Latest News From Fresh Talk

Bluster or brilliance?

Have you taken the Hitchcock Farms produce quiz?

The University of Georgia’s recent study on the potential effect of the “new NAFTA” on the state’s vegetable and berry growers is drawing friendly fire.

To say there is pushback against the idea of creating another pilot program to allow drivers under 21 to operate commercial trucks is putting it mildly.

If you missed the speech by Bill Walton at The Packer’s West Coast Produce Expo, you missed quite a lot.

The Department of Commerce sent what one Florida source called a “new and constructive proposal” to Mexican tomato exporters on May 3.

What do consumers want anyway?

Consumer expenditures on fruit and vegetables took a jump in 2017, but not as much as the percentage hike in overall spending on food.

Comments are due on April 22 on the Food and Drug Administration's Guide to Minimize Food Safety Hazards of Fresh-cut Produce: Draft Guidance for Industry.

The importance of traditional stone fruit has slid in California over the past 20 years.

How do exports of U.S. fresh vegetables compare with imports?

The urban legend of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx goes something to the effect that people or teams on the cover of the magazine subsequently experience bad luck. 

The latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that the import share of the U.S. fresh vegetable supply continues to rise.

It seems crazy that President Trump is still considering options to close the U.S.-Mexico border.

Of course, President Trump won't close the border. But what if he did?

“Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya: Good afternoon, good evening, and good night!” was the cheery greeting from Truman Burbank in 1998 movie The Truman Show. 

A few years ago, Larry Danielson — a retired former employee of the Red Book (now Produce Market Guide) — mailed The Packer a slim 89-page paperback book.

Kale no!

2018 trade statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are now available.

How much is food choice based on a logical thought process versus an instinctual, “primal” desire?

Instead of going out to lunch for that quarter-pounder bacon burger, why not just pick the salad bar? 

The Environmental Protection Agency is taking public comments until March 14 on its proposed decision to establish tolerances for the use of streptomycin in/on citrus fruit.

In the journal Nutrients, the report "Differences in the Quantity and Types of Foods and Beverages Consumed by Canadians between 2004 and 2015" looked at comparing food consumption levels between 2004 and 2015.

The Packer’s newest poll question simply asks “How do you feel about President Trump’s plan to build a border wall at the U.S.- Mexican border?”

I read a recent article that cassette tapes are making something of a comeback, fed by what I believe must be misplaced “nostalgia.”

Everyone is a critic, but some are better than others.

The charms of travel to another country can be overrated.

Truck rates have been easing, but will the polar vortex change all that?

Brexit food fears are being stoked by retailers in Britain.

Lower prices for Florida tomatoes and Mexican avocados drove the Produce Price Index (my own creation) down to lower levels in late January, though prices for Idaho potatoes are trending higher.

Truck rates have sagged a bit as truckload capacity continues to build in the first weeks of 2019, according to a report from DAT Solutions.

News coverage is ramping up about the potential effects on perishable imports caused by the government shutdown.

Convention speakers are a type of preacher.

America loves lists.

At least the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Market News Service is still operating, but the continuing shutdown of the federal government has got to end.

There is no Dow Jones Average for produce, unfortunately, but the quest to measure the market persists.

It is always strawberry season somewhere, isn’t it?

What is the relative importance of each state to the fresh produce industry?

The government is dysfunctional.

Shipping point prices of romaine lettuce in December slid very low, from nearly $24 per carton early in the month to just $8 per carton late in the month.

“God is always doing geometry.” Plato.

Check out the above chart showing the shortfall in shipments of romaine in early December compared with a year ago.

The premium paid for organic produce is a moving target, and it is far from standard for fresh produce commodities.

How quickly will romaine rebound?

“No report issued as all commerce is halted by an FDA and CDC advisory not to consume Romaine Lettuce.”

With a post on their website at 2:30 p.m. Eastern today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped a bombshell.

A sure sign of any significant disruption of the avocado market, as our news editor Chris Koger has said more than once, is a story (or a 1,000 stories) about how Chipotle is coping with the shortage.

It was a dark and stormy night. 

Has there ever been a fresh produce item that has ascended per capita consumption levels as fast as the avocado?

I recently asked the public affairs office of the U.S. International Trade Administration about the status of the talks for a new tomato suspension agreement between Mexican tomato growers and the U.S.