WASHINGTON -- A long-awaited proposal that is expected to add fruits and vegetables to the federal voucher program for low-income women and children was expected in January, then the produce industry was told in the spring, and now it may not surface until summer. Every month the proposal is delayed, advocates for an updated WIC package get nervous.

A group of award-winning retailers and food distributors have returned from a Fair Trade tour of Costa Rica. The tour was hosted and managed by Hannah Freeman, produce accounts manager for TransFair USA, based in Oakland, CA.

Ms. Freeman said that the tour was the result of a retail merchandising and a distributor sales contest TransFair conducted in the United States last October to coincide with National Fair Trade Month.

Hawaii is rapidly increasing its shipping of tropical fruit to the U.S. mainland, according to Susan Hamilton.

Ms. Hamilton and her husband, Bob Hamilton, operate Hula Bros. Inc. in Kurtistown, HI, on the Big Island. Mr. Hamilton is also president of the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Cooperative in Kurtistown. Hula Bros.' packinghouse packs for the cooperative members and independent growers.

Novelle Consulting LLC, a dynamically growing international player in agribusiness consulting based in Laguna Beach, CA, held a welcoming reception for Henry Winogrond and Francisco Obregon after they became principals of the professional produce organization.

You simply cannot help but smile when you look at the ad posters, POPs or other campaign materials that the Florida Tomato Committee is using in its current national promotional campaign. The bright red tomato appears as the quintessential produce item with such delightful appeal that one is tempted to reach into the image, grab the ripe, juicy, red "love apple" and take a huge bite. And that is exactly the consumer reaction the committee had anticipated.

Mike Bozick, chairman of Richard Bagdasarian Inc. in Mecca, CA, and past chairman of the California Table Grape Commission, was named the 2006 recipient of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League's Mentor Award on Monday, March 27, during the league's annual meeting in Indian Wells, CA.

Bruce Obbink, former president of the commission and a 1998 recipient of the Mentor Award, made the presentation.