UK COOL nightmare and other top headlines

The UK is dealing with a new impetus for country of origin labeling, but food manufacturers there, like here, dread the thought of origin labeling for multi-ingredient prepared foods. From the link.

"In this instance, most consumers don't expect country of origin labelling, unless its absence would mislead them. Creating different labels to reflect the changing origin of ingredients would add further, unnecessary costs to our sector at a difficult time for food producers," she said.

More headlines snatched from the Web:

Most produce recession proof Coverage from The Packer

A recent poll commissioned by the Newark, Del.-based Produce Marketing Association finds that over the past six months, consumers have at least maintained consumption levels of 14 out of 15 leading fresh fruits and vegetables.


Organic sector weighs option in fertilizer matter Coverage from The Packer


Europe suspends plan to censure Kenyan produce

Water: California's new gold rush The Sacramento Union. It's never been more grim.
The giants of California agribusiness are the biggest economic engine in the valley, which produces every cantaloupe on store shelves in summer months, and the bulk of the nation’s lettuce crop each spring and fall.

This year, officials in Fresno County predict farmers will only grow about 6,000 acres of lettuce, roughly half the acreage devoted to greens in 2005.

Later.....

Richard Howitt, a professor of agriculture economics at the University of California, Davis, estimates that $1.6 billion in agriculture-related wages, and as many as 60,000 jobs across the valley will be lost in the coming months due to dwindling water.

Analysts haven’t yet provided any estimates of crop losses this year. But Bill Diedrich, an almond grower on the valley’s parched western edge, said he’s already worried he may lose some of his nut trees in the drought.

What's the Obama agenda for Bush era regulations? From OMB Watch

A Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulation that sets requirements for country-of-origin labeling on meat and other perishable food items. Although consumers support country-of-origin labeling, critics say the regulation has loopholes. USDA used an overly broad definition of "processed" foods that can be exempt from labeling requirements. USDA published the regulation Jan. 15, and it is scheduled to go into effect March 16.


School officials worry about less fresh food for student lunches From the LA Times. This sounds significant and not welcome news for the industry.

Cafeteria workers may have to rev up those can openers: That's the warning from a slew of school and elected officials who are worried that California will run short of the money it gives school districts to supplement school breakfasts and lunches.

State schools chief Jack O'Connell has been warning since December that the money could run out this spring, and this month Assembly Bill 95 was introduced -- which would provide $19.5 million to make up for the shortfall. The state pays 22 cents for each meal a student gets for free; the federal government provides the bulk of the funding -- $2.17 to $2.57 per every free or reduced-price meal served.

Healthy and cheap Another stretch your budget feature, this published by The Tulsa World. Lots of produce centered advice here.


Nutrient-rich, inexpensive vegetables, legumes and grains are better options than most cheap convenience food, said Sharon Stroud, a certified nutritionist at Whole Foods Market, 1401 E. 41st St. Stroud leads regular tours through the market to show shoppers how to get more nutrition for their money.

"I have people tell me all the time they can't afford to eat healthy," Stroud said.

But the long-term medical expense of eating unhealthy foods is something people should also consider, she said. Many inexpensive convenience foods are loaded with salt, sugar and trans fats that offer little nutritional value and lots of empty calories.

Nutritional guidelines recommend at least nine servings of fruits or vegetables per day, and if you're eating all nine, you're not going to have as much room in your diet for junk food, Stroud said.


Why I love the sneaky chef From NJ.com

The whole concept of her book is to puree fruits and vegetables and add them to foods your kids already love. The hope is that they won't even notice they're eating them.

Valley GOP leaders target pesticide rules California's state Republicans seek relief from Calif. central valley farmers



Farm to table in Hawaii A look at CSAs in the 50th state

NJ Tomato grower faces nearly $1M fine From Newsday

A corporate tomato grower has been fined almost $1 million for pesticide violations that could have affected the health of its workers, state environmental officials said Thursday.

The Department of Environmental Protection cited hundreds of violations by Ag-Mart Produce, including denying inspectors access to facilities, losing track of a highly toxic insecticide, careless record keeping and using forbidden mixtures of pesticides.

John F. O'Riordan, a lawyer for Ag-Mart Produce, said it was "stunned by the fine and more stunned by the DEP's comments. We will vigorously challenge this, and I believe we will be vindicated and the fine will be dismissed."

Emergency aid to food banks in Obama stimulus bill

The Obama Stimulus Bill in the Senate includes emergency aid to food banks.$150 million worth. Each local pantry could see up to $100,000 in relief.

I say potatoes, you say vodka From SF Examiner

All of the Karlsson vodkas are made from a variety of new potatoes harvested from the Bjare Cape in Sweden where the product is created. This region is to potatoes what France’s Bordeaux region is to wine. Surprisingly (or at least it was to this wine drinker) most vodkas these days are made from grains, not potatoes. Karlsson’s wanted to bring back the old world flavors that tubers impart to the vodka.

