Chinese garlic in the U.S. market has been a source of frustration for California garlic growers for a number of years, particularly when prices for Chinese garlic in the U.S. market has been below the cost of domestic production.

But Jim Provost, founder and managing partner of I Love Produce in Kelton, PA, which markets garlic from both China and California, as well as other producing areas, foresees a time when California garlic can be exported to China.

This fall, Produce for Kids and select grocery stores will be launching the Healthy Schools, Healthy Minds campaign to raise money for local health- and nutrition-based classroom projects in each of the participating retailers’ markets through DonorsChoose.org. In addition, Produce for Kids will be continuing its partnership with Sprout, the 24-hour preschool television channel.

Henry A. DeBlouw, president of Mike Pirrone Produce Inc. in Capac, MI, died in a tragic accident Aug. 15 at the company's cooler. He was 49.

Brigitte Rogowski, a long-time employee of the company, told The Produce News that Mr. DeBlouw was attempting to adjust the cooler temperature at the electrical box and was accidentally electrocuted.

California melon growers are clearly frustrated after the second straight year of seeing their market potentially damaged because of food-safety issues far from the fields in the Golden State.

This time of year, California is the major supplier of cantaloupes, honeydews and other melons, but this is also the time of year when regional and local deals are in full swing.

The newly renovated Gladstone Tavern is a shining star in Gladstone, NJ.Gladstone Tavern in Gladstone, NJ, was built in 1847 as a farmhouse.

Owensville, IN-based Chamberlain Farms is recalling cantaloupe in connