Bruce Knight, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was the keynote speaker at the annual membership meeting luncheon of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League, held Monday, March 26, at Disney's Grand California Hotel in Anaheim, CA. According to Barry Bedwell, president of the league, Mr. Knight's address at the luncheon was one of the highlights of the group's three-day, 71st annual meeting, which also included a workshop on food safety, a state legislative update, a board of directors meeting and a golf tournament. Mr. Knight's

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep Sam Farr (D-CA) defended a move to attach $25 million for financially strapped spinach producers to an emergency spending bill for the four-year-old Iraqi war. The House of Representatives passed the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill March 23 with $25 million that would help spinach producers nationwide who were hurt by the voluntary recall after the E. coli O157 outbreak in 2006 that sickened more than 200 people and resulted in three deaths. But the money is far from assured. The House-passed emergency spending bill sets a 2008 deadline for troop withdrawal

Though proprietary varieties represent the largest percentage of strawberries planted statewide, representing 40 percent of the state's acreage, it is a University of California variety -- Albion -- that experienced the biggest jumped in acreage planted this year over last. Albion represented 8 percent of California's strawberry acreage in 2006, but in 2007, Albion acreage jumped to 29 percent of the total. Diamante, which was the state's second-largest variety in 2006, decreased to 890 acres, or 3 percent of the crop, according to the California Strawberry Commission's 2007 acreage survey

California Giant has been working with suppliers to develop new packaging options for strawberries to reduce costs and increase efficiencies throughout the distribution system. The first result of that effort in 2007 for California Giant is a new packaging mix for the popular four-pound clamshells. The four-pounder is an essential part of the overall packaging mix offered by California Giant and is currently shipped in various configurations. The new master container conforms to the modular five-down footprint and holds three four-pound clamshells. This is an exciting development since the

Suppose your boss comes to you one day and says, "We have a sudden urgency that requires some quick decisions. Corporate headquarters has instructed us to downsize our workforce by 10 percent. You have to cut four people from your department. I need the names on my desk within an hour." How would you react and which decisions would you make? Would you get angry, complain or just sit back and procrastinate? Some people would probably focus their thoughts on finding reasons why it can't be done rather than getting it done. But let's consider more carefully the key words in your boss' statement

MONTEREY, CA -- California Sen. Abel Maldonado, who's family runs a farm in Santa Maria, CA, told an audience of agricultural leaders and local and state officials that a joint effort is required to pass effective food-safety legislation. The March 19 event was held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Monterey County Agricultural Education hosted the event as part of National Agriculture Week. Mr. Maldonado's district covers Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties as well as the southeast portion of Santa Clara County and the northern portion of Santa Barbara County. He serves on the