The Great Crash - Six of Six

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Water bonds a helpful sign: WG

From Western Growers:

Irvine, CA (March 2, 2009) - California legislators from both parties introduced strong water bond legislation last week, giving new hope to California farmers and their employees whose jobs are increasingly threatened by the state's water supply crisis.

State Senators Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) and Dean Florez (D-Shafter) both introduced comprehensive water infrastructure bond legislation yesterday that would provide new surface and groundwater storage, improved Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta conveyance systems and Delta restoration measures.  The senators join Governor Schwarzenegger and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein as advocates for a strong water bond that will restore the state's ability to provide adequate supplies of water for its growing population, farms and environmental needs.

"The introduction of these water bonds so soon after resolution of the budget crisis is a hopeful sign for California farmers," said Tom Nassif, Western Growers president & CEO.  "Farm and water organizations have worked long and hard with Gov. Schwarzenegger, Senator Feinstein and members of the California legislature on the critical need for immediate action on the state's water infrastructure.  Senator Cogdill continues to lead the way by standing firm for bond language that provides a measure of certainty that these critically needed improvements will actually be implemented if the people of California approve the bond initiative.  Senator Florez's new bond proposal presents an alternative that also provides much of the certainty we are looking for and we applaud his action."

SB 371 (Cogdill) calls for $9.98 billion in general obligation bonds with $3 billion dedicated to the development of additional storage for statewide benefit and another $1.5 billion dedicated to regional water supply reliability.  Funds are also proposed for implementation of a sustainable resource management plan for the Delta and local and regional conveyance project ($2.4 billion); water conservation and water use efficiency ($520 million); water quality improvement ($950 million); water resources stewardship ($1 billion); and $610 million for other projects including restoration of watersheds, removal of fish barriers, and ocean protection. 

 SB 301 (Florez) calls for $15 billion in general obligation bonds with $7 billion for additional storage projects, $1.5 billion for regional water supply reliability, $3 billion for Delta ecosystem restoration, water supply reliability and in-Delta investments and funding levels similar to SB 371 for other projects. 

Nassif also warned that a water bond will not provide immediate relief.  "Even if this water bond were enacted tomorrow, it will be many years before water storage and conveyance projects can be completed.  Federal and state leaders must confront the reality that rules designed to protect fish species are causing irreparable harm to thousands of Californians whose livelihoods depend on farmers who are being forced to abandon fields and cut jobs.  It is time for a candid public discussion about whether we wish to protect farms and the jobs they provide from becoming extinct."

Western Growers is an agricultural trade association whose members from Arizona and California grow, pack and ship ninety percent of the fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in California and seventy five percent of those commodities in Arizona. This totals about half of the nation's fresh produce.

Child nutrition in difficult times

From the office of the Senate Agriculture Committee:

Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Saxby Chambliss, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry, today announced a Committee hearing entitled: Improving Nutrition for America's Children in Difficult Economic Times. The Committee will meet in open session at 9:30 A.M. on Wednesday, March 4, 2009, in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building.

The hearing will continue the Committee's preparation for the reauthorization of federal child nutrition programs. The first panel will investigate the cost of producing a school meal, the adequacy of the existing federal reimbursement structure for school meals, and will highlight local efforts to improve nutrition throughout the school. The second panel will focus on the challenges and opportunities associated with providing food to children when they are not in school, including early childhood and childcare settings, summer nutrition initiatives, and after-school programs.

Harkin, serving dual roles in the Senate Agriculture and Health Committees, views the intersection of major health care reform and the child nutrition reauthorization as an opportunity to focus on prevention, starting with our kids, not just in our schools, but in childcare and other early childhood settings as well.

Witnesses for the proceeding include:

Panel I: Improving Nutrition Through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs

Dr. Katie Wilson, School Nutrition Director, Onalaska Public Schools, Onalaska, WI

Dr. Susan Bartlett, Senior Researcher, Abt Associates, Cambridge, MA

Mrs. Connie Boldt, School Food Director, Knoxville Community School District, Knoxville, IA

Panel II: Improving Nutrition for Children When They're Not in School

Dr. David Page, Professor, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, MD

Mr. Kenneth Hecht, Executive Director, California Food Policy Advocates, Oakland, CA

Ms. Lucy Nolan, Executive Director, End Hunger Connecticut, Hartford, CT

Produce Promotions - March 4 to March 10

Asparagus can't be a considered a luxury produce item this week. Asparagus was advertised at the Price Chopper chain in Kansas City at the working class price $1.29 per pound for the week of March 4 to March 10, dispelling any notions that the vegetable is out of reach for recession-hammered consumers. Other produce promotions in the Kansas City market this week.


Price Chopper
Fresh green asparagus: $1.29/lb
Braeburn apples: 77 cents/lb
California head lettuce: 99 cents/each
Golden Jumbo Dole pineapple: $3.99
Hot House tomatoes on the vine: $1.99/lb
Texas ruby red grapefruit: 3 for $1
Fresh broccoli crowns: $1.29/lb

Aldi
Mixed fruit bag: $2.29/5 lb bag
Indian River grapefruit: 25 ents each
California navel oranges: $1.29 per 4-pound bag
Red seedless grapes: 89 cets/lb


HyVee
HyVee Garden salad: 68 cents/16 oz package
Monterey whole white mushrooms: 99 cents/8 oz package
Ripe and ready Chilean nectarines: $1.68/lb
Fresh blackberries: 2 for $3 5.6 oz package
Sunkist cara cara: $2.99/3 lb bag
Stemilt fuji apples: 88 cents/lb
Mission ripe Hass: 99 cents each
Sunkist Minneaola: $1.27/lb


Hen House
Red seedless grapes: $1.28/lb
Driscoll's Fines Strawberries: 2 1-lb. container for $5
Hothouse seedless cucumbers: buy one get one free
Vine ripened cantaloupe: buy one get one free
Large size kiwifruit: buy one get one free
Green Giant mini carrots: buy one get one free
Nature Sweet cherry tomatoes: buy one get one free

The safest food supply on earth? Survey says...

A recent consumer survey tells us what we already suspected. Repeated foodborne illness outbreaks are taking a toll on public confidence in the U.S. food supply. this link was passed along by Doug Powell of the Food Safety Network: We know the problem, but what is the solution?

Consumer confidence in food safety drops MNdaily.com

Only 22.5 percent of consumers surveyed at the beginning of February said they felt the country's food supply was safer today than a year ago, a drop of more than 20 percent since the salmonella outbreak, which first entered the national spotlight in January and has killed nine and sickened more than 500 .Researchers at the center have been using their survey since May 2008. It differs from others because it measures consumer confidence in food on a weekly basis rather than measuring a few times a year like other surveys, Jean Kinsey , co-director at the center, said.

Later...

"One day you're doing good business and the next day you're out of business without doing anything wrong," Degeneffe said.Researchers are also using the survey to better understand how media coverage of food safety events affects consumer confidence.

Meeting covers local produce, fertilizer  issues Coverage from The Packer

Over the course of the meeting, USDA also discussed the role of the National Organic Program and commented on progress toward a U.S.-Canadian equivalency agreement and an investigation of Bakersville, Calif.-based Port Organic Products, Inc. "Stop using this stuff. Do not use it," said Barbara Robinson, acting director, of the USDA organic program, referring to Port Organic's apparent use of banned synthetic materials in its supposedly organic fertilizer.Use of synthetic materials could jeopardize a farm's organic status, and Port Organics is one of three companies in California suspected of illegally using banned substances in fertilizers. The AMS on Feb. 20 announced that it is requiring third-party reviewers to implement detailed audit and inspection protocols for all high nitrogen-content liquid organic fertilizers effective Oct. 1. "The prevalent use of liquid fertilizer is disturbing," Robinson said.

Some skeptical of China's new food safety law USA Today

Obamas turn the White House organic US News

It is considered a White House state dinner, and it happens every year when the nation's governors come to town. So planning for the event began even before President Obama was elected. Food would be seasonal and wine regional, an American farm-focused pattern pursued by former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. But then Barack and Michelle Obama arrived, and, well, change happened. The kitchen staff, inspired by the Obamas' organic focus, tweaked the menu and even the wine choices to highlight organic foods.

California almond industry feeling the squeeze San Francisco Chronicle

While there have been record almond crops for the past three years, and new markets have always materialized, California's largest agricultural export is facing an unprecedented array of challenges.Among them: A severe drought, a court order that restricts water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to 220,000 acres of almond trees on the western side of the San Joaquin Valley, recession, falling prices for nuts, and the death of honeybees required for pollination. It all adds up to trouble."This is ground no one has been on before," said almond grower Matt Billings of Delano (Kern County).You can't sense the trouble by visiting the orchards. Almond trees are in glorious bloom in the Central Valley and 1.2 million colonies of honeybees are doing their duty. It's a pretty sight, but 2009 will be the toughest year many of the state's 6,000 almond growers have faced.

The tragedy that is North Carolina's pesticide regulatory system Beaufort Observer

Syngenta may bid for Dow AgroSciences if unit put up for sale Bloomberg

Local tomato growers struggle with low prices Bradenton Herald
Florida's tomato industry is being dealt another hard blow almost a year after becoming unfairly targeted for a salmonella outbreak caused by Mexican-grown peppers.Growing costs have exceeded the price growers are getting for the produce, said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.Regardless of what's to blame for the drop in prices — the lagging economy or the hangover from the salmonella outbreak last year — the losses cannot be sustained by the industry long-term, Brown said.


Offsets Will Re-Deploy Some Title I Commodity Program Money Farm Futures

Survey: Food gardening growing PR Newswire

Findings from the National Gardening Association's (NGA) new survey, The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America, indicate food gardening in the United States is on the rise as 7 million more households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs or berries in 2009, up 19 percent from 2008. This anticipated increase is nearly double the 10 percent growth in vegetable gardening activity from 2007 to 2008 as more food gardeners emerge this year.More Americans are recognizing the benefits of growing their own produce, including improved quality, taste and cost savings. In 2008, gardeners spent a total of $2.5 billion to purchase seeds, plants, fertilizer, tools and other gardening supplies to grow their own food. According to NGA estimates, a well-maintained food garden yields a $500 average return per garden when considering a typical gardener's investment and the market price of produce.

10-K Fresh Del Monte Produce Market Watch


Report on China's canned f/v sector PRinside.com

Canned or frozen: which is best? The Salt Lake Tribune

But neither should be overlooked as they are high in fiber, low in fat and provide heart-health vitamins and minerals.

Toilet paper and other moral choices NYT Opinion

Compared to producing vegetables or rice, beef uses 16 times as much energy and produces 25 times the CO2. A study on U.S. consumption from the University of Chicago estimates that if the average American were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent, that would be the equivalent of switching from driving a Camry to a Prius.

Join the FPIDG and other headlines

We have close to 180 members of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group and tonight's posts demonstrate why all Fresh Talk readers should join. Here is what is on the FPIDG board this weekend:

Vendors at Hunts Point Market Go Postal Big Apple From Daily News

Vendors at the Hunts Point wholesale food markets are going postal over news they must pay a hefty fee to pick up their mail early.The produce, fish and meat merchants, whose business day runs from before dawn to early afternoon, have been picking up their mail at the post office early for more than 20 years - for free, said Lee Pakulsky, executive director of the Produce Association at the market.Now the U.S. Postal Service has said as of Friday, they will have .......

Organics: Its worth it Luis

The Organic Agriculture and Products Education Institute (Organic Institute) has launched "Organic. It's worth it.", the non-profit organization's first national consumer   education and marketing campaign.

Peterson says shift food safety to USDA Luis

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., and Agriculture Committee member has been working with fruit and vegetable producers on legislation to move those industries' food inspections to USDA, Peterson said.We're going to have some hearings on that," the Minnesota Democrat said."We have jurisdiction over meat and catfish," says Peterson. "FDA has jurisdiction over everything else. We're not perfect, but our track record is a helluva lot better at USDA than it is at FDA.

Other headlines snatched from the Web Sunday night...

Avocado, citrus may be on the way out North County Times

Avocado and citrus groves have adorned the hilly landscape of rural North San Diego and Southwest Riverside counties for decades. But in just a few years, their lush, semitropical foliage could be replaced by nature's original desert landscape.Water is the reason.Its shortage is becoming a permanent condition of California's economy. Even after the current drought is over, court-imposed environmental restrictions on water transfers will ensure there won't be enough to go around, water officials and growers say."This is what happens when the state doesn't develop its water supply," said Gary Arant, general manager of the Valley Center Municipal Water District, pointing to a stand of dead avocado trees.

Ecuador adopts protectionist measures in response to economic meltdown AP

Crushed glass and hydroponic tomatoes St. Louis today

Peru and Chile enact trade deal FT

Obesity supersizing worker comp costs Financial Week

As the link between obesity and health problems becomes clearer, employers and workers compensation vendors are increasingly assessing the impact that the rising prevalence of obesity is having on workers comp claims and safety efforts

Farmers find ax poised over subsidies Minneapolis Star Tribune

Green restauarant initiatives to grow QSR

The L curve Roubini opinion in NYT

Even if appropriate aggressive policy actions were undertaken — monetary and fiscal stimulus, bank clean-up and credit restoration, mortgage debt reduction for insolvent households — the growth rate would not rise closer to 2 percent until 2011. So this recession may last 36 months.

Kenyan produce exporters: tougher US import rules a boon Business Daily

Local fresh produce exporters are vying for a bigger slice of the American market share this year even as the world's only superpower drifts towards protectionism.Industry players say the decision by the  department of agriculture to re-introduce stricter traceability guidelines for fresh produce and meat entering the country comes with a silver lining that they intend exploit in a push to expand exports beyond the traditional 1 per cent level.The US's tougher laws on imports comes in the wake of the crippling global economic recession triggered by its own industrial failings.