Honduras wrap

Sorry for the quiet blog today. I've been working nonstop on Honduras coverage, though I didn't nearly cover all the angles from the Aug. 4-8 trip. In the course of my reporting, I called Jenny Molina, marketing vice president for the Honduras melon exporter Agropecuaria Montelibano. That firm, of course, was the subject of the March 22 import alert by the FDA. The farm unfortunately wasn't on the itinerary on our press trip to Honduras, and Jenny gave me a good-natured ribbing that we didn't stop by.

She said the FDA's action cost the firm a minimum of $10 million, but said the company is in discussions with FDA removal of the alert in the not too distant future. In coverage for The Packer this week, Molina described the "corrective measures" the FDA wanted (despite no positive find of salmonella on their farm), Perhaps the most compelling part of the story still ahead of us is what it may mean for other melon grower/shippers/exporters, whether in Honduras or other growing regions. Developing......

Crocodile rock

There iisn't anything produce-related when it comes to crocodiles, but our visit to a Honduras crocodile breeding facility was fascinating nonetheless. The facility saved several hundred crocodiles from the wild more than 20 years ago and now has more than 11,000 crocodiles. The facility releases reptiles into the wild of Honduras but has found that the animals they release are often killed by natives (often fishermen) who are understandably afraid of the creatures. Some hides are exported (not to the U.S.- mostly to Japan) under the sanction of a United Nations licensing body for trade in endangered species. Meat is consumed locally.

NPR on Honduras

Glenn Thomas, associate professor of fisheries at Louisiana State University, was one of a van full of journalist/academic companions on last week's trip to Honduras. An email from him to all of us today echoed my thoughts when he said that the trip was "a pleasure and intensely rewarding."

Glenn also passed along a link to NPR coverage of Honduras and I'll pass it on in this space:

Honduras promises to invest in its farmers

The supermarket revolution moves to Honduras

Honduras embraces genetically modified crops

Back online in Honduras

Garrison Keiler writes, "It has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon." This week has been anything but quiet in Honduras, and it isn't over yet. One long morning drive back to San Pedro Sula and then a flight back to Kansas City on Friday. The week, a sponsored trip by the Honduras group FIDE (Foundation for Investment and Export Development) included myself and five other journalists for a full four days of touring the countryside and visiting with agribusiness leaders that spanned the range from crocodile farms to cocoa processing. I was without the Web most of today and all of yesterday, which is the reason the blog has gone unattended.

I'll give you a blow by blow rundown as I have time, but two important visits were to an important melon exporter and a top flight Oriental vegetable exporter. Obviously, food safety came up big in the discussions.

I'll check in later tonight with a post or two....

Tuesday agenda: Oriental vegetables, American lizards

Should be an interesting day and plenty of photo opportunities today in Honduras. We are heading out of San Pedro Sula this morning (though rumors of a protest that may disrupt roadways was a concern last night) to see several operations, including Mesocacao SA (cocoa processing plant, largest cocao bean processor in Central America), Rio Nance Agroindustrial SA (banana puree, frozen fruits), Inversiones Mejia (Oriental vegetable producers in the Comayagua Valley, exports 40 containers per week to the U.S.), Cocodrilo Continental SA ( formed in response to save the crocodile species from poachers, workers rescued 320 crocodiells from Honduran rivers and built 60 ponds for them since then the numbers of crocodiles is 10,0000, exports meat to Japan and other markets).

I expect to be warned to "stay on the path" at the crocodile farm. And, unlike a Hollywood script writer would have it, I will comply.

Also visiting Lacthosa SA (milk, cheese, and the CEO of the Federation of Agroindustrial Exporters of Honduras.

Whew!

Honduras bound

I am taking off to Honduras bright and early Monday morning, so while I'm gone I hope to post some pics and comment on the itinerary. I'm in Nashville now, helping to move my son to town and begin his schooling at Belmont. Semi-long drive back to KC tomorrow...

By the way, I continue to appreciate Jay Martini's contribution to the blog. I hope all of you who know him in the industry take time to shoot him an email and give him a "thumbs way up."

As the good book says, many are called, but few choose.