News from FFI

Compensation for growers won't be easy, but it can't be any harder than the last few weeks. This just slid across the inbox, from Florida Farmers:

GADSDEN TOMATO GROWERS JOIN FLORIDA FARMERS, INC.

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Paul DiMare, Chairman of Florida Farmers, Inc.(FFI) announced today that tomato growers in Gadsden County, FL. have joined FFI. Also Billy Don Grant of Quincy Tomato Co. and Gadsden Tomato Co. and William Maxwell, president of Gadsden Tomato Growers Association have accepted appointment to the Board of Directors of FFI.

“We welcome their affiliation and support. The North Florida Growers have recently suffered severe losses as the result of the inactions of the Food &Drug Administration (FDA). FDA announced in early June that the country was suffering from a Salmonella outbreak caused by tomatoes, almost three weeks later the FDA added cilantro, and various types of hot peppers to the list of suspect produce. Now, it seems that tomatoes may not have been involved in the first place,” DiMare said.

“A number of growers in Southwest Florida have also sustained severe losses as the result of the Salmonella outbreak. Consumer confidence has dropped and as a result of the apparent inability of the federal government to handle the issue in a competent, prompt and fair manner. Sales are down 30 to 40 percent, primarily as a result of slow and inconclusive response by our federal government.”

FFI is an advocacy organization of and for Florida winter vegetable farmers that was established in 1996 as an aggressive response to failed U.S. trade policies, such as NAFTA that have forced over 300 winter vegetable farmers out of business since 1994. Florida winter vegetable farmers provide about 50% of the winter vegetables to American consumers. Mexico is the other primary source.

The Florida winter vegetable is a sensitive and strategic food industry and the protection mechanism in NAFTA has not worked. FFI provides leadership to address critical issues, including:

Legal remedies for dumping of foreign produce

Public awareness of food safety

Passage and implementation of country of origin labeling(COOL)legislation

Progressive action for affordable housing for farm workers

Immigration reform that protects national security and provides for a legal and stable farm workforce.

Environmental, energy and growth management policy for sustaining vegetable farming in Florida

And now added to this list:

Accountability of the federal government for loss and damage suffered as a result of mishandling the Salmonella issue.

The Tomato-knockers

Dateline: York Beach, Maine. Even the license plates say 'Vacationland'.

In this New England version of Asbury Park, New Jersey, the waves are big from the remnants of Hurricane Bertha a thousand miles off, the seagulls divebomb looking for prey, the sun is hot, and at first glance one would think all is well.

Ah, surely you jest. You see, I have been chosen to find the one grey cloud in the blue sky. Simmering beneath the surface, the seeds of discontent continue to stir. Yes, the tomato business is coming back, ever so slowly, but in my opinion it's due to the general public, the tail that wags the dog, saying this to the FDA & CDC:

You Have Become Tiresome.

And Congress is starting to act, finally. You've had a chance to read yesterday's pointed letter from Senator Harkin (D-Iowa) to the Secretary of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in a recent Tom Karst blog. In this political version of the corporate bizarro world, that's called 'running it up the ladder'. But what happens when it gets to the top rung?

So get ready for an onerous, club-footed Congressional investigation. My clairvoyant mind tells me that Dr's. von Eschenbach of the FDA and Gerberding of the CDC, in the hot seat, will testify that the reason that the handling of the outbreak was 'woefully inadequate' was because of funding cuts. Blame will be spread evenly across all government branches, and probably to the 'backwoods' tomato industry as well for not having a fail-safe traceback process in place beforehand. I'm waiting for that.

But in the tony restaurants of Ogunquit, Maine, the former home of horror novelist Stephen King, the caprese salad is back on the menu. That perfect mix of sliced, ripe tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and capers, dressed down with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil leaves and cracked black pepper is the final piece of the puzzle, the puzzle that tricks everybody into thinking we're back to normal.

Later,

Jay

The appeal of CSA - locally known produce

Visiting Nashville recently, I heard about Avalon Acres Farms from the family we stayed with. Our host family subscribes to the community supported agriculture group that draws on 40 family farms in Tennessee. The family receives about a half a bushel of produce and some meat every week for about $35. The produce is delivered and distributed at their church every Sunday morning. They mentioned the Web site for Avalon Acres. For the uninformed - I count myself in that group - the number of CSA groups has grown from about 50 in 1990 to about 1,000 today.

I talked with Tim Bodmar of Avalon Acres Farms about his adventure into farming from the corporate life and might develop that conversation for this week's Packer column. The idea of locally grown and "known" produce is appealing, especially for people in a certain demographic. From what Tim told me, the concept really resonates with community, churches and corporations. Though he started out with the idea of selling to restaurants, Avalon Acres now concentrates on CSA and has about 700 customers in the Nashville area.

Meat recall - Different problem, same solution

We will hear much more about the need for a single food safety agency in the months ahead. From the office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro:


Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), chairwoman of the Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement regarding the recall of 5.3 million pounds of beef sold in Kroger supermarkets because of possible E. coli contamination. The recalled beef, which has been tied to 44 illnesses, including one case of kidney failure, was initially found in stores in Michigan and Ohio, and has expanded to New York, Kentucky and Indiana.

