marketing agreement is a good model for food safety," Kira Pascoe, CAFF's family farm food safety coordinator, said.

TK: Meanwhile, the U.S. government regulation Web site - www.regulations.gov - has other comments posted about the proposal. From a consumer:

"General Comment:Concered about e-coli--I googled it and found over 100,000 sites--all document anywhere from 25,000 to 85,000 cases of e-coli cases per year--e-coli was
identified and named it 1865, certainly not a "new threat" 95% of e-coli is found in the large intestines of humans and animals--in other words feces--in other words fertilizers-- Before the outrageous restrictions on food handling--a moderate amout of e-coli was consumed by everyone and the body produced immunities much the same as vaccines. The very idea that a million packages of spinach was recalled for 30 illnesses in obscene--The product was grown in lands that have produced spinach for generations without the FDA's interference--again OUTRAGEOUS OVER REGULATION !! "

TK: That consumer comment isn't going anywhere, but one thoughtful comment was submitted by Lloyd Ligier, vice president of business development for Pro*Act in Monterey, Calif. Ligier writes to USDA:

"Time and again we see product being delivered to foodservice customers in unrefrigerated trucks or worse, open bed trucks, from facilities that have little or inadequate refrigeration, have no pest control program, are not third party inspected, and do not have HACCP or any other food safety programs in place. This does not bode well for food safety, and is, or soon will be, a major problem in handling safe, source product."
"This is my 42nd year in the wholesale produce industry, all of my time spent in fresh produce distribution. Little has changed in those 42 years regarding jobbers or unqualified produce distributors. Under today's circumstances, with the efforts being put forth with the growers and fresh cut processors, there must be some effort put forth to qualify fresh produce receiving and distribution points."
"My suggestion is that GDP (Good Distribution Practices) should be established, and in order for a distributor to sell to any foodservice account, they should follow and be certified as a GDP distributor. "

TK: That is one bold proposal, my friends, and certainly resonates with the grower community. What do you think? Ligier says the system for GDP for distributors could be voluntary and still work its purpose. As in the case with the national marketing agreement for leafy greens, arguments over the applicability of any regulation to small farmers or small foodservice operators will be the swing issue.

Almonds unstoppable?

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group posts this news about the growth of almond demand.

From the story:

Shipments of 2007 California almond crop are breaking all records, according to Blue Diamond President and CEO, Doug Youngdahl. The industry shipped 18 percent more almonds in August through October 2007, than was shipped last year at the same time, he told the cooperative's growers at their 97th annual meeting. August shipments alone were a stunning 61 percent over last August and 20 percent ahead of the prior record set in 2004!
According to Blue Diamond, a cooperative owned by over half of the state's almond growers, at the current shipment pace, a 20 percent demand growth over the next year could solidify California almonds as the leading U.S. marketing model of the decade. "The 2007 crop forecast of 1.33 billion pounds, or 19 percent more than last year, is on target based on early receipts," said Youngdahl.
Despite increasingly larger crops, Blue Diamond has advocated over the last four years for grower returns that reflect steadily increasing demand. This has built a confidence in growers and the marketplace that is unprecedented in agriculture. Bearing almond acreage is expected to climb by at least 50,000 new net acres in 2008, followed by an additional 50,000 acres in 2009 and another 40,000 acres in 2010. While yields are rising, costs are also escalating.
At the same time, the Blue Diamond branded retail franchise has tripled in sales over the last four years and it's branded natural foods line has increased 50 percent in the last year. This has helped to contribute to another near-record overall sales year of $658 million (just $16 million short of last year's record). "This sales growth returned Blue Diamond growers another near-record year in payments second only to last year's record," said Youngdahl. "We also added new grower tonnage to our throughput which helps to offset production costs and increase grower return on investment."
Youngdahl attributed another bumper year in sales and competitive grower payments to an aggressive marketing and sales campaign that introduced 11 new branded products and myriad new uses of almonds in cereals, ice cream, confectionaries and baked goods. Backed by an aggressive new Blue Diamond television campaign featuring taste and health attributes of almonds, the branded program introduced "100 calorie packs" for weight management, a new Oven Roasted line for healthy snacking in self-measured servings, expanded the Nut Thins cracker line of wheat-free snacks and offered new Almond Breeze non- dairy beverage alternatives to lactose-intolerant consumers.


TK: Blue Diamond - see their Web site here - is finding plenty of reasons to celebrate the almond's success. But 140,000 new acres over the next three years is bound to test the limits of the almond's popularity.

WIC rule this week?

Lorelei DiSogra of the United Fresh Produce Association says in an email that the WIC rule for fruit and vegetable vouchers for participants in the WIC program may be issued this week. She noted that sources at the National WIC Association (NWA) reported Nov. 21 that the White House Office of Management & the Budget (OMB) completed its review of the proposed revisions in the WIC Food Packages. The NWA said the changes are expected to be published in the Federal Register by USDA/FNS as Interim Final Rule as early as this week.

