Even in poor economic conditions, people have to eat. But in our society, they have a great bit of discretion concerning how they spend their food dollars, and there is some evidence that supermarkets are benefiting during these difficult times.

Michigan authorities quickly named prepackaged lettuce sold by Detroit wholesaler Aunt Mid's Produce Co. as the likely cause of 30 illnesses there, but company President Dominic Riggio says not so fast.

The Michigan Department of Community Health issued a Sept. 26 statement that identified industrial-sized packages of Iceberg lettuce as the most likely cause of 30 cases of E. coli poisoning around the state. Six other people in Illinois found to be suffering from the same E. coli fingerprint have been linked to the same outbreak.

According to Ken Severn, interim president of the Washington Apple Commission, the organization will spend $6.5 million in 25 countries this year to increase the value of the state's apples. As a result, several staff changes have been made as the program is implemented.

Todd Fryhover, a longtime Wenatchee, WA-area marketer, is now export operations director and is responsible for all day-to-day promotion in the markets as well as communication with the export sales desks.

Zespri Group Ltd. Chairman Craig Greenlees has announced his decision to step down after six years in the role, and the board of directors subsequently elected John Loughlin, independent director of six years and former Richmond Ltd. chief executive officer, as his replacement. Peter McBride will be deputy chairman after having served for six years as a director.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Edward Schafer has designated 10 New Jersey counties as natural disaster areas following hail storms, drought, heat and other severe weather conditions that led to crop losses during the 2008 growing season.

On Aug. 13, three days after hailstorms damaged crops in Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland, Atlantic and Camden counties, Gov. Jon S. Corzine requested the disaster designation, saying that New Jersey farmers had experienced substantial agricultural production losses to important crops.

Duda Farm Fresh Foods, which owns one of the world's larger celery breeding programs, has been granted two additional patents for new commercial celery varieties.

The new varieties, ADS-11 and ADS-2, come from more than 1,200 lines developed for company trials each year to create celery varieties for Duda Farm Fresh Foods' retail and foodservice customers.

To protect its proprietary celery varieties, the company has adopted DNA "fingerprinting" technology.