Ernesto Velez, a giant figure in the Colombian floral industry, died Sunday, March 21, of pancreatic cancer. He was 71 years old. The owner of Suasque, a flower farm near Bogotá, which he founded with his wife, Lucie de Velez, in 1980, Mr. Velez had been president of the board of directors for Asocolflores, the Colombian grower association, for the past seven years. Memorial services were held March 23 in Bogotá. "Mr. Velez was known not only for his initiatives in the areas of social responsibility and implementing environmentally friendly practices but also for his drive, his business vision

Taylor Farms has increased its financial commitment to the Produce for Better Health Foundation with a $250,000 pledge over the next five years. Taylor Farms joins other long-time major annual contributors such as Paramount Farms, Stemilt Growers and Syngenta, which have been at or above the $50,000 level for several years. "In the course of our industry conversation about the merits of a national promotion board for fruits and vegetables this past year, we were again impressed with the mission and the effectiveness of PBH," Bruce Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer of Salinas, CA

WASHINGTON -- The United Fresh Produce Association will launch a new on- line media website, www.UnitedFresh.TV, with the first live interactive webcast targeted to produce marketers and retailers from the floor of its annual convention in Las Vegas, NV. The one-hour live Internet broadcast will feature a discussion with winners of the United Fresh Retail Produce Manager Awards Program, sponsored for the past six years by Ready Pac Foods Inc. The streaming video session will air live at 1 p.m. PDT in Las Vegas (4 p.m. EDT), Thursday, April 22. The broadcast will allow for live questions from

DENVER -- The U.S. Potato Board announced March 19 that Don Ladhoff will lead the retail efforts of its domestic marketing program. He will provide key input to strategy and guide the tactical execution of the program, with the goal of increasing demand for potatoes in the retail environment. "I'm pleased Don has joined our team," Kathleen Triou, the board's vice president of domestic marketing, said in a March 19 press release. "He brings considerable experience and enthusiasm to the position, and he'll be ready to contribute from day one." Mr. Ladhoff was most recently president of

A study conducted by University of California Los Angeles researchers and published recently in the Journal of Medicinal Food further indicates the prevalence of antioxidants in strawberries and subsequent health benefits from eating strawberries. According to the study, 21 healthy women ate about one-half pound of frozen strawberries daily for three weeks. Several measures of antioxidant capacity in the blood were taken. Eating strawberries resulted in an increase in the body's ability to prevent the oxidation of blood lipids such as LDL cholesterol. Increased levels of oxidized LDL

HLB Tropical Food USA Inc. is using a recent study by the University of Florida to promote the health benefits of papayas. HLB, which is based in Plantation, FL, and is among the bigger U.S. importers of Brazilian papayas, is citing a study published March 9 in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology titled "Aqueous extract of Carica papaya leaves exhibit anti-tumor activity and immunomodulatory effects" to raise the awareness of the fruit's health benefits, specifically the cancer-fighting properties of papaya leaves. A team of researchers led by Nam H. Dang found that the papaya leaf concentrate