A Nov. 21 report by NWA, a nutrition advocacy group devoted to the WIC program, recaps the fight to change the WIC food packages:


In 2000, the strong voices of the WIC Food Package Task Force, backed by the Board of Directors, and the Association’s membership published NWA’s WIC Food Prescription Recommendations proposing sweeping changes to the food packages to include among other things fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables.
In 2003, the Culturally Sensitive Food Package Task Force, again backed by the Board of Directors, and the Association’s membership published NWA’s WIC Culturally Sensitive Food Prescription Recommendations.
Together, these documents formed a backbone of recommendations considered by the Committee to Review the WIC Food Packages of the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The resulting IOM recommendations to the USDA and Congress reflected to a large extent the proposals offered by NWA.
Thanks to the professional, committed work of the Food & Nutrition Service team who stood with NWA throughout our efforts to promote changes to the WIC Food Packages, USDA/FNS’ proposal to make revisions in the WIC food packages published in August of 2006, reflected to a significant degree the recommendations of the IOM.
Now we are on the precipice of implementation. NWA will host a Food Package Implementation Summit on 11 March in conjunction with our annual Washington Leadership Conference 9-11 March in Washington, DC. The Summit will bring together USDA and over 30 national organizations as well NWA members to discern the most effective and responsible ways to roll out the new WIC Food Packages; evolve a statement of shared principles that we can rely upon as we move towards full implementation; and create a roster of experts for further counsel and consultation. We hope that you will join us in Washington for this important Leadership Conference and Summit. Watch www.nwica.org and Monday Morning Report for further information.
NWA’s Food Package Implementation Task Force will be reviewing the interim final rule and considering recommendations to assists state and local agencies as they work through the process of implementation.

"You're eating that?"

That's the headline from this opinion piece from The New York Times, passed on by Doug Powell of the KSU Food Safety Network. From the NYT:

A few years ago Americans walked into the grocery store and plucked items from the shelves with a confidence that the world could only envy. Now, according to a survey for the Food Marketing Institute, only 66 percent of consumers in the United States are confident that the food they buy is safe, down from 82 percent last year. With news of killer spinach, tainted hamburger patties and imported seafood that can provide as many toxins as omega-3s, who can blame them?

Later in the piece...

USA Today pointed out a particularly glaring problem last week. The private laboratories that test foods from companies on the government’s “import alert list” cannot automatically report tainted food to the Food and Drug Administration. Instead, they must give their reports to the importer who is paying for the test. If a shipment fails one laboratory’s test, some importers have switched to a less-reputable laboratory to get the tainted foodstuff through. That cannot be allowed. When labs find a batch of food with too much pesticide or salmonella or worse, they should be required to alert the F.D.A., not hope the companies will come clean for them.
The F.D.A. needs to follow through on promises to determine which companies abroad are more trustworthy and which require closer scrutiny. One quick solution would be to immediately require accreditation of private laboratories through the International Standards Organization. The best labs would welcome that certification.
The government should also require importers to announce which laboratory they will use in advance so that there can be no switching later. And some of the additional money from Congress should go to updating the F.D.A.’s own equipment for random or follow-up testing and to develop a system to more efficiently track data about imports, companies and their past performance.

TK: Sounds like accreditation of private laboratories is a much-needed step, if only a small one, that may begin to restore consumer confidence.

Wanted: silver bullet

Here is the link to the final report of the International Lettuce and Leafy Greens Food Safety Research Conference, presented recently by United's Dave Gombas to the USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.

From the report's general recommendations:

Research Scaled to Real World. All participants felt that research should be conducted on a pilot-scale or field operational basis and that we must get beyond the classical laboratory research of the past. It was noted that research on microbial ecology and field interventions should focus on actual field conditions and what the pathogens are doing, not what they can be made to do.
Access to Private Sector Data. Critical information exists in both industry-conducted data collection and industry-funded research. These private sector operational data must be mined in such a way as to allow access with confidentiality. Collaborative partnerships between industry, academia and government must be facilitated to ensure research is focused on solutions for real world practices and data gaps.

Kill Step Technology. While there is a crucial need for a pasteurization process for lettuce and leafy greens, it is recognized that no current technology has a significant potential to accomplish this in the near future. Therefore, significant expenditure of research funds here is unlikely to result in a meaningful intervention until an innovative approach is found.

TK: Does irradiation offer "significant potential to accomplish" a kill step for lettuce and leafy greens in the near future? Apparently not, say the authors of this report. However, even if irradiation were a kill step, would it be used? Here is an excerpt from commentary by Michael Osterholm is director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.

"In the end, there is only one absolute measure to address this issue: food irradiation. This process, which primarily uses an electron gun -- just like the one in your TV, except at higher power -- that turns electricity into an energy that safely and cost-effectively kills bacteria like E. coli. It does so without significantly changing the flavor, color or nutrient content of the food. Routine irradiation of meat and poultry would do for those food commodities what pasteurization did for milk: make them safe. In the end, that's all that matters, particularly for those who have lost loved ones needlessly to E.coli infection."

The best produce holiday and an ad for La. citrus

What's the best holiday for produce sales? So far, 33% of readers who have taken part of the Fresh Talk poll (time is winding down to vote, by the way) say Thanksgiving and 33% say the July 4 holiday, with Easter netting 22% and Christmas 11%.

The Hen House Market post-Thanksgiving produce ads in the suburban Kansas City market (Nov. 23-Nov. 27) featured front page treatment for 5-lb box of satsuma mandarins from Plaquemines Parish, Belle Chase La. by Ben Sr. and Ben Jr. Becnel. "The Pride of Becnelville!", "Family Owned Farm!" helped describe the product. Louisiana citrus doesn't get a lot of run, so it was intriguing to see them featured at $4.48 for a 5-lb box. Here is a link to a profile of the La. citrus industry.

The front page of the Dillons food ad featured new crop Cameo apples at 99 cents/lb, while the Price Chopper ad gave front page treatment to new crop Texas grapefruit.( 4-5-lb bags for $10)