The good news for buyers is that with an increase in import volumes, the amount of avocados in the marketplace in the United States over the course of the 2009 calendar year is expected to be greater than last year and could potentially approach a record 1.1 million pounds, according to some projections. Unfortunately for California avocado growers facing one of the smaller California crops in years, possibly in decades, the California share of that market will only be somewhere around 20 percent of the total. The remainder will come primarily from Mexico and Chile. The official California

WASHINGTON -- With the food industry still reeling from a massive peanut recall, a California firm is recalling some 1 million pounds of pistachios after food processors detected Salmonella during routine testing. "We are trying to be proactive," said David Acheson, the Food & Drug Administration's associate commissioner for foods, who held an evening press call March 30 to announce the recall. The new FDA acting commissioner, Joshua Sharfstein, who took over running the agency March 30, "wants to clearly get out in front of this," said Dr. Acheson. No illnesses have been associated with the

Federal policymakers rely on laws and regulations to safeguard the food supply. This is understandable, since these are the tools at their disposal. But it overlooks the expertise our supply chain has gained over the years to enhance safety. I believe that it is our industry's obligation -- and that it works to our benefit -- to bring that information and expertise to Washington, DC, where significant changes to our food-safety system are now being considered. Among my duties as chief science officer at the Produce Marketing Association, I serve as a bridge between our industry and Congress

After 96 years of continuous operation, the Fruit Growers League, based on Oregon's Rogue Valley, has ceased operation. The organization was founded in 1913, and its membership numbered as many as 400 people and businesses involved with pear production in Jackson County. The area is known for the Comice pear. The organization of orchardists initially came together to fight fire blight, a bacterial disease that kills pear and apple trees. As the league evolved, it continued to address other issues affecting growers, such as land use, pest control and air quality. In these efforts, the league

The Jersey Fresh program may be operating with far less money than in previous years if a proposal by New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine comes to pass. The original appropriation act for the current year (fiscal year 2009) had called for $475,000 for the Jersey Fresh program, according to Tom Vincz, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Treasury Department, although "for all intents and purposes," the Jersey Fresh budget for advertising and promotion was about $400,000. Gov. Corzine's proposal, announced in mid-March, would cut that by $250,000 in the current year to $150,000, and "the recommendation for

WASHINGTON -- Nothing sells organic produce like a picture of the first lady Michelle Obama and a team of fifth graders planting a vegetable garden for the White House kitchen. Just days after Alice Waters, owner of Berkley, CA-based Chez Panisse and a well-known food activist, called for a White House organic garden on the weekly news show "60 Minutes," the first lady gathered 26 school children to begin digging a 1,100-square-foot organic garden on the South Lawn. "My girls like vegetables more if they taste good," Ms. Obama was quoted as saying at the press event. "Especially if they're