Web site promotes concept of "White House farmer"

Dole announces asset sale transactions

First, Dole has closed the first phase of the previously announced sale of its flowers division. With the closing of the first phase, Dole has now completed the sale of its flowers business and retains only certain real estate of the former flowers division to be sold in the subsequent phases of the transaction. Second, Dole has closed on the sale of certain banana properties in Latin America. Third, Dole has signed a definitive purchase and sale agreement to sell certain property in North America. When the North American property sale closes, towards the end of the first quarter of 2009, Dole will have received net cash proceeds of approximately $84 million from these three transactions.

E-verify: a nightmare for workers

For all of the promise that the stimulus plan passed by the House will help create jobs, a provision tucked into the package could actually push workers into unemployment.

That amendment calls for requiring that any contractors that receive federal dollars must participate in a program known as E-verify. A joint and voluntary program of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA), E-verify is used to verify employment eligibility.


China looks to jump queue in apple exports to Australia Prepare to be disappointed, China

The world's biggest apple-growing nation, China, may win entry to the potentially lucrative Australian market before New Zealand apples arrive there.

A draft plan on Chinese apples, released last week by Biosecurity Australia, says they could be imported as long as risks from 18 pests of concern were a "very low level", the Weekly Times newspaper reported.

The pests include mites, oriental fruit fly, mealybugs, Japanese apple rust, apple brown rot, European canker, apple scab, apple and sooty blotch and flyspeck complex - but biosecurity officials said they were satisfied China does not have fireblight.

A spokesman for Australian orchardists - who lobbied against entry of New Zealand apples on the grounds that they might carry fireblight - expressed doubt.

"We're ... yet to be convinced that China is free of fire blight," said the growers quarantine expert, John Corboy.

Great recession of '09

Fresh & Easy produce packs

Jobless numbers rise, durable goods orders fall

Apple juice helps with Alzheimer's?

The ugly math of foreclosures

“What we need is a moratorium on foreclosure while we get a plan in place. We could have five to eight million more foreclosures in the U.S. if we don’t do something about this. Banks have already written down these mortgages.”

Economic stimulus and contraceptives - the weekend update

The idea that stimulus package pushed by the Democrats has hundreds of millions for contraceptives and family planning is astounding. How does this create jobs? How does this get the economy moving? Aren't people our greatest resource? From Drudge today, this exchange:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi boldly defended a move to add birth control funding to the new economic "stimulus" package, claiming "contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

Pelosi, the mother of 5 children and 6 grandchildren, who once said, "Nothing in my life will ever, ever compare to being a mom," seemed to imply babies are somehow a burden on the treasury.

The revelation came during an exchange Sunday morning on ABC's THIS WEEK.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?

PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?

PELOSI: No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.


TK. Can't buy Pelosi's argument. This has got to go if the stimulus package advances, IMHO.

More headlines snatched from the Web over the weekend:

Florida citrus faces tax war From The Ledger: It appears the industry is on the horns of a dilemma, a Hobson's choice that may leave it no alternative but to leave the idea of an import tax alone.

Florida Department of Citrus officials have been warned a proposed new tax on orange juice imports faces a certain legal challenge, but foreign importers have threatened a much bigger fight against the federal tariff on OJ imports if the Florida Legislature approves the new tax.
Later...

Citrus Department officials have asked Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, to sponsor the new imports tax bill, but he told The Ledger he is reluctant because of a threat to the federal tariff on OJ imports.

"I'm concerned if the efforts to collect the tax could jeopardize the federal tariff," he said. "I'm trying to understand where everybody is and the relative risk."

The federal government collects a tariff equal to almost 30 cents a gallon on OJ imports to the U.S.

Without the tariff, Florida citrus growers say, Brazilian juice processors could undercut the price of orange juice from Florida and drive them out of business.

Green light specials, now at Wal-Mart From the NYT: Good story taking the measure of Wal-Mart's sustainability efforts in recent years, and reference to the irresistible low hanging fruit. From the story:

While environmentalists give Wal-Mart kudos for the changes it has made, they say that much of what it has achieved so far amounts to collecting low-hanging fruit. The company sells tens of thousands of products, and has demanded the overhaul of only a handful, they say. “

Seven Houston pallet firm officials face immigration charges From The Houston Chronicle

Seven executives and managers at IFCO, a Houston-based pallet company, were charged Friday with conspiring between 2003 and 2006 to harbor illegal immigrants.

Honey bees could be in short supply Calif. almonds at risk?

Mapping out pesticide use Maine considers a controversial proposal to allow public to search an online database to see where and when farmers applied pesticides.

