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There are only 18 hours left on a poll that dares to ask the question about gender equality of opportunity in the fresh produce industry.

As a proud female- and family-founded, owned and led business, Los Alamitos, Calif.-based Frieda’s Specialty Produce is recognizing women pioneers during International Women’s Month, celebrated in March.

Prissy Fletcher is overjoyed. The cabbage crop is thriving this year in St. Johns County, just south of Jacksonville in northeastern Florida.

Barnes Farms, Hastings, Fla., is one of the largest cabbage growers along the Eastern Seaboard, Fletcher said, but several growers work with cabbage, including green, red, bok choy and Napa.

In Central Florida closer to the west coast, the first week of March was peak season for the 1,700 acres of strawberries at Astin Farms and the Astin Strawberry Exchange in Plant City and Wimauma, Fla.

Based near the east coast with other locations throughout south and central Florida, Alderman Farms, Boynton Beach, Fla., grows tomatoes, kale, collards, chard, sweet corn, bell peppers and more.

Mexican tomatoes count nearly $5 billion in economic impact in the U.S., according to new research from the University of Arizona.

Peruvian produce marketer Camposol will use Philadelphia-based AgroFresh Solutions, Inc.'s VitaFresh Botanicals plant-based, edible coatings to extend shelf life for ripened avocados bound for export markets.

Marketing will no longer exist in a decade, said Duncan Wardle in a TED Talk. It will be replaced by the experience economy.

South Bend, Ind.-based Pure Green Farms is now producing and distributing four new leafy green varieties to select Kroger stores, according to a news release.