WALLA WALLA, WA -- For the second consecutive year, artist Diana Schmidt has taken the top award for her Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival poster designs at the Washington Festivals & Events Association conference. The conference, held March 7-9 at Seaside, OR, saw Ms. Schmidt win for the 2009 poster heralding the 25th annual festival. The colorful poster, depicting a vintage pickup loaded with enormous Walla Walla Sweets, was the second in what Kathy Fry, director of marketing for the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee, referred to as the "truck series." "Last year Diana won for the

Alan Schreiber, administrator of the Washington Asparagus Commission, is projecting increased asparagus tonnage for the 2010 season. "We are cautiously optimistic," he told The Produce News March 31. "We will have an early season." The 2009 production season was marked by prolonged periods of cold, resulting in a shortened season. Warmer weather patterns during 2010 are anticipated to result in a harvest beginning as many as 14 days ahead of normal timetables. Initial volumes were expected to be harvested in early April. Mr. Schreiber said that the 2010 season will wind down by late June, a

A creative pear and scallop appetizer took top prize March 31 at the second annual USA Pears Culinary Student Recipe competition, which is open to U.S. culinary students nationwide. The recipe, called simply Pears & Scallops, was created by Texas Culinary Academy student John (Keith) Paugh and featured fresh pears poached in Riesling and seasoned with cayenne pepper, vanilla bean, bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon. The poached pears were then sliced into the same size and shape as the sea scallops that were featured in the dish. The scallops were garnished with sliced pears and the

John Hickey, a senior buyer at John Vena Inc. located on the Philadelphia Regional Produce Terminal, resigned from the company, according to John Vena, president of the company. "Effective immediately, Mr. Hickey is no longer connected to the firm," a March 26 press release announced. "John Hickey was instrumental in creating new product lines and further developing some existing products, Mr. Vena told The Produce News April 5. "John has an intuitive feel for produce and is highly focused on his customer's best interests. I wish him all the best in the future." Mr. Vena said that Mr. Hickey

With March bringing record rainfall to many parts of the Garden State followed by unseasonably warm temperatures in early April, growers are keeping one eye on their fields and the other on the weather forecast as they hope for a reprieve from the extremes and a return to a normal production schedule. Bill Nardelli, president of Nardelli Bros. in Cedarville, NJ, told The Produce News April 6 that water remains on the ground in low-lying areas and that some areas are still not able to be farmed, but "everybody seems to have enough high ground that they have been able to get started. We had a

The last two years have been a precarious maze for Florida tomato growers. First, the industry was wrongly blamed for a 2008 Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds. Then came January's freezes that wiped out 80 percent of the winter crop. In between -- and ongoing -- the industry is wrestling with a tangle of self-regulation, and state and pending federal legislation that could make a lawyer blush. One would think that given circumstances like that, tomato farmers would be a confused and discouraged bunch. Instead, they have rallied, and the Maitland, FL-based Florida Tomato Committee has