Back from Nashville - headline roundup

Back from a three day weekend birthday visit to our son Brian in Nashville and a Monday morning stop at The Pancake Pantry, now slaving over an overstuffed inbox of google news alerts gone wild. I'll try to wade through some news of interest to me and you.....

Feeding America's Bella plans to depart Coverage from The Packer
TK: We'll catch up with Rick soon for a Fresh Talk chat

Turn back the clock: stock market hits 1997 level AP
The Treasury and other agencies issued a statement after The Wall Street Journal reported Citigroup is in talks for the government to boost its stake in the bank to as much as 40 percent. Analysts said the market, which initially rose on the statement, wanted more details of the government's plans.

Merrigan tapped for #2 USDA post Reuters
Kathleen Merrigan, a professor who helped develop U.S. organic food labeling rules, has been chosen for the Agriculture Department's No. 2 job by President Barack Obama, the White House said on Monday.

Thorton is USDA's choice The News Enterprise

Recession creates farm worker glut The Modesto Bee
What a difference a bad economy makes. The collapse of the construction industry and a slump in the restaurant and food service sector have sent thousands of people back to looking for work on California farms, which not so long ago were hurting for workers.

Restaurants wrestle with fewer ringups Coverage from The Packer

EU makes fresh proposal to end banana dispute EU Business
The European Union has made a fresh proposal to Latin American banana producers in a bid to end a decade-old dispute over the bloc's banana import policies, sources close to the WTO said Monday.In the fresh proposal, the EU has proposed lowering its taxes on banana imports from Latin American countries to 114 euros per tonne by 2019, instead of 2016, prompting swift criticism from the producer nations.

Recession makes for coupon comeback for consumers Newsday

Melon industry takes aggressive safety approach Coverage from The Packer


Canada, U.S. skirt edges edges of deflation Report on business.com

In the United States, total year-over-year inflation was zero, the most lacklustre reading on consumer prices since August, 1955. But prices actually climbed in January, up 0.3 per cent from December, mainly because of higher energy costs."It really comes down to the policy makers now" to prevent a "pernicious" deflationary spiral later this year, said Paul Ashworth, senior economist at London-based Capital Economics.

Fruit and vegetables anti-inflammatory effect reduces disease London Free Press

When you eat five to 10 daily servings of fruits and vegetables, the molecules present in these foods block the production of an enzyme (called COX-2) that plays a key role in the development of inflammation.This effect is extremely important since several studies have shown many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease, are directly linked to chronic inflammation.

5 healthy snack secrets from a nutritionist 15.com
In her two books "How to Teach Nutrition to Kids" and "Nutrition Fun with Broc Roll," Evers has committed to creating a new nutrition culture for kids."Snacking is not a bad thing -- in fact, it's a good thing -- and it can actually help keep kids from overeating at mealtime," says Evers. "Unfortunately lunchboxes and snack bowls are too often overloaded with fat, sugar and salt and are missing fruit, vegetables and whole grains."

USDA Farm labor USDA
Numbers up 2%, wages average $10.93 per hour, up 12 cents from a year ago.

Japanese company unveils wrapping machine Coverage from The Packer

Gunny bags for f/v to be banned in Sri Lanka
The government will ban the use of gunny bags for the packing of fruits and vegetables for transportation to the market from May 1, 2009 and recommends plastic trays instead, to reduce the wastage; Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Bandula Gunawardane said yesterday.

All steriled up; produce safety guidelines throw sustainability out, keep toxic bathwater From The Ethicurean blog
A common criticism of this type of system (besides the fact that it’s absurdly expensive) is that it doesn’t actually fix the contamination problem. It merely ensures that if hundreds of people get horribly ill, we can figure out more quickly where the offending product came from. The produce industry likes this approach, because it would help avoid disasters like the Great Tomato Mistake last summer, when the CDC and FDA wrongly publicized tomatoes as the cause of a nationwide Salmonella outbreak. (It ended up being traced to jalapeno and serrano chilies, but only after consumers had stopped buying tomatoes. The tomato sector has still not recovered.)

Lettuce cartenoids affected by UV light in greenhouse by USDA ARS

No lunch left behind NYT opinion
Every public school child in America deserves a healthful and delicious lunch that is prepared with fresh ingredients. Cash-strapped parents should be able to rely on the government to contribute to their children’s physical well-being, not to the continued spread of youth obesity, Type 2 diabetes and other diet-related problems. Let’s prove that there is such a thing as a good, free lunch.

Fruits and veggies may reduce diabetes Personal Liberty Digest

Outflow of migrants from Mexico slows AP
The net outflow of Mexicans — both legal and illegal — declined by over 50 percent in the 12 months ending in August 2008, compared the same period a year earlier, said the Eduardo Sojo, president of the board of Mexico's National Statistics, Geography and Information Institute.

Federal investment in Canada's maritime apple regions Marketwire

Drug violence creeping from Mexico to Arizona NYT
The raging drug war among cartels in Mexico and their push to expand operations in the United States has led to a wave of kidnappings, shootings and home invasions in Arizona, state and federal officials said at a legislative hearing on Monday.


Vilsack wants stricter COOL rules Agweek

Canada may continue COOL complaint Food Product Design


Save your vision with fresh organic foods The Examiner

USDA toughens oversight of organic fertilizer The Sacramento Bee

Farm groups urge Vilsack to keep farm safety nets Brownfield

Shanghai retail organic market USDA FAS

Truck lanes pick up speed St. Louis Today

Chemigation debated in ND AP

Dems cool on climate change as economic pressures grow Investors.com