From Field to Fork

Here at PMA we talk a lot about connections. Tens of thousands of connections will be made at Fresh Summit in Anaheim later this week. We offer a series of Fresh Connections events that focus on vital topics in a variety of regions. And members connect just by being members. So we’re pleased to see another type of connection as USDA strives to link consumers with farmers in the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program announced recently. It will use social media and other technologies to link consumers with the source of their food.

It is always good when consumers better understand where their food comes from and what it takes to get it to the table. We know from PMA research that consumers like to buy local produce, and one reason is so they can support their community. Even now as we move into the fall, many major supermarkets continue their local produce promotions with pictures of the farmers and strong promotional materials. And we see produce companies extending their reach to grow and source more local products.

As we rightly extol the virtues of local produce, we have to keep in mind that local produce cannot be the sole answer. First, local really doesn’t have a definition. I’ve mentioned before that we start to see “local” tomatoes in Delaware sometime in May, long before any Delaware field is fruiting. We have to be sure we don’t ruin the credibility of “local” with consumers by stretching the boundaries too far.

Second, we’ve come a long way since I was a girl and oranges in the winter were a big treat in northwest Missouri. As we work to get consumers eating more and more fresh produce – for their health and our industry’s health – we have to offer a wide variety of fresh, flavorful products year-round. Consumers like local, but they won’t want to give up citrus in the North or apples in the South. And no one wants to give up bananas. Local is great. Global is great. What we really need is increased consumption of all fresh produce.

Connections are important, especially between our industry and consumers. So let’s keep making those connections – from around the corner and around the world.

See you at Fresh Summit!

Traceability continues to be a hot topic both in Washington, DC and throughout the fruit and vegetable industry. Produce supply chain members looking for traceability solutions should visit the Produce Traceability Learning Center during PMA’s 2009 Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition. The learning center will give attendees the opportunity to:

• learn more about the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) and its seven milestones to achieve chain-wide, electronic product traceability at the case level;
• participate in related learning opportunities, including a live milestone workshop and Q&As with retailers; and
• talk one-on-one with leading produce traceability experts.

For more information about Fresh Summit, visit the PMA Web site. For more information about traceability, visit the PTI Web site.

Like other U.S. households, low-income households tend to consume below the recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables. A recent USDA Economic Research Service study indicates that reduced prices will not significantly boost fruit and vegetable demand by low-income Americans. Previous research shows that fruit and vegetable demand is not sensitive to price changes; that is, the percentage increase in consumption is lower than the percentage decrease in price.

Specifically, the study examined the effect of three retail price discounts (5, 10, and 20 percent) to predict how low-income consumers might increase their purchases of fruit and vegetables. Using a range of price elasticities and estimates of food consumption by low-income Americans, ERS calculated that with a 10-percent price discount at the retail level, low-income households would increase their consumption of fruit by 2.1 to 5.2 percent (from 0.96 cup to 0.98 to 1.01 cups per person per day) and vegetables by 2.1 to 4.9 percent (from 1.43 cups to 1.46 to 1.50 cups).

With fresh produce being added to vouchers for the Women, Infants, and Children supplemental nutrition program and with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans up for revision in 2010, it will be interesting to see how USDA and other agencies address fruit and vegetable consumption through federal feeding and nutrition assistance programs.

If doing business with the government is a subject that interests you, be sure to attend the Fresh Summit session titled “How the ‘New Washington’ Can Impact Your Business.”

Thanks to our friends at Freshfel, the European Fresh Produce Association, we offer a few updates on produce marketing in Europe.

Marketing in Europe? Get the FAQs on new rules: The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development published a set of frequently asked questions (FAQ) along with answers regarding the new marketing standard regime. The new standards, including marketing standards, were effective July 1. This document explains the changes.

