Card Check React

Reaction is rolling in on the so-called card check legislation. From the National Restaurant Association:



National Restaurant Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Beth Johnson made the following statement today regarding U.S. House and Senate introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act:

"The National Restaurant Association is strongly opposed to the misleadingly titled Employee Free Choice Act, a bill proposing dramatic and harmful changes to U.S. labor law. Currently, employees are entitled to a private-ballot election when deciding whether they want union representation in their workplace. Should Congress pass the Employee Free Choice Act, employees effectively lose their right to private-ballot elections. The bill would establish a so-called 'card-check' union organizing system, in which a majority of employees simply sign a card in favor of union representation. Moving to a card-check process rather than a federally supervised election is a clear violation of employee rights and one that will subject employees to pressure and intimidation.

"We have been working with our strong grassroots network of restaurateurs from across the country and our State Restaurant Association partners to actively oppose this bill. Yesterday, our office was picketed by Washington, D.C. based union protesters, attempting to intimidate us much as they would employees under the flawed card check process. Just as our employees don’t like being pressured on decisions, neither does the National Restaurant Association. Our voices are being heard by lawmakers, and we believe that Congress will do the right thing and protect the right to a private ballot."

From the United Fresh Produce Association:

The misnamed Employee Free Choice Act was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate today, after barely failing to pass in 2008. The United Fresh Produce Association strongly opposes the dangerous public policy contained in this bill which would strip workers of their right to a secret-ballot in union election.

“The fight to prevent card check from becoming the law of the land is an uphill battle,” said United Fresh President and CEO Tom Stenzel. “The House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported a similar bill last year, and the Senate barely blocked that legislation. Now, the tenor in the Senate seems even more foreboding of taking away workers’ rights, and President Obama has said that he will sign the bill into law if it passes. These are perilous times for democracy when it comes to choosing which, if any, union workers want to represent them.”

“While we’ll take the fight over card check to every Congressional district, the eventual determination of whether this bill passes likely rests in the hands of just a few key Senators in swing states,” Stenzel continued. “That’s why we’re announcing the formation of Card Check Grassroots Networks in eight key states where we believe we need to make a difference. The states include:

• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Louisiana
• Nebraska
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia

These states were chosen in consultation with the leadership of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), the broad-based business organization leading opposition to card check. United Fresh is a member of the Steering Committee of CDW, which is a national coalition including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and groups representing almost every industry sector with major employment. CDW has also implemented state coalitions to bring all business sectors together, and United will be integrating members of its produce industry grassroots teams into this larger network as well.

Each state grassroots network will bring together companies and individuals from the entire produce supply chain in each state, building not only upon the grower agricultural base that may be present, but calling on all processors, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, restaurants and allied suppliers in each state. The grassroots team within each state will be led by a member chairman or co-chairs with a goal of building the widest possible network of individuals to call and write letters to Congress, meet with their Senators in their home state, provide letters and editorials to local newspapers, call on their friends and neighbors to educate them on the danger of card check and generally lead the charge in this highly targeted effort.

“The card check state grassroots networks will be organized by our Vice President of Legislative Affairs Kam Quarles, working closely with Senior Vice President Robert Guenther,” Stenzel said. “We’ll also bring everything we have to bear from our outside legislative/lobbying team and our outside legal team. Kam will be working with our staff to provide each state network with background information, strategy papers, day-to-day intelligence on actions in Washington and other support targeted specifically to each state.”

In addition to United’s leadership within the CDW coalition, the association is active in the Agriculture for a Democratic Workplace (ADW) coalition launched by the California Farm Bureau, California Grape & Treefruit League and Western Growers Association.

“It’s gratifying to see both agriculture and the general business community rallying together on this issue,” Stenzel said. “But, the road is not easy. We simply must reach out at the local level in these eight priority states if we’re to have a chance to win this battle,” he said.

The United Fresh Card Check Resource Center is now available for all members to learn about the issues and make their views known about this legislation. For more information contact Kam Quarles at kquarles@unitedfresh.org or (202) 303-3427.

Stuffed nation, Michael Pollan and the FPIDG

One of the beautiful things about the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group is that it is self-sustaining. Not to say that all of the nearly 180 members are active on the board, but the activity produced by the board's stalwarts - notably Luis and Big Apple - hums steadily along.

Today, Luis posted a link about "Stuffed Nation", a book review about a former foodservice professional airing the soiled laundry of the food business. From the post from the book's synopsis:

"Authored by former food executive turned anti-obesity exponent Hank Cardello, Stuffed breaks new ground by demonstrating how food companies’ defensive mindsets that they offer healthy options and that the consumer is responsible for what they eat, have largely ignored their customers in the name of their bottom lines. And so consumers have been cajoled to purchase “convenience” foods, super-sized beverages and high-calorie Weapons of Mass Consumption because they sweeten profits.

