If one wants to learn how to grow mushrooms, it helps to eat, sleep and breathe mushrooms. Gourmet Mushrooms Inc. co-founder Malcolm Clark has camped where mushrooms grow so he could learn to replicate those environs at Gourmet's facility in Sebastopol, CA.

Watsonville, CA-based California Giant has received approval from the American Heart Association's food certification program to promote the "heart check" symbol with its fresh strawberries.

Bill Moncovich, president of Cal Giant, said that the company hopes that displaying the heart check symbol on its strawberries will draw consumers to its products as they make choices within the produce department. We want consumers to choose our berries based on quality, taste and as a healthy addition to their daily diet, Mr. Moncovich said.

Freshway Foods, a leading, fresh-cut vegetable and fruit processor based in Sidney, OH, recently moved into its 37,000-square-foot plant addition, bringing its total production facility to nearly 100,000 square feet.

The company, which has been in business for 17 years, completed its existing state-of-the-art processing and distribution facility five years ago.

Slicing fresh fruit and vegetables, such as apples, and serving them in ready-to-eat packages is more likely to entice school-aged kids to eat healthy than handing them whole apples, according to a new study.

The study supplied Las Vegas school children with either whole Red Delicious apples or packaged fresh apple slices treated with NatureSeal, the powdered product used to maintain color and crispness.

San Juan Bautista, CA-based Earthbound Farm has partnered with California State University at Monterey Bay and Maryland-based foodservice provider Sodexho to provide organic produce for the university's cafeteria year round.

Credited with joining the parties together is Kari Bernardi, project coordinator for the Monterey County Farm to School Partnership, which is the local chapter of a national movement that links schools and farms.

Salinas, CA-based Taylor Fresh Foods Inc., the corporate parent of Taylor Farms, has acquired a majority interest in Tracy, CA-based Pacific Pre-Cut Produce. The acquisition gives Taylor a seamless national retail deli production and distribution network.

Pacific Pre-Cut Produce's retail deli items include a variety of fresh-cut vegetables, such as green leaf lettuce, sliced onions and tomatoes, fresh green salad kits and front-case deli salads.