Shawn Crocker joined the Florida Strawberry Growers Association Feb. 5 as its new executive director. He steps into the position previously held by Chip Hinton.

Before joining the association, Mr. Crocker was director of procurement and field operations in the orange juice division of Cargill AG in Frostproof, FL. Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services that operates in 63 countries.

TRENTON, NJ -- Alfred W. Murray, a 23-year veteran of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the director of the department's Division of Marketing & Development for the past six years, has been named assistant secretary of agriculture for New Jersey.

Mr. Murray, a 45-year-old resident of Audubon, NJ, and a former mayor of that borough, will continue serving as marketing director while adding the duties of assistant secretary, according to New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles M. Kuperus.

California Department of Food & Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura was expected to shortly announce the 13 members of the California Leafy Greens Advisory Board, which will administer the newly enacted California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement.

Lynn Morgan, chief of CDFA's marketing branch, said Feb. 6 that 19 handlers representing almost 61 percent of the volume of leafy greens in the state had signed the marketing agreement.

Although total crop yield may be down 10 percent or so, Colorado potato marketers are not trimming their efforts and in fact have voted to allocate additional support to help shippers sell more.

"In addition to our merchandising effort with retailers, we are also devoting part of our budget toward more category research and tools to help our local shippers," Linda Weyers, administrator of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee, said in a statement.

The Canadian Produce Marketing Assiociation announced that the new version of its food guide, Health Canada, has placed vegetables and fruits on the higher tier of the rainbow and has emphasized their significant place in a healthy diet.