Produce program for school kids: September 4 marked the opening of the school year and the European School Fruit Scheme in several European countries. The program is designed to get more fruits and vegetables to school children, a laudable goal worth pursuing. Freshfel continues to work to improve the program. The organization seeks a clear overview of each country’s implementation program and a comparison across countries, an annual networking event to share information and best practices, and a Web site to share information and materials. Freshfel would also like the Directorate-General to establish working groups (scientific-technical group for evaluation and monitoring and a stakeholders group for sharing best practices). The association shared its concerns that German may not take up the program and that some countries may limit eligible items, calling on the Directorate-General to insist that participating countries include a broad range of fruits and vegetables.

Hope for nutrition labeling harmonization dims: In early September, the new European Parliament held its first meeting of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety in Brussels, including a discussion on the Commission proposal on nutrition labeling. It appears there are still many different views on food labeling among member states and it might be difficult to reach agreement this fall.

In addition to providing great information on the European marketplace, Freshfel also educates its members in Europe about the U.S. marketplace. Thanks to Freshfel for including PMA’s consumer research in its updates!

Among U.S. voters, about nine in 10 support the federal government adopting additional food safety measures, and 64 percent believe that imported foods are often or sometimes unsafe, according to a new Pew poll. Concerns about imported foods reflected a significant jump compared to the 53 percent of voters who expressed such concerns in a similar 2008 survey. Overall, 58 percent of voters are worried about bacterial contamination of the food supply – with about a third of those saying they worry “a great deal.”

After consumer confidence in the food supply was shaken in 2006 following the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to spinach, the following year PMA helped establish the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) at the University of California at Davis. The CPS has been diligently working to bring research and science to bear to help start answering some of our industry’s most critical food safety questions.

During the 2009 PMA Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition, a workshop titled “Food Safety Innovations: What’s New and What Does It Really Mean?” will look at promising new produce safety research conducted by the CPS and what it means for business, with speakers including CPS Executive Director Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli and PMA Chief Science Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker. If you’re going to be in Anaheim at Fresh Summit, this session will be held Saturday, October 3. Don’t miss out – add this workshop to your Outlook calendar today.

Watching people connect in ways that makes light bulbs go off is immensely gratifying. And we saw lots of illuminating moments last Friday during the field tour of Delaware family farms we organized for FDA Commissioner Peggy Hamburg and some of her senior staff.

It was a unique opportunity to bring together the real world of fresh produce and the regulatory world of FDA. PMA grower members were open and forthright about food safety issues, and FDA officials eagerly absorbed what they heard.

What struck me most about this tour was the genuine interaction - talking, touching product, exploring issues, opening up audit records to show the detail behind the product itself. The promise of transparency and openness bore fruit on Friday.

Growers called for an even playing field with food safety for all that is scalable and sensitive to different needs and risks. FDA’s comments and questions made it clear they listen to growers’ comments and want to act on them. We talked about traceability, audits, records, and risk. We also covered basics that we in the produce world take for granted - how products are grown, handled and distributed, how apple packing lines measure color, and how they electronically sort sizes.

Special thanks to members Filasky’s Produce, Fifer Orchards, and Vincent Farms for opening their operations as a learning laboratory for FDA. Thanks to other growers and Delaware Department of Agriculture officials who joined us at lunch. And thanks to Gordon Johnson of the Cooperative Extension service at the University of Delaware who helped us pull this together and moderated our lunch discussion.

This is just one snapshot of PMA’s efforts to make that link between industry and government - to make those light bulbs go off and shine light on ways industry and regulators can and should work together.

As I host farm tours today for FDA Commissioner Dr. Peggy Hamburg and her senior advisers, I wanted to call your attention to this commentary from former USDA leader Carol Tucker-Foreman. Carol’s opinions go to the heart of the objectives FDA has for these tours today: to hear directly from local, family farmers what’s on their minds when it comes to food safety. Carol has been a long-time proponent of stronger government regulation for the food industry and has played a central role in the Consumer Federation of America’s food safety policy. Her comments Wednesday in the Huffington Post are important ammunition in support of Dr. Hamburg’s position that one cannot exclude smaller farms from food safety requirements.

