Meijer, the Michigan-based supermarket chain widely credited with inventing the supercenter concept almost 50 years ago, has expanded the locally grown produce program that it launched 75 years ago. The company was founded in Greenville, MI, in 1934 by Dutch immigrant Hendrik Meijer. His son, Frederik Meijer, was chairman of the board for many years, and now the privately owned company is run by the founder's grandsons, Hank and Doug Meijer. Today, the operation consists of 189 stores in five states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. Virtually all the stores are large

Kevin Moffitt, president and chief executive officer of the Pear Bureau Northwest in Milwaukie, OR, said that the industry is preparing to market one of its better crops during 2009-10. "We are expecting a large crop ranking in the top three," he told The Produce News in late July. "It will be a balanced manifest. I think we're going to see a big crop with a beautiful finish." He characterized conditions during the growing season as relatively non- eventful, and said, "This isn't a bad thing. The growing season during the winter was good." And he said that the April blossom period was good

CORVALLIS, OR -- Klamath Basin Fresh Direct, an association of potato farmers along the Oregon-California border, has been awarded exclusive rights to grow and market a new purple fingerling developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and three Northwest universities. The potato is called Purple Pelisse, named for an intense hue inside and out. The tuber is the first specialty spud that Oregon State University, the University of Idaho, Washington State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have jointly made available for public consumption. It is called a specialty because it

Helped by both prudent growers and Mother Nature, the California summer fruit industry is experiencing a profitable summer for the first time in several years. In mid-August, the Federal State Market News Service was reporting an $18- $20 market on plums and $16-$17 f.o.b. on nectarines. Peaches were lagging behind in the $10-$11 range, which is still much better than the single digits that characterized the market for peaches, as well as the other two categories, for most of the last several summers. With about 75 percent of the combined peach, nectarine and plum crops harvested and sold

HURON, CA -- The plight of farmers and farmworkers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, where hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land have been taken out of production due to federal water cuts, received national media attention Tuesday, Aug. 11, when Fox News Channel aired a live interview with Latino comedian Paul Rodriguez in a dead almond orchard, here. Fox's Sean Hannity interviewed Mr. Rodriguez, as well as U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) live via satellite from New York. Mr. Rodriguez, the son of a migrant farmworker, heads the Latino Water Coalition, which was formed

The United Fresh Produce Association, in partnership with the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, will host a special educational session Friday, Sept. 11 at the Canadian embassy in Washington. As one of three concurrent field educational sessions during this year's Washington Public Policy Conference, the embassy visit will give attendees the opportunity to meet with Canadian agricultural officials and discuss trade matters between the two countries. CPMA Chairman Adrian Abbott of B.C. Tree Fruits Ltd. will welcome attendees and moderate the event. "We appreciate CPMA joining us to host