TK: Weapons of self-destruction, as Robin Williams might say. Well are we for free will or aren't we? Consumers don't have to be cajoled to buy Big Gulps, but they might have to be prodded to buy veggies. This book may be a little too simplistic in assigning blame, but it sounds like a nice industry read.


Meanwhile, Luis also posts about Michael Pollan and his next book idea. By the way, is Michael Pollan about selling books or leading a food revolution? It is hard to tell. From Luis:

Michael Pollan may be touching a nerve with his next project and his call for reader's food rules. While foodies and industry people are very familiar with pop-culture and the creation of food related messages in the mass media that make heavy use of the vernacular for persuasion, education etc. most consumers are not semioticians. Good try by Michael Pollan. We'll see how much traction old wisdom has in this environment tinged by austerity, disenchantment and mistrust.


TK: Come one and come all to join the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group - both the Google Discussion Group and the Linkedin group of the same name. It's relatively painless and the psychic rewards are great.

Chat - Lee Mannering

I had the opportunity to visit with Lee Mannering, government relations manager of PMA, on March 6. I asked him about his beginnings with PMA and asked about the issues he has been working on of late.

2:59PM Lee Thanks for being part of another Fresh Talk chat

First question.. tell us a little about where you grew up and your education background..

3:01 PM Lee: I grew up in Middletown, Delaware, which is about 25 minutes south of the PMA headquarters. It was your typical small town but has grown a lot since I was a kid. As for my education background, I received my BA in English from the University of Delaware in 1994.

3:02 PM me: Was PMA your first job after college? Had you heard of the association before you started work there?

3:05 PM Lee: PMA was my first job right out of college. I've been with the association for 15 years. I hadn't heard of PMA until I sat down to talk to the professor who coordinated internships and, after looking at my prior work experience, she thought PMA might be a good place for me to intern - which was a requirement for my degree.

3:06 PM me: You must have impressed the PMA brass. Did you flow right into PMA with a full time job from your internship? What were your first job duties with PMA and how does that compare with what you do now?

3:12 PM Lee: Well, timing is everything and just before my internship began, PMA's staff writer left. By the time my internship ended, I interviewed for the job and accepted the full-time position. My first job duties including writing PMA's newsletters, press releases, and related materials. Then over time, that job evolved into more of a media/public relations role with some Web site responsibilities. Now, working directly with Kathy Means again, I am in government relations and public affairs. Kathy is the person who interviewed me when I began my internship.

3:14 PM me: Lee, I appreciated your insights on the fruit and vegetable advisory committee meeting last week. How often do you find your self in Washington and would you describe yourself as a lobbyist at this point?

3:15 PM Lee: Sure, I was glad to fill you in on the USDA meeting last week. I am usually in Washington a couple times a month for meetings. As far as being a lobbyist, I have to track my time spent on lobbying so I guess that would qualify me as one.

3:16 PM me: What issues are you working on for PMA, or does it vary from month to monht?

3:19 PM Lee: The issues usually vary from month to month. Right now, I am working on ways to share PMA's economic impact study with key offices on the Hill. We just added last month's recording of the virtual press conference announcing the study to the PMA Web site at http://www.pma.com/economic-impact

3:20 PM Also, sustainability is another issue I am working on right now. The sustainability pages on PMA.com are updated (we recently added our industry research on sustainability, as well as original consumer research). We’re also collecting sustainability success stories from our members and posting them to the Web site.

me: That study should be a great placeholder for future discussions about the impact of the industry.

3:22 PM As far as the issue of sustainability - this is probably a matter of conjecture - do you think the recession will slow the industry's enthusiasm for moving ahead with investments and resources to make it a priority?

3:27 PM Lee: PMA's industry research (which was conducted in the fall of 2008 when the economy really began to take a turn) found that sustainability is a priority for their organizations. Many respondents said that reducing costs and other business benefits - like increasing productivity and energy efficiency - are the main reasons for implementing sustainable practices.

3:29 PM me: True enough... I was thinking about how PMA offers so many educational opportunities for its members and the industry. Is it a similar environment for staff at PMA headquarters? And- what do you enjoy about your work with PMA the most?

7 minutes

3:37 PM Lee: PMA offers staff a variety of training options, depending on what the educational need may be. You know, it would be hard for me to narrow down what I enjoy most about working at PMA. One thing would giving members the information they need, when they need it. That could be providing an answer to a question about a regulation or a bill. Even more so with this economy, I want to be sure members see PMA as a valuable investment of their time and dues (which didn't increase this year). Another aspect is being able to get to know members and peers at other industry associations and work with them on issues.

