MINNEAPOLIS " In response to the unprecedented natural disaster in Southeast Asia, C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. and its employees have donated $90,000 to tsunami relief efforts. C.H. Robinson matched 100 percent of its employees? contributions, which totaled $45,000.

Syngenta Seeds Inc./?Rogers? brand vegetables has announced that Norma Standerford has taken on a newly created role as strategic account manager, responsible for focusing breeders on traits beyond the grower and developing products designed specifically for markets by understanding the requirements of downstream customers.

Ms. Standerford will initially be addressing needs in the fresh-cut processor segment.

Peter Rabbit is hopping on 5 A Day The Color Way this spring, and he wants children and their families to join him in eating more healthfully.

The beloved Beatrix Potter bunny and his family had kids hopping in the produce aisles over the prospect of eating a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables when they visited Wal-Mart Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets across the country March 12. The "Hop on 5 A Day The Color Way? promotion was sponsored by the nonprofit educational Produce for Better Health Foundation, Wal-Mart and 14 health-minded suppliers.

TAMPA, FL " Attendees of the Southeast Produce Council?s recent conference and expo had an opportunity to visit a strawberry laboratory and private company to gain insight into what it takes to produce the high-quality product that Florida is known for.

The council?s second annual Retail & Foodservice Conference and Expo took place March 10-12 here, close to the Plant City-Dover area of the state known as the "Winter Strawberry Capital of the World," so it was a natural that the council dubbed this part of the event the "very berry field tours."

VISALIA, CA " It has been a little more than two years since California citrus growers, fed up with losing money year after year, banded together in a voluntary cooperative called the California Citrus Growers Association, with the objective of returning their industry to profitability.