Last week on his audio blog, PMA Chief Science Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker discussed verification as part of a series of posts about risk assessment and risk management, in particular food safety audits. He noted that sometimes the food safety discussion in our industry is overshadowed or somehow equated with discussions on what audits are best and how many we have to do. The reality is that audits are only a tool - a snapshot in time.

He added that food safety audits are “a mechanism to demonstrate to yourself, your senior management, and your customers that you are following your food safety program – and that you can verify it through your audit that day. At their best, food safety audits are excellent training opportunities for employees, a chance to have an independent set of eyes critique your program, and a time when you can step back from all the other responsibilities and critically look at your food safety program and how it is being implemented. So an audit can be an important learning experience.”

For future updates on this topic and others, you can visit his blog directly and sign up to get new updates via e-mail.
 

On January 21, the Coordinating Council for the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops (SISC) met in Washington, D.C. We assessed progress against our work and discussed future applications of the data that could be collected. SISC is a multi-stakeholder initiative to develop a system for measuring sustainable performance throughout the specialty crop supply chain. The Metrics Review Committees have worked quickly, and several metrics soon will be piloted to test their applicability in the real world.

We know that some businesses are tracking sustainability numbers (energy, water, crop inputs, etc.), and some buyers are asking for such numbers. We want to avoid having a plethora of measurement systems out there so that companies spend more time measuring than they do on their businesses. That’s why we see great value in having this one set of outcomes-based metrics to enable operators at any point along the supply chain to benchmark, compare, and communicate their own performance.

If you’re interested in working on these metrics or the pilots, you can sign up at the SISC Web site.

Wrapping up a three-week stint of sharing PMA’s 2010 legislative and regulatory forecast with East Coast growers, at the end of this week I will be presenting this information (as well as an update on traceability) to attendees of the Tennessee Fruit and Vegetable Association during its Horticultural Expo.

As I looked at PMA’s economic impact study, I learned that, in Tennessee, the fresh produce and floral industry accounts for 30,755 direct full time equivalent jobs. These direct jobs generate an additional 17,625 jobs for a total employment impact of 48,380 jobs. In total, these workers earn $1,209,120,857 and the total economic output is $9,536,221,697.

Getting out and connecting to members at meetings like these are one of the things I really enjoy doing for PMA. While my e-mail (and Blackberry) keeps me constantly linked to what is happening, it’s very easy to become over-reliant technology and lose sight of the value of industry gatherings.

That said, technology can be used to bridge the information gap. For those who can’t be there but would like to know what is going on at the meeting, you can follow me on Twitter.

As the U.S. economy continues on the path to recovery, PMA President & CEO Bryan Silbermann will address consumer trends and their economic implications during PMA Fresh Connections: San Antonio on Thursday, February 4. He will share insights into how the fresh produce industry doing in the “new economy” and how consumer behaviors affect our rapidly-evolving industry.

For example: PMA research has found that even in the current economy, few consumers are moving away from fresh produce overall. But what they are doing is making adjustments among categories of fresh fruits and vegetables – seeking out familiar standbys that are available year-round and relatively inexpensive.

Seating for PMA’s Fresh Connections: San Antonio is limited, and open to both PMA members and non-members. Register by February 2 to receive the early-bird registration rate of $100 for PMA members and $150 for non-members. For more details, visit the PMA Web site.

Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report focused titled “Celebrating A Decade of Energy Star Buildings: 1999-2009.” In it, Four Seasons Produce’s facility in Ephrata, Pennsylvania was recognized as the first ENERGY STAR labeled warehouse in the U.S.

Through a number of company-wide sustainability initiatives, Four Seasons has saved 25 percent in annual energy bills, reduced water use by 24 percent, and recycled over 86 percent of waste. Not satisfied with those achievements, the company continues to find significant ways to reduce its energy footprint. A few examples of its energy efforts include installing energy management software in the refrigeration and HVAC systems, a lighting retrofit in warehouse and production areas of the distribution facility, and improvements to the building envelope.

We’ve talked about Four Seasons’ and other organizations’ sustainability efforts here on Field to Fork before, and we’d like to hear more about other produce industry efforts. If you know an organization that has implemented sustainable or socially responsible programs, please let us know. We’re always looking to highlight industry efforts on the PMA Web site.

We joined with many of our food industry and consumer organization friends in a letter yesterday encouraging the Senate to schedule a vote on S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, as quickly as possible when the Senate returns to work in January 2010. As you recall, the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved a strong, bipartisan bill in November; the House passed its food safety legislation last summer.

In the letter, the coalition said: “Strong food-safety legislation will reduce the risk of contamination and thereby better protect public health and safety, raise the bar for the food industry, and deter bad actors. S. 510 will provide the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the resources and authorities the agency needs to help make prevention the focus of our food safety strategies. Among other things, this legislation requires food companies to develop a food safety plan; it improves the safety of imported food and food ingredients; and it adopts a risk-based approach to inspection.”

