Recession diet - fruits and veggies OK

Fruits and veggies are no budget buster, says this coverage from centralPa.com on the recession diet. From the story:

According to a survey from AllRecipes.com four in five Americans said they have stopped buying expensive food items.Families across Central Pennsylvania are changing the way the shop for food. "I think we're more careful in just stretching that dollar in anyway we can," Kathleen Stehouwer of State College said. The International Monetary Fund announced earlier this year a "prolonged period of belt-tightening" has begun.For some, that means fresh meals are on the chopping block."Especially during these times I know frozen foods are really easy and quick to throw into the microwave and have but typically they are higher in sodium than fresh foods," Michele Rager, a Clinical Dietician at Mount Nittany Medical Centre in State College, said.

Fruits and veggies might seem like a budget buster. "It's actually a myth that fruits and vegetables are more expensive. They did a study last year that showed that you could buy the same amount of fruits and vegetables everyday as chips, sodas things we would typically snack on for less than two dollars and fifty cents," Rager said.There is one way to keep eating what you want and still be mindful of your wallet and waist line.

TK: Amen

Tomato pickers mobilize movement Pittsburgh Gazette From the story:

If you're buying tomatoes in winter, there's a good chance the fruit comes from Florida and that it was picked by migrant workers, including what federal officials say may be modern-day slaves.Like the movement to buy fair-trade coffee, the spotlight is now on the struggles of tomato pickers on Florida fields. From November through spring, Florida growers provide more than 80 percent of the shipments of tomatoes sold in the United States. The plight of migrant workers in the United States is not new. But, in this month's Gourmet Magazine, writer Barry Estabrook puts the focus on Florida tomato workers like Mariano Lucas Domingo, held captive by his crew boss for 21/2 years, beaten and locked up when he couldn't work, his paychecks taken from him."They call it human trafficking or indentured servitude, but when you strip everything away it's slavery," said Douglas Molloy, a chief assistant U.S. attorney based in Fort Myers, Fla.

Truck stop Washington Post
A $410 billion omnibus spending bill contains a provision that would pretty much kill any chance that long-haul freight trucks from Mexico could operate in the United States, as had been promised under NAFTA.


Governor requests emergency aid for Texas drought Reuters
Texas Governor Rick Perry asked for disaster relief assistance from the federal government on Friday for drought-stricken farmers across the state. Parts of south and central Texas including the ranch lands around San Antonio and the state capitol Austin are suffering from their most severe drought on record, exacerbating the woes of the state's cattle industry already been laid low by the country's deepening recession

National retail report - March 6

From the USDA National Retail Report for fruits and vegetables:

There were multiple themes for this week’s produce ads. March is National Frozen Food Month and several grocers embraced the idea to promote sales of frozen items ranging from ice cream and TV dinners to frozen vegetables. Lenten seafood remained a prominent feature with some chains and others focused on Potato Lover’s Month. Fruit ads featured grapes, strawberries, peaches and nectarines. Strawberries jumped to second place among fruit ads while avocados dropped out of the Top 5. On the vegetable side, asparagus was the leading vegetable item on ad and the number 3 overall produce ad. Other features were heavy to peppers (red and green), mushrooms, potatoes, various types of tomatoes and onions.