New poll - Was NAFTA good or bad for U.S. produce industry?

I'm still scratching my head over the exclusion of white potatoes from the WIC rule. It only makes implementation of the rule harder for WIC participants and retailers. Like John Keeling of the National Potato Council, I wonder how do you define "white potatoes'? What about red-skinned, white flesh potatoes? Or white-skinned, yellow-flesh? Perhaps common sense will prevail in the final rule.

Note there is a new Fresh Talk poll about NAFTA. Perhaps more than that, it may be a poll about how the trade feels about "free trade agreements." One trade analyst with the CATO Institute said that NAFTA is often brought up for abuse in political campaigns, but in fact the agreement was very good for the U.S. and Mexico. In terms of the produce industry, was NAFTA good or bad, foul or fair?

The previous Fresh Talk poll indicated that those participating in the poll were evenly split on the course of action for the Produce Traceability Initiative.

What's the best way for the Produce Traceability Initiative to increase implementation of full chain traceability?

Set an industry wide deadline for implementation	4 (44%)
Recommend that FDA provide guidance/mandate	4 (44%)
No action required: All market forces to influence traceability	1 (11%)
Begin outreach to trade on turnkey solutions	1 (11%)

HFO

Elizabeth Pivonka of the Produce for Better Health Foundation said she enjoyed the WIC reception at USDA's headquarters today. She observed USDA nutrition program staffers were very pleased about being able to be a part of the change in WIC food packages. Of course, a big part of the change was adding fruit and vegetable vouchers, but dairy, eggs and juice had their WIC food package allocations dialed down to reflect dietary guidelines. Given the politics of food - the strength of the dairy lobby, for example - it wasn't easy for the USDA to make those changes.

An inside joke at the agency, Pivonka related, was a reference to a now-retired nutrition staffer. The lady joked - after a hard-fought battle to modestly change the WIC food packages in 1980 - that hell would freeze before such an effort could succeed again. In that spirit, someone at USDA recently created some buttons with the letters "HFO."

Nice touch.

Cloture vote in doubt

The cloture vote on the farm bill tomorrow doesn't look like it will get the necessary votes, so it is likely the farm bill will remain stalled amid the dispute about amendments. One lobbyist told me that the Senate may have already finished their work on the farm bill if Sen. Harry Reid had just allowed the debate to unfold. That led the lobbyist to believe that members didn't want their votes recorded on certain amendments. In any case, look for work on the farm bill to continue into the first quarter of next year. Barring catastrophe, we should still get a new farm bill.

FR WIC Rule

Here is the link for the WIC fruit and vegetable voucher rule, as published in the Federal Register today. From the executive summary:

This interim rule revises regulations governing the WIC food packages to align the WIC food packages with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) \1\ and current infant feeding practice guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics, better promote and support the establishment of successful long-term breastfeeding, provide WIC participants with a wider variety of food, and provide WIC State agencies with greater flexibility in prescribing food packages to accommodate participants with cultural food preferences.

DATES: Effective Date: This rule is effective February 4, 2008.Implementation Date: State agencies must implement the provisions of this rule no later than August 5, 2009. Comment Date: To be considered, comments on this interim rule must be postmarked on or before February 1, 2010.

Here is the USDA response about white potatoes.....

Under the proposed rule, white potatoes would have been excluded from authorization in the WIC food packages. A total of 324 commenters (of these 291 were form letters) opposed the restriction of white potatoes. Twenty-four commenters stated that white potatoes should be included in the WIC food packages because they are versatile, economical and contain key nutrients. Thirteen commenters (1 form letter) from WIC State and local agencies stated that the exclusion of white potatoes would be hard to administer.
The restriction of white potatoes, as recommended by the IOM, is based on the amounts suggested in the DGA\(1)\ for consumption of starchy vegetables; food intake data indicating that consumption of starchy vegetables meets or exceeds these suggested amounts; and food intake data showing that white potatoes are the most widely used vegetable. Therefore, this provision is retained in the interim rule as proposed in Table 4 of 7 CFR 246.10(e)(12).

TK: An 18-month period was set up for states to implement the rule, and so one thinks the final rule - after the comment period that ends Feb. 4 - won't be much different than this interim rule. Considerable pressure will be applied on the USDA to bend, not only by dairy and juice interests (their packages were reduced) but also by the potato industry (white potatoes excluded from the voucher). Lorelei DiSogra and others will attend a briefing about the rule this morning, prior to the reception hosted by the USDA. More observations from Lorelei later in some Packer coverage I'm developing.