Western Growers Association, which recently opened an office in Washington DC, descended upon the nation's capital in large numbers the last week of June as it held a board meeting there for the first time. Close to two-dozen directors and staffers dispersed inside the Beltway on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, June 26-28, meeting with dozens of elected representatives, regulators and staffers. Those on the agenda included Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Larry Craig (R-ID); Reps. Devin Nunes (R- CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), George Radanovich (R-CA) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ); Deputy Assistant to the President

NEW YORK -- An impressive group of executive chefs, food consultants, editors and executives came together June 21 in New York City to judge the Florida Tomato Committee's annual "Best of the Best" recipe contest. The event is open to student culinary chefs in both the United States and Canada, and winners are chosen from both countries. The contest is made available to culinary students through the institutes they attend. Recipes are submitted to the entrants' supervising instructors, who judge at the school level. Those recipes are then submitted to the Florida Tomato Committee and its

During a ribbon cutting in Soledad, CA, Salinas Valley produce company Tanimura & Antle formally announced that it has taken action to reduce its carbon footprint by fueling its tractors with biodiesel. The Salinas Valley- based grower and shipper accepted its first delivery of 8,000 gallons of B20 (20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel) fuel in May of this year, and it anticipates offsetting 125,000 gallons of traditional diesel fuel with biodiesel by the end of 2007. "We decided to paint the tractors running on biodiesel 'clean sky blue' to symbolize the reduction in net carbon dioxide

Oxnard, CA-based Gills Onions LLC has voluntarily recalled some of its diced yellow onions after the Washington state Department of Agriculture, during routine testing, detected Listeria monocytogenes in one retail bag of diced yellow onions. The company issued a press release Tuesday, June 19, on the recall. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness

The Western Growers Association in Irvine, CA, has announced that Dave Puglia was promoted to senior vice president of government affairs and communications, and other promotions at the organization have also been announced. In addition to his ongoing government affairs role, Mr. Puglia will assume responsibility for all Western Growers communications strategies and tactical activities. Mr. Puglia has led WGA's state government affairs activities for the past two years. Prior to joining the association in April 2005 as vice president of state government affairs, Mr. Puglia served as a global

DELTA, CO -- Spring frost and sluggish pollination action by bees are being cited as factors contributing to the short cherry crop for Colorado's Western Slope, but at the same time, shippers are calling this probably the best quality they've ever had on cherries. At United Marketing Exchange, here, General Manager Harold Broughton and Sales Manager Mike Gibson said June 18 that shipping had started that day for Hulteen Orchards on nearby Antelope Hill. In addition, Mr. Broughton farms some 40 acres in Dominquez Canyon, north of Delta, and his cherry harvest had begun the previous week.