Although the bill is not perfect, we encourage Senate passage. Differences between the Senate and House bills will be worked out in a conference committee. Once the President signs the legislation we can move forward to implementation through FDA. PMA has long supported new food safety laws and regulations that will improve the safety of the food supply and enhance consumer confidence.

PMA members who wish to urge Senate support of S. 510 can send an e-mail through the PMA Advocacy Action Center.

On Tuesday, PMA hosted a free Webinar on country of origin labeling compliance trends at retail. To date, more than 3,800 store reviews have been processed out of 12,700 planned reviews to be completed by September 30, 2010. While there was a lull in review activity near the end of 2009, USDA told us that reviews will be picking up again – likely after the agency’s refresher training for state-level compliance personnel in the coming weeks.

For fruits and vegetables, the largest non-compliance issue was the absence of country of origin information (71% and 87% violations respectively). This was followed by country of origin information being inaccurate (26% for fruit and 9% for vegetables). Other minor violations included COO being illegible or inconspicuous, COO not being in an acceptable form, and COO abbreviations not being unmistakable.

The agency recommended that the best COOL practice retailers could implement is ensuring that COO is not being covered or obscured by other forms of marketing (e.g in-store overwrap of product). USDA also suggested that retailers ensure that origin declarations are in a conspicuous location in close proximity to the display, that COO declarations are readable, and that origin on individual stickers is consistent with origin on signage.

All in all, USDA was very complimentary of the progress the produce industry has made in COOL, citing the use of PLU stickers as a good way to convey origin information to consumers. We will continue to work with USDA on COOL and share updated information on compliance trends as it becomes available. In addition, yesterday’s Webinar was recorded and will be available via the PMA Web site in about a week for those who were unable to attend. We’ll let you know when the recording is posted.

In the meantime, you can check out the USDA presentation here. Many thanks to USDA’s Marty O’Connor, Craig Morris, and Bruce Summers for their willingness to share insights and expertise during yesterday’s Webinar.

I spoke to the Delaware Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association on food safety legislation and regulation at Delaware Ag Week on Tuesday. The session was great – a variety of speakers on relevant, timely topics. The organizers did a great job, so kudos to association president Dave Marvel and to Gordon Johnson, newly named extension vegetable specialist at the University of Delaware (congrats, Gordon!). What struck me about this meeting, however, had nothing to do with food safety or the speakers. It was an impassioned comment from a third-generation grower. He was responding to Agriculture Secretary Ed Kee’s keynote address, which had covered the realities of the new world of food safety – regulations, buyer requirements, etc. This grower asked when government would stop burdening industry with regulations that threaten to put some out of business. He said the government employees would still have their “cushy jobs” as growers fall by the wayside.

This certainly wasn’t the tenor of the overall meeting, yet it stuck with me because of the passion (anger? fear?) in his voice as he aired his frustrations. We know that more regulation is headed our way. We know we need to continually improve our food safety practices. We know that we’re under the consumer/media microscope. We’re grappling with a variety of federal, state, and local actions. Yet in all of this, we can’t forget that it comes down to individual business owners – growers, wholesalers, restaurants, grocery stores – trying to make a living doing what they love. They want to do the right thing, and they do. They want to be responsible, and they are. But they also feel threatened and frustrated by activities out of their control. And they fear losing the very livelihood they hold so dear.

At 2 p.m. EST today, PMA will hold a Webinar that addresses country of origin labeling compliance trends at retail. If you have not already registered, you can sign up here. The Webinar will highlight what USDA inspectors are finding in supermarket produce departments, including:

• the top commonly-seen gaps in compliance;
• where training needs to be tightened to avoid risk; and
• concrete examples of compliance and where enhancements are needed.

Following the USDA presentation, Webinar participants will have an opportunity to ask questions of the agency’s experts. I hope you’ll take time out of your schedule to join us later this afternoon.

It’s that time of year when grower groups around the country get together to learn about issues and trends, improve their practices, and kick off the year. I wrote about my visit to the New Jersey grower meeting last week. Tomorrow at the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Delaware annual meeting , I’ll be discussing the current legislative and regulatory outlook for produce industry issues, particularly food safety and the implications of proposed bills on this topic.

Our industry is a huge economic driver in the United States. That becomes all the more evident when we look at our impact in one of the smallest states, PMA’s home state of Delaware. Though Delaware may not have the production acreage other states have, the fresh produce and floral industries are vital to the state’s economy. According to PMA’s Economic Reach and Impact of the Fresh Produce and Floral Industry study, fresh produce and floral accounts for 4,872 direct full-time equivalent jobs. These direct jobs generate an additional 2,002 jobs for a total employment impact of 6,874 jobs. In total, these workers earn nearly $168 million and create a total economic output of $1.1 billion.

These events are important for our industry. Our economic impact study shows that every $1 of production yields $16.75 in economic output. Production is where it all begins, and these grower meetings are where those producers gain knowledge, share with each other, and get rejuvenated for the crop year ahead.

If you’ll be attending this industry meeting, I look forward to seeing you there. And if you can’t be there, you can follow some of the activities as I tweet from the event. Follow me on Twitter at KathyM_PMA.