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Jill Dutton

Jill Dutton, associate editor of The Packer, specializes in retail produce news, market trends and urban farming initiatives. With expertise in the rapidly evolving e-grocery landscape, she provides analysis on how digital platforms are reshaping food distribution. Jill is a prominent voice on sustainability and consumer trends, offering actionable insights that help businesses navigate shifting market demands. Her work explores the full produce journey — from farm to retail — featuring grower profiles, supply chain insights and emerging production models that shape American food systems.

Latest Stories
Bjorn’s insights from the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum detail how the company leverages premium genetics, navigates labor and trade challenges and responds to the shifting consumer to drive the category.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the enrollment period and payment rates for the new Assistance for Specialty Crops Farmers program to support producers facing elevated costs and unfair foreign trade competition.
Driven by a volatile cocktail of geopolitical conflicts and skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer costs, the U.S. fresh produce industry is navigating a hidden crisis where stable retail averages mask a shrinking financial safety net for independent farmers.
AmpleHarvest.org connects America’s 62 million home gardeners with local food pantries, turning surplus backyard produce into a fresh, same-day solution for neighborhood food insecurity.
At the ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit in Charlotte, N.C., The Farmlink Project CEO, Eliza Blank, highlighted how the organization is moving away from volume-heavy metrics like “pounds diverted” to act as a sophisticated, rapid-response logistics partner capable of clearing surplus farm produce within a tight 24-to-48-hour window.
Celebrating excellence in greenhouse growing, the 2026 Greenhouse Competition in Leamington, Ontario, recognizes the award-winning innovations from Red Sun Farms, Del Fresco Pure, Nature Fresh Farms and Sunset.
The industry faces a pivotal tension between using packaging to extend shelf life and to reduce food waste and navigating emerging material regulations and Extended Producer Responsibility mandates, according to a panel at the ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit.
Deep Roots CPS Farm uses regenerative family homesteading, ancestral agricultural science and circular community partnerships to dismantle food insecurity and build an independent economic engine for growers in Charlotte, N.C.
By shifting from late-day, expiration-driven discounts to proactive, morning markdowns fueled by real-time sell-through data, U.S. grocery retailers can transform avoidable produce shrink into a powerful lever for both financial discipline and environmental sustainability.
Hannaford Supermarkets’ latest annual impact data reveals a considerable scale-up in hunger relief and regional investment, totaling millions in direct funding for schools, health initiatives and local farms across five states.