Asian psyllid threatens Calif. citrus From the LA Times
The psyllid alone won't hurt California orange groves. The threat comes when the bug lands on a tree already infected with the bacterium that causes the greening disease, also known as huanglongbing or yellow dragon disease. It will feed on the diseased tree and then carry the pathogen to nearby trees. The psyllid will reproduce -- like aphids, they are asexual and don't need to find a mate -- creating whole colonies of citrus greening carriers.

State and local inspectors are tracking the bug, hoping that it doesn't find a citrus tree already infected with the disease, which has no cure.

Citrus pest moving closer to Yuma County From The Yuma Sun
Found in Tijuana last summer, the psyllid soon was also found across the border in San Diego County. It since has been found in Mexicali and in Imperial County in Ocotillo, Calexico, Seeley and Westmorland. So far, the disease it can carry has not been found in this region.

WIC food lists changing to help with health From the Louisville Courier Journal
Kentucky is among the first states working through the federal approval process, which gives states a say in how the changes are made. New York and Delaware have already made the changes; all states must roll them out by October.

California farmers idle crops; veggie prices may rise From AP: Where are those homegrown deals when you need them?

This year, officials in Fresno County predict farmers will only grow about 6,000 acres of lettuce, roughly half the acreage devoted to greens in 2005.

That alone could cause a slight bump in consumer prices, unless lettuce companies can make up for the shortage by growing in areas with an abundant water supply, or the cost of cooling, packaging and shipping the crop suddenly goes down, experts say.

Rain not enough to fix water woes From The Mercury
With salmon disappearing, water managers and regulators must discuss how to balance salmon's cold-water needs with deliveries for cities and farms, according to court documents filed Wednesday.


Forget green! Purple is color of new superfoods From ABC15.com

Fruit / Antioxidant rating
1. Maqui berry Chile (juice) / 820
2. Acai berry S. America / 160 - 300
3. Blueberry N. America / 61
4. Raspberry N. America / 21
5. Grapes N. America / 14

It's possible: eating healthy, cheaply From Midwest Ag Net, another story about eating well and cheaply. Some of the ideas: buy potatoes instead prepackaged mashed potatoes. Buy a head of lettuce instead of a bag of lettuce. Whole carrots instead of baby carrots.

Penny pinching consumers boost German chain From German news site. From the story:

Aldi accounts for only about one percent of the entire $900 billion food-retailing sector, according to Jim Hertel, managing partner of Willard Bishop Consulting.

But the global slowdown is slowly but surely changing American retail attitudes, other analysts point out, making consumers previously wary about no-name private grocers adopt a more open attitude toward low-price shopping options.

“Private labels used to have a reputation of being cheap, but of poor quality. Now the quality and perception of quality have improved to Aldi's benefit. Then add factors like inflation in the last year and the recession. The convergence of all these factors are opening up peoples' minds to Aldi,” Hertel said.

Will big chill wreak havoc on Lake citrus crop? From the Orlando Sentinel


Our sustainable diet: how to start greening your diet The Wenatchee World


Meeting of the minds to solve Salinas gang issue



Which came first - the egg or the gourmet egg? From the AP

Consumer spending - Black Friday and beyond

What is the initial report about spending on Black Friday? I can report I did not spend a dime on Friday, as I content to eat Thanksgiving leftovers, watch football, play Wii and driveway basketball at my brother's house. Hopefully the rest of you kept our economy going...
Here is a link talking about how retailers did Friday and what is to come. From the CNN report:

Sales over the Thanksgiving long weekend were surprisingly strong. The National Retail Federation estimated that consumers spent $372.57 on average, an increase from 7.2% from a year ago.

But the NRF is predicting just a 2.2% increase in holiday shopping sales this year, which would be the smallest increase since 2002. Even that forecast is considered too rosy by many other industry experts.

After all, the healthy sales on Friday may merely be yet another reflection of how weak the economy is: i.e. people rushed out to find the best bargains but may now retreat once the sales are over.

Other headlines about consumer spending, the stimulus plan and the recession

Black Friday takes a hit from the economy

Squeezing the most from the stimulus plan

President-elect Barack Obama has not stated what the stimulus plan might cost, though Congressional leaders have cited figures of $500 billion and higher. Mr. Obama has given a hint, though. He speaks of a recovery that would generate 2.5 million jobs in the first two years of his administration. That would require not just zero economic growth, but a fairly robust expansion — a swing in effect from the present 4 percent contraction to a growth rate of 2.5 to 3 percent a year.

A not so gray Black Friday

Sales the day after Thanksgiving rose to $10.6 billion, according to preliminary figures released Saturday by ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago-based research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets. Last year, shoppers spent about $10.3 billion the day after Thanksgiving.