“Today, we have another foodborne illness outbreak involving a different food product, a different pathogen, and a different government agency with jurisdiction. Unfortunately, consumers are stuck with the same consequence – more illnesses as a result of a collapsing food safety system with the inability to prevent, identify or contain these outbreaks.

“The report released this week by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified some of the critical elements of an effective food safety system, using other countries systems as examples. But perhaps the most important finding from the report is that it presented independent verification that an effective food safety system could be established under a single food safety agency.

“With these endless outbreaks, the Administration continues to ignore the lessons that are constantly presented to them on how to fix our food safety system. It is time to start learning these lessons that the rest of the world seems to understand perfectly well and implement a food safety system that focuses on the entire food supply chain. I will hold a hearing in two weeks that will hold these federal agencies accountable for their failure to protect Americans from foodborne illnesses like salmonella and E.coli and outline how these problems might be solved.”

Information tech down on the farm

One of my favorite bloggers, Big Gav (an Australian engineer whose site covers energy production and environmental issues), today has a post from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review site about Michigan apple growers using wireless networks to access weather data and how the process leads to more efficient use of fertilizer, pesticides and other inputs:

"For apple growers like Abby Jacobson, making or losing money depends as much on what they don't do as what they do. So when data from Michigan State University's high-tech weather monitoring network helped her decide to skip four costly chemical sprayings this spring, she considered it an unqualified success.
..."

"... Technicians installed the station in March in an open field near fruit trees at the 188-acre orchard near Romeo. The station checks wind speed and direction, air temperature, humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, leaf wetness, and soil moisture and temperature at two depths. A modem links the station -- one of 57 statewide -- to Verizon Wireless' broadband wireless network, which feeds the data every five minutes to Michigan State's Enviro-weather computer programs. They, in turn, crunch the numbers and give farmers up-to-the-minute advice on when to plant; apply fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides; irrigate and harvest their crops. The information is instantly available free to farmers by logging in to Enviro-weather's Web site."

The Web's use as a promotional tool (for business and/or self) deservedly gets much attention and praise. But its real dividends for business (and society as a whole) may come from enabling smarter use of increasingly expensive production inputs and other process efficiencies.

Truck Rate Report - July 15

From the USDA's Truck Rate Report:

A shortage of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions: sweet potatoes rom Eastern North Carolina. A slight shortage of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions: potatoes from Upper Valley Twin Falls-Burley District Idaho and Columbia Basin Washington.LAST REPORT was issued for melons from Georgia. FIRST REPORT was issued for melons from North Carolina, and cabbage from Southeastern Wisconsin. All other districts reported an adequate supply of trucks.

En fuego

Let's just say the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group is having a good run. We've added quite a few new members lately, despite my laggardly pace at updating posts from the group on this blog (somehow the RSS feed isn't working).

I'm excited about the growth of the FPIDG, because it not only offers a great resource for readers but also for me as well.

What I would like to see now is the All About Fruits and Vegetables Consumer Forum grow. I see this group as another avenue for associations and produce marketers to make their presence felt and lead consumers to a site where they can ask questions and have a free-wheeling forum. I'd invite any one in the trade with a Web site to link to the consumer forum, as I have linked to it on this blog. Any suggestions welcome.

Managing cargo security and commerce

You may want to check out this page at the Homeland Security Committee, subcommittee on transportation security and infrastructure protection of the House of Representatives. You will find details of a hearing held yesterday on the topic of “The Next Step in Aviation Security — Cargo Security: Is DHS Implementing the Requirements of the 9/11 Law Effectively?” Links to the witness list and prepared statements can be found on the page.

Northwest U.S. cherry industry officials I have spoken with are concerned that new rules that go into effect next year could damage U.S. cherry exports significantly by requiring inspection of every box. Since some markets required sealed boxes because of pest concerns, breaking the seal on those boxes for inspection purposes would void the export sale.

Developing....

Uh-Oh

U.S. consumers got hit with a 9.2% inflation rate in June, year on year, according to yesterday's consumer price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We all know that paying more than $4 per gallon for milk and for gas is a shock to the pocketbook. The cost per pound of bread in June was $1.37 compared with a $1.19 at the same time last year. Some produce prices also climbed higher, with red delicious apples at $1.25 per pound compared with $1.11 a year ago.  Banana prices were 63 cents per pound compared with 50 cents per pound a year ago. Tomato and lettuce prices were virtually the same as a year ago and navel orange prices were off substantially, the BLS reports.

Here is a link to some coverage of this new round of "stagflation." From AP:

The Labor Department said wholesale inflation, driven by skyrocketing gas and food costs, rose by 9.2 percent for the 12 months ending in June -- the fastest pace since the summer of 1981, during another energy crunch.

At the same time, consumers hit the brakes hard despite a massive infusion of government stimulus checks. Retail sales turned in their poorest showing in four months.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a somber midyear outlook to Congress, saying the U.S. faces "numerous difficulties" despite the Fed's interest rate-cutting campaign, which began last September in hopes of preventing a recession.