On Sept. 15, at the first-of-its-kind Gov.'s Summit on Health, Nutrition & Obesity in Sacramento, CA, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed several bills that will help combat the states obesity crisis and improve the health of Californians, particularly school-age children. One of the bills Gov. Schwarzenegger signed was Senate Bill 281, which provides a framework to implement $18.2 million in the governors budget to include more fresh fruits and vegetables in school meal programs. By taking junk food and sodas off school campuses and adding fruits and vegetables, schools will become

Gaspari Farms in Temple, PA, a grower of high-quality fresh mushrooms, surpassed all other growers with 13 ribbons at the 20th annual Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square, PA. The company received three blue ribbons for first-place recognitions, five red ribbons for second-place honors and five yellow ribbons for third place. Gaspari Farms received more second- and third-place ribbons than any other grower and the second-most number of first-place ribbons. It was the only grower to be awarded ribbons in every white and Portabella mushroom category and, most notably, took home nine ribbons in

The New York Apple Association in Fishers, NY, will be offering a full-service promotion support program this fall in an effort to help retailers throughout the United States sell more apples during the 2005-06 apple season. "Our number one goal is to help retailers drive sales," Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association, which represents the state's 695 apple orchards, said in a statement. We will be providing retailers with information about purchasing preferences of their customers, offering attractive and professional new materials to help retailers merchandise our fruit and

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WASHINGTON  The next farm bill will need to reflect the reality that it is not about Florida growers competing with California growers anymore, said Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA). It is about a global economy and major changes that will need to be made to make U.S. producers competitive in the marketplace. Rep. Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee and a member of the House Agriculture Committee, spoke Sept. 15 at United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association's Washington Public Policy Conference and said that the future of agriculture will be decided in the next few years as lawmakers

"Freeport has been closed due to a U.S. Coast Guard order, so we are diverting scheduled shipments there to Port Everglades, Florida," Mike Mitchell, spokesman for Chiquita Brands International in Cincinnati, said on the afternoon of Sept. 21. Mr. Mitchell referred to the port of Freeport, TX, which became an alternative banana receiving port for Chiquita after Hurricane Katrina destroyed Chiquita  and Dole's  port facilities in Gulfport, MS, on Aug. 29. At The Produce News press time, Hurricane Rita was forecast to hit the Texas Gulf Coast around 2 a.m. Sept. 24. Rita, a category five