WASHINGTON - After holding the regulations up for one last review, the Obama administration gave final clearance for the mandatory country-of- origin labeling rules to go into effect March 16. "I strongly support country-of-origin labeling - it's a critical step toward providing consumers with additional information about the origin of their food," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a Feb. 20 statement. "The Department of Agriculture will be closely reviewing industry compliance with the rule and will evaluate the practicality of the suggestions for voluntary action in my letter." On

WASHINGTON - With the country mired in an economic downturn, Congress eying food-safety legislation and a massive peanut butter recall underway, produce companies need to make food safety an essential part of their business culture, according to Bob Whitaker. Dr. Whitaker, the chief science office at the Produce Marketing Association, plans to tell buyers and sellers at the association's March 19 Produce Solutions Conference that produce companies need to view food safety as a revenue generator, not a costly burden. The food-safety forum usually spotlights research and emerging policy issues

It came as no surprise, but it is now official. The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation announced Friday, Feb. 20, a zero allocation of water from the Central Valley Project for agriculture use for 2009. As reported previously in The Produce News, Westlands Water District, which has historically provided CVP water to some 660,000 acres of farmland on the West Side of the central San Joaquin Valley, will be the most seriously affected by the zero allocation. With few wells to fall back on and few, if any, other options, West Side farmers will have no choice but to let at

The theme was Fire & Ice, but the list of award winners was nothing but hot. At its annual industry celebration banquet held Feb. 7 in Vidalia, GA, the Vidalia Onion Committee announced the 2008 award recipient for Grower of the Year and its Hall of Fame inductees. Two of the Hall of Fame inductees received posthumous recognition: Mose Coleman Sr., who has long been identified as one of the early onion growers in the region, and Earlie Jordan, who brought in plants from Texas to grow and sell to other farmers and formed one of the first marketing partnerships to promote the onions. Around 20

WASHINGTON -- A new study shows that the economic and employment contribution of the produce and floral industries amounts to $554 billion annually - a number that is likely to boost the industry's influence among decision-makers on Capitol Hill and across state capitals. The Produce Marketing Association commissioned the first-of-its-kind study, titled Economic Reach & Impact of the Fresh Produce and Floral Industry, and was surprised to find that the U.S. fruit, vegetable and mass- market floral industries contribute to every state and every congressional district's economy. "This is the

DILLSBURG, PA -- The National Apple Month program has announced the winners of its fall 2008 National Apple Month retail and military display contests, concluding the very successful apple industry's generic promotion. The annual contest, which jump-starts the domestic apple industry's marketing season, provided retailers and the apple industry with increased sales and gave consumers easy access to great-tasting, good-for-you apples and the participating partner products Marzetti "Caramel Apple Dips" and Smucker's "Natural Peanut Butter." "The contest allows retailers to use domestic apples