SALINAS, CA -- Though the company hasn't officially changed its name, Green Giant Fresh by Growers Express is the new moniker of this well- established Salinas grower-shipper.

The firm has been affiliated with Green Giant Fresh for the past several years, and it claims to currently pack and ship more than half of the volume of that brand, which now has more than a dozen different categories and scores of SKUs.

WASHINGTON -- In recognition of superior training and human resource programs, the Food Marketing Institute presented its 2006 Maximizing People Potential Award to Wakefern Food Corp. in Elizabeth, NJ, for the company's comprehensive Partners in Training program. The award is presented annually to a retailer or wholesaler that develops an initiative to improve the performance of employees or leads to achievement of a key business goal.

LA MIRADA, CA -- A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food & Agriculture, was the featured speaker Oct. 4 at the Fresh Produce & Floral Council Luncheon meeting, here. A large crowd of produce professionals heard Mr. Kawamura touch upon a myriad of agricultural topics, including the recent spinach crisis and the next farm bill.

Mr. Kawamura called 2006 a year of "outbreaks and heartaches" in California, because the state was also hit hard by flooding early in the year followed by a massive heat wave in early July.

Idaho growers will harvest approximately 328,000 acres of potatoes this year, yielding nearly 12 billion pounds.

Overall, the crop appears to be uniformly smooth and consistent. The extremely warm weather in early August did not have an adverse effect on the crop -- in fact it may have accelerated the harvest.

The Idaho potato industry's irrigation system ensures that despite high temperatures and even drought, the crop is managed quite effectively because irrigation is the primary water source.

A survey of some spinach buyers and sellers, as well as a review of stories in the consumer press, reveals that spinach is getting back on the shelves, but some retailers are staying away from California, at least at this point.

Dan Verdelli of Verdelli Farms Inc. in Harrisburg, PA, said Oct. 4 that spinach sales are starting to come back, "but I'd say they are only at 30 percent of the volume before the problem."

SALINAS, CA -- Acknowledging that it isn't possible to give "zero tolerance" assurance that fresh produce always will be safe to eat, Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) told assembled reporters that farming and processing practices in the Salinas Valley and surrounding areas will be the most extensive in the industry following the recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in spinach.

When new protocols are initiated, the area will have the "best protocol for spinach and green leafy vegetables," Mr. Farr said. It's up to the industry -- not the federal government -- to craft new protocols, he said.