3:39 PM me: Thanks for your time Lee. I've kept you over 30 minutes, which I don't like to do. One more question though, what are your passions outside of work? What do you like to do with a free weekend?

3:41 PM Lee: I like to run with my dog, play tennis or softball, or get outside and do something. As of late, my weekends have involved getting my house ready for show (my wife and I are trying to sell because we're going to need the extra space come mid September) as well as going to open houses. We've have quite a few showings but no serious offers yet.

3:42 PM me: Good luck on all counts. Thanks again for your time.

Lee: Anytime, Tom.

Organic, pesticides, local food and sustainability - hot news

There is wide divergence about the course of organic produce demand. In the current Fresh Talk poll,
With two days left to vote, here are the results so far:

How much will fresh produce organic sales grow in volume in 2009

Negative - volume will decline	8 (29%)
0 to 3%	7 (25%)
3% to 6%	5 (18%)
6% to 9%	3 (11%)
9% to 12%	4 (14%)

It is hard to believe there is that much diverging opinions about growth in organic produce volume this year. Obviously the economy is the primary reason for the pessimism among some voters. Coverage developing....


Nourish the land ... the way it nourishes you AJC

Q: Are you concerned that the recession will stifle interest?

A: Everybody is backing off [spending] because of the economy, but when you think about keeping the dollar in Georgia or keeping the money in our hands, you really have to give local a chance. … It's a great way to feel good about what you're eating and also get great quality products.

Spoiled indeed Grist
I like Paul Roberts. I liked his book The End of Food. But I must admit that I was a bit underwhelmed by his recent article on sustainable farming in Mother Jones, "Spoiled: Organic and Local Is So 2008." That's not to say there's nothing to recommend it. His central premise -- that we way we're farming today isn't sustainable and that no large-scale model of what sustainable agriculture would look like currently exists -- is valid and important (as anyone who hangs out around here is well aware).


Natural and organic claims have little behind them The Olympian
Although the FDA has the right to prevent false or misleading claims, they've never imposed any standards for the use of "natural," "botanical," "plant-derived" or "green." So an eyedropper full of herbal extract in a gallon of cleaner can be a "natural" product as can an entirely synthetic product that smells like flowers in spring. These words are to organic, what "lite" is to counting calories.

Web bites: is organic safer?  JS Online

Farmers market builds on record year Emporia Gazette

Whole Foods settles with the FTC  Reason Hit and Run

Whole Foods to sell 2 Boulder stores Northern Colorado Business report

Air war against gypsy moths approved in Canada The London Free Press

Cosmetic pesticide ban consider in PEI Canada.com

The raw deal for almonds

In a blow to raw food fans and organic marketers who serve the niche raw almond market, a federal judge has ruled Monday that requirements for raw almonds to be treated to prevent salmonella must be followed. The USDA set the rule in place in March 2007 by marketing order regulation. Check this previous blog post about the issue and the perspective of the Cornucopia Institute, which disputed the science and the lack of transparency in the rulemaking process. From the McClatchy report:

The ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvell did not directly address the merits of the almond pasteurization standards. Instead, Huvell dismissed largely on technical grounds the complaint filed by Fresno-based farmer Nick Koretoff, Livington-based farmer Cynthia Lashbrook and others.Huvell determined the farmers had failed to exhaust potential administrative remedies. Moreover, the judge said farmers might not have legal recourse even if they could prove the safety rules would cause economic injury."Their fundamental concern is with the impact of the treatment regulation on their ability to sell their almonds in a niche organic market at a premium," Huvelle noted, adding that "the Supreme Court (has) specifically recognized that not every loss would qualify as a deprivation of a definite personal right of the producer."

Later.....

But while rather technical in nature, the 11-page ruling promises real-world consequences in the San Joaquin Valley, which dominates U.S. almond production. Among other things, the Agriculture Department estimates anti-salmonella treatments will add somewhere between two cents and seven cents per pound to the cost of almonds.The 10-member almond board, based in Modesto, administers the federal marketing order by which the $2.5 billion-a-year industry regulates quality control, research and advertising. The board recommended new safety rules in 2006 following incidents of salmonella contamination in 2001 and 2004, and the Agriculture Department subsequently put them in place.The new rules required almond handlers to achieve a stricter reduction in salmonella bacteria count, by pasteurizing the nuts before shipping. Pasteurization methods range from blanching and steam treatments to use of chemicals.

TK: Steam treatments and blanching won't forfeit organic status for almonds, but it is the raw almond that some foodies are in love with. The jilted lover of raw almonds won't give up without a fight, so I don't expect for this to end here.