I have spent the last 25 years of my career in grocery retail, and now I find myself on the opposite spectrum of the food chain with responsibility for sourcing food for an important agency in my community: the Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico. My job is finding good, quality food donations for the food bank to distribute to the growing number of hungry people in New Mexico. I travel around the state letting growers know that they have a choice to make when they have products that won't sell at retail. That choice is simple: donate it. Gifts of food provide sustenance, optimism and a hope

WASHINGTON -- The American Meat Institute, the Food Marketing Institute and the United Fresh Produce Association announced May 10 the co-location of their premier trade shows -- the FMI Exhibit & Education Event, the AMI International Meat Poultry and Seafood Convention & Exposition, and United Fresh -- beginning in 2012 at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas. The AMI expo will be held April 30 to May 3, 2012; the FMI exhibit and education event and United Fresh will be held May 1-3, 2012. The three shows will offer their own exhibit halls as well as unique education programming for their

Food Circus Super Markets Inc., based in Middletown, NJ, has named Louis J. Scaduto president. He succeeds Joe Azzolina Sr., who died April 15 after a long battle with cancer. Mr. Scaduto most recently served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the company, which operates 10 Super Foodtown stores in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties in New Jersey. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Monmouth University.

Richard K. Gore, who worked in sales for Mike & Matt Produce Co. LLC in Vineland, NJ, died suddenly April 29 of a heart attack. He was 53. "Richard was with our company for seven years," Jerry Mongelluzzo, owner of Mike & Matt, told The Produce News. "He was a tremendous help to our business during those years. He will be greatly missed by us all." Mr. Gore, who was born and raised in Vineland, was a graduate of Sacred Heart Grammar School and Vineland High School, and earned his associate degree in business administration and agriculture from Cumberland County College in Vineland. He was

Freshway Foods in Sidney, OH, announced a voluntary recall May 6 of certain Romaine lettuce products because of the possible connection between the recalled Romaine lettuce and an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 19 people in three states. A bag of Freshway Foods shredded Romaine lettuce was found to be contaminated with E. coli 0145 bacteria May 5 by the New York state Public Health Laboratory in Albany after local authorities had been investigating a suspected foodborne illness outbreak that has sickened 19 people in Michigan, Ohio and New York. These illnesses include 12 individuals who

Produce and floral retail industry veteran Anthony Barbieri will join the Produce Marketing Association staff in June as vice president of sales and business development. In a May 6 press release, PMA President and Chief Executive Officer Bryan Silbermann said that adding Mr. Barbieri reflects an ongoing effort by the association and its member board to bring hands-on industry perspective to developing, delivering and communicating the value PMA brings to members and their businesses. Mr. Barbieri will join PMA after a 34-year career with Acme Markets Inc., where he rose from store produce