ANDI Scores for Produce

Some of you may find this useful or use it as a marketing piece for your customers...

This is from Whole Foods Market - Guide to Healthy Eating

Top Ten ANDI Scores

ANDI stands for "Aggregate Nutrient Density Index." An ANDI score shows the nutrient density of a food on a scale from 1 to 1000 based on nutrient content. ANDI scores are calculated by evaluating an extensive range of micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidant capacities.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy-eating/health-starts-here/resources-and-tools/top-ten-andi-scores

Doctors Writing Prescriptions for Fruits and Vegetable

Link to full article: http://bit.ly/NR0Cl3

 Gary Clary, CNN


Bad cholesterol, depression, high blood pressure; these are all conditions that often prompt a trip to the pharmacy. But now, physicians are administering a different treatment entirely: produce. Doctors at select clinics across the country are writing some obese patients "prescriptions" for fruits and vegetables.

The Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program provides daily $1 subsidies to buy produce at local farmers markets. FVRx, as it is also known, is funded through Wholesome Wave, a non-profit organization which operates from private donations. Each member of a family gets the $1 prescription so, for example, a family of five would end up getting $35 per week to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables.

To read the entire article go here.

Pest News April 27, 2012

The latest edition of NC Pest News in now available.

In this edition you will find the following articles related to Fruits and Vegetables:

1. What causes misshapen strawberries?
2. Be on the look-out!  Garden diseases to watch for in May and June.

Senate Agriculture Committee Invests in Fruit and Vegetable Industry

Report from United Fresh Produce
April 26, 2012

Yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted 16-5 to pass the  Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012. This marks the beginning of efforts to reauthorize the 2012 Farm Bill, which is set to expire on September 30, 2012. For the fresh fruit and vegetable industry and United Fresh  members, this bill answers the call over the last year to continue to build on the investments made in the 2008 Farm Bill.

“While this is just the 'first inning' of a long and difficult Farm Bill process, it is extremely important that the Senate Agriculture Committee has confirmed what our members have been saying for quite a long time: investments in fruit and vegetable producers translate into a healthy industry – from field to table – while creating job opportunities and improved nutrition for consumers,” said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for United Fresh.

The Farm Bill proposal includes the following fruit and vegetable programs:

• Funding of $150 million annually for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program
• Annual funding at $50 million per year for DoD Fresh program to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to schools and service institutions
• Investment of $70 million annually for the Specialty Crop Block Grant program
• The Specialty Crop Research Initiative was funded at $25 million per year ramping up to $50 million by 2017
• Increased funding of $60 million in 2013 up to $65 million 2017 for pest and disease management programs
• The Market Access Program ($200 million per year) and Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops ($9 million per year) were fully funded
•  Hunger-Free Communities Grant Program for fruit and vegetable SNAP incentives was funded at $100 million over 5 years
• Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program was funded at $100 million over 5 years
• Section 32 specialty crop purchases funded at $406 million per year in mandatory purchases

As a member of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, United Fresh worked closely with key policymakers on the Committee and those with significant produce industry interests to secure support for several programs of particular importance to the fresh fruit and vegetable industry. This culminated on April 2 when 32 U.S. Senators sent a letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee
demanding funding investments in specialty crops when the 2012 Farm Bill come up for consideration before the Committee.

“We applaud Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Roberts for listening to their Senate colleagues and industry stakeholders by making important policy investments in the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012,” stated Guenther.

The legislation must now go to the full Senate for debate and votes, and then on to the House of Representatives for consideration, which is currently expected sometime this summer.

January Fruit Growers News

The latest edition of Fruit Growers News is now on-line.

The January edition includes articles on:

• Native Pollinators
• Nurseries in Belgium and the Netherlands
• Business Succession Success

Changing Consumer Demand Affects Small Fruit

This article from Fruit Growers News is a great history of the small fruit industry in the U.S.

Changing Consumer Demand Affects Small Fruit

Tim Nourse, owner of Nourse Farms in western Massachusetts- one of the largest plant suppliers- discusses how the consumer changed the small fruits landscape. In addition, Dr. Eric Hanson of the Michigan State University Horticulture Department discusses how California production of small fruit changed the industry.

NC Pest News for June 3

Squash bug adults feeding on the stem of squash. Squash bugs love to hide below plastic!

Squash bug nymphs just hatched from bronze eggs.

This week's issue of NC Pest News is now available. It includes a review of strawberry disease issues from 2011 and the vegetable insect update. The insect update discusses the pest in the photo above, the squash bug. We have been seeing many squash bugs in WNC as of late, as well as cucumber beetles, a few stink bugs and thrips.

You can receive vegetable pest updates from North Carolina State University via Facebook (NCSU Vegetable Entomology) and Twitter (ncsuveg).

Check out these cucumber beetles feeding on summer squash! (below).


To view past issues of NC Pest News click here.

Cantaloupe Recall- Linked to Salmonella

For those interested in the dynamic world of fresh produce safety and fruits and vegetables, Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. of Coral Gables, FL has voluntarily recalled nearly 5,000 cases of cantaloupe (read the company's News Release). The cantaloupe is believed to be linked to 12 cases of Salmonella. The cantaloupes were available from March 10-21 at warehouse clubs in Alaska, Colorado, California, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and were grown in Guatemala.

To read more about the recall, visit Food Safety News for the article Cantaloupes Linked to 12 Salmonella Illnesses.

More 2011 Food Trends: More Fruits and Veggies!

On Monday, President Obama signed a bill to overhaul child nutrition standards. This move plus Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" anti-obesity campaign, may be what is contributing to Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert from ConAgra Foods to predict more nutritious foods, including fruits and vegetables for 2011.

Yesterday, I posted on the 'What's Hot' Restaurant Trends for 2011, which were also based on nutritious, locally-grown, sustainable foods. I'm glad this is catching on!