Consolidation of Texas distribution adds to the company’s efforts to realign its supply chain.

Produce clerks’ courteous interactions with shoppers can enhance the in-store experience, but they should also know when it reaches a counterproductive point, says columnist Armand Lobato.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to halt Thursday’s decision by a Rhode Island judge requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to spend $4 billion set aside for other purposes to ensure Americans receive full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.

With some harvest underway and more to come, growers see promising signs from the field.

In a memo signed by Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary of the Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, USDA said FNS would complete the processes necessary to make funds available to support subsequent transmittal of full issuance files to EBT processors Nov. 7.

During the government shutdown, For Farmers Movement founder Dana DiPrima says the suspension of SNAP benefits is rippling through rural communities, hurting small and mid-sized farmers already struggling to stay afloat.