More than $10,000 was raised for local charities earlier in June through a golf tournament featuring the Philadelphia produce industry. The Philadelphia chapter of the United Fresh Produce Association held the ninth annual Louis Penza Sr. Memorial Golf Tournament June 11 at the Medford Village Country Club. Participating Philadelphia Regional Produce Market operators, suppliers and guests numbered 92, creating 23 foursomes. "We had perfect weather. It was a fun day to get people together from the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market," tournament Chairman Louis Penza Jr. told The Produce News.

After a long search, Atlanta-based General Produce Inc. has opened its new cross-dock facility in Thomasville, GA, enabling the company to extend its overnight reach throughout the Southeast. The new facility replaces an outdated cross-dock in Cairo, GA, and "will allow the company to grow our business in Florida, Alabama and south Georgia," Andrew Scott, sales and procurement manager for General Produce, told The Produce News. "If you put it all together, we can reach 11 states overnight and the Caribbean," added George Wiley, the firm's retail sales manager. The search for a new south

In Cape Town, South Africa, a Seatrade refrigerated breakbulk vessel bearing the season's first South African citrus bound for the United States was loaded May 25 and is due to dock June 24 in the port of Philadelphia. "Our export program to the United States has been unscathed by strike action, which was resolved about 10 days ago," Joretha Geldenhuys, chief executive officer of the Western Cape Citrus Producers' Forum, said in a June 8 press release. "The reason for this is that the vast bulk of our shipments travel to the U.S. on reefer ships, and the workers responsible for loading these

WASHINGTON -- The 2010 Dietary Guidelines should recommend that Americans shift their food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet that emphasizes vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, according to a new report delivered June 15 to top Obama administration officials. Every five years, the federal government names an advisory panel to scrutinize the latest science and make nutritional recommendations to the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Health & Human Services that later become the Dietary Guidelines. "The advisory report will provide USDA and HHS

Southern Specialties, a distributor of specialty produce items located in Pompano Beach, FL, is expanding its headquarters facility in support of the growth of its value-added line. Charlie Eagle, vice president of business development for the company, told The Produce News June 11 that the firm has signed an agreement to acquire additional warehouse space at its headquarters and distribution facility. "The expansion, which shares a common wall with the existing warehouse, will create 36 percent more capacity for the warehouse and provide space for additional processing, hydro-cooling and

Leah Chester-Davis knew she needed to find some way to promote the North Carolina MarketReady educational and informational research program, a partnership of the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension based in Kannapolis. She did not expect to discover a star. But when Ms. Chester-Davis, coordinator of community outreach for the program, met Rockingham County Cooperative Extension Director Brenda Sutton -- now known state-wide as "The Produce Lady" -- at a meeting almost two years ago, it was serendipity of the first