Carol wrote: “Dr. Hamburg has pledged that FDA regulations will be sensitive to scale. That should open the door for small farmers to join victims and consumer advocates in urging Congress to pass a bill that recognizes the special needs of small farmers but still has the power to assure that all companies operate in a manner that reduces the risk of foodborne illness to the lowest level. If consumers and small farmers can agree on the need for Congress to give FDA the power and resources and responsibility for preventing foodborne illness, including developing scale-appropriate regulations, we could be strong allies in assuring that that gets into the final legislation and agency rules.”

Carol’s thoughts mirror our own here at PMA. Everyone needs to be responsible for food safety, regardless of size or method of production. But food safety is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. It must be scalable and sensitive to the needs of a variety of businesses.

As you know, in March, prompted by political claims of safety concerns, Congress effectively eliminated a cross-border trucking safety demonstration project run by DOT. That action put the United States in violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. It also prompted the Government of Mexico to announce retaliatory tariffs on about $2.4 billion of U.S. manufactured and agricultural exports to Mexico, including several produce crops. Mexico’s actions were deemed permissible by an international panel of trade experts, including representatives from the United States.

Despite pressure from industry, including PMA, this stalemate drags on.

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a report last month: “Follow-Up Audit on the Implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement’s Cross-Border Trucking Provisions.” That report affirms that Mexican trucks are as safe as U.S. vehicles – and that Mexican truck drivers have better safety records than their U.S. counterparts.

In addition, last May, the Congressional Research Service issued similar findings, and referred to a prior year audit performed by DOT, telling Members of Congress: “[T]he safety of Mexican trucks … is now comparable with U.S. trucks.… Recent data… indicate that other Mexican trucks are as safe as U.S. trucks and that the drivers are generally safer than U.S. drivers.”

Most recently, a U.S Chamber of Commerce study released earlier today notes that Mexican tariffs, which have only been in place for six months, are having a devastating impact on U.S. exports and causing Americans to lose their jobs as a direct result. The study concluded that the U.S. failure to implement NAFTA’s cross-border trucking provisions has resulted the loss of 25,000 U.S. jobs, $2.2 billion in higher costs for U.S. families and companies and another $2.6 billion in lost U.S. exports.

For more information on the issue, visit the Alliance to Keep U.S. Jobs (of which PMA is a member). We continue to work to resolve this issue.

PMA members in the Minneapolis and Boston areas should mark their calendars now for two PMA Fresh Connections events. PMA Fresh Connections: Minneapolis will explore what is already happening in the area of produce sustainability, highlight opportunities from the buyer and supplier points of view, and give participants ideas they can put to work in their businesses right away.

Also on September 23, PMA Fresh Connections: Boston will focus on how companies within the produce industry are doing business during today’s tough economic times. Attendees will be able to network and brainstorm with peers from all parts of the supply chain to discuss how this “new economic era” will impact organizations’ business models.

Seating for both events is limited, so early registration is strongly encouraged. Visit the PMA Web site for more details.

According to Alice Waters, a great deal. Her recent column titled “Want to Teach Democracy? Improve School Lunches” draws a direct correlation between healthier food in schools and a healthier democracy. According to Waters, “Better food isn’t just about test scores, health and discipline. It is about preparing students for the responsibilities of citizenship.”

That’s a pretty powerful statement, but is it true? She offers for evidence recent studies showing that having access to healthier meals often helps students do better in the classroom. Students that feel better can think better. More important, though, she suggests that so-called “edible education” leads to a better understanding of the basic principles of responsibility, compromise, and cooperation that are integral to the democratic process. It is possible that students who understand the connections between the land, the food we eat, and our service to one another may also understand how citizens can effectively operate in a political system – with respect for one another and differing opinions, and without shouting each other down.

Perhaps the most compelling evidence for this argument, however, comes from another source who she quotes in the piece, Thomas Jefferson. He commented that: “Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds.”

So, PMA members, keep in mind that whatever your role in the produce industry, you may be doing more good than you know for the country as a whole. Who knew produce could be so good for the body — and our democratic ideals?