Latest News From Tim York

Tim York
Innovation should be looked at with a healthy dose of skepticism

“While innovation and new technology should be supported, we also need to be mindful of individuals and companies that may overpromise and underdeliver," says columnist Tim York, CEO of the California LGMA.

Tim York
Making a difference one lemon slice at a time

"Every person connected to the fresh fruit and vegetable industry should be a champion for eating more produce," says columnist Tim York, CEO of the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement.

Tim York
The bystander effect and how it can apply to food safety

We can’t let the bystander effect happen in fields, packinghouses or anywhere else in the supply chain — the results can be tragic.

Collaboration needed to solve challenges, build opportunity in agriculture
Collaboration needed to solve challenges, build opportunity in agriculture

Tim York, CEO of the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement, says collaboration is the key to weathering agricultural challenges.

Tim York
The nature of work

It’s important we keep an open mind to evolving employee expectations, consider the uniqueness of particular industries and positions, and remember both the pros and cons of traditional work environments.

Tim York
Lessons from the sky: Why produce needs a culture of safety

While the produce industry is no doubt unique, there are powerful lessons that can be found by looking across sectors, particularly to industries that share a common charge: protecting consumer safety.

Tim York
Distrust in science threatens progress

When Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine in 1953, he was feted in a New York ticker tape parade and hailed as the “great doctor-benefactor of his time.” Compare that to today.

Tim York
One rotten apple can spoil all the rest

One failure, one company or one person can have significant (negative) impact across an entire industry. Each of us has a responsibility to ensure safe food. And this responsibility can have far-reaching consequences.

Tim York
A peek behind the curtain at LGMA

Our values guide us in good times and bad, and a clearly defined organizational purpose will articulate the benefits of our organizations to our employees, customers and society as a whole.

Tim York
Where were you when ...?

I remember vividly where I was on Sept. 15, 2006, when the Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory warning consumers not to eat spinach.

Tim York
What’s behind LGMA’s preharvest testing requirement

At its last meeting, the LGMA board voted unanimously to require its members to conduct preharvest testing of product grown in fields where elevated risk factors may be present.

Tim York
Pathogen testing: A positive test can be a positive thing

Last month the USDA issued a report on findings of a sampling assignment that tested raw agricultural commodity romaine lettuce at facilities and on farms in the Salinas and Yuma growing regions.

Tim York
Fear of flying and building trust

A recent Wall Street Journal article titled The Airline Safety Revolution caught my eye and should be required reading for the leafy greens industry and our food safety regulators.

Tim York
A food safety call to produce buyers

Updating LGMA’s required food safety practices is an involved process that seeks input from scientists, food safety experts and the public. No other entity is capable of making widespread change as quickly as we can.

Tim York
President Biden, ask your FDA leadership to visit a lettuce farm!

Let’s face it, Bill Marler has made a lot of money telling a story in which young children are the victims, lettuce farmers are the villains and he plays the hero.

Tim York
Improving food safety — a culture of collaboration

The support, confidence and leadership of farmers, shippers, packers and processors is at the core of the LGMA.

Restaurants’ COVID-19 challenges continue
Restaurants’ COVID-19 challenges continue

While we’ve all felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in our homes and in our businesses, no industry has been more affected than the restaurant industry.

COVID-19's small town tragedies
COVID-19's small town tragedies

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are visible everywhere — from shuttered restaurants and empty streets to vacant parks and playgrounds and piles of empty Amazon boxes out for curbside recycling.

Amid the chaos, heroes, innovation emerge from the produce industry
Amid the chaos, heroes, innovation emerge from the produce industry

While most of us are taking sanctuary in our homes, and likely grumbling about it, there are heroes across the food supply chain that are working hard to adapt and ease disruption.

Restaurants fight to survive amid coronavirus shutdowns
Restaurants fight to survive amid coronavirus shutdowns

The world as we know it has changed, perhaps indefinitely, as industries across the country and globe are coming to terms with the new realities born as a result of the coronavirus COVID-19.

Coronavirus, produce safety, and a hero
Coronavirus, produce safety, and a hero

Fourteen years after the spinach crisis, there is still a significant amount of work to be done to ensure the food we grow, process and bring to market is safe.

Tim York
Letter: 'Frieda put a dent in the produce universe'

The recent death of Frieda Caplan reminds me of how much has changed in the 40-plus years I have worked in the produce. It too reminds me how much we all owe to Frieda for the business we love today.

For those in agriculture, work-life balance is elusive
For those in agriculture, work-life balance is elusive

I don’t need to tell you that working in agriculture is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week gig.

Beyond Grandma’s steamed broccoli
Beyond Grandma’s steamed broccoli

There is a reason vegetables used to have a bad reputation, and, frankly it stems from bad preparation that often includes overcooking, poor seasoning and lack of creativity.

Foodservice must help improve kids’ health
Foodservice must help improve kids’ health

There’s plenty of research to show that parents and kids will make the right choices if we make healthy eating easy and attractive.

Foodservice consolidation brings new challenges, opportunities
Foodservice consolidation brings new challenges, opportunities

The foodservice marketplace today looks much different than it did in 1985, as waves of consolidation and acquisitions continue to hit the industry, providing both opportunity and new pressures on suppliers.

Keep walking the talk
Keep walking the talk

In last month’s column, we came down hard on the assumptions many in agriculture make about educating consumers

Telling our story again and again
Telling our story again and again

It’s a refrain we’ve all probably said too many times in our careers: “We just need to tell our story ... to get the facts out.”

People still matter
People still matter

I remember sitting around the sales desk in the afternoon as we were reflecting on the day, and hearing “old-timers” talking about “how it used to be.” Now, I think I am one of them.

People, planet, profit — in action
People, planet, profit — in action

Definitions of sustainability are in no short order, and while there is not a universal definition, many in agriculture see sustainability as achieving triple bottom line benefits to people, planet and profit.

The right step forward on sustainable packaging
The right step forward on sustainable packaging

Like everyone else, I’m a big fan of Amazon Prime — the ease of one-click shopping and virtually instant gratification of my needs or wants.

Beyond iceberg: New spins on the traditional salad
Beyond iceberg: New spins on the traditional salad

It’s no longer just iceberg lettuce and blue cheese crumbles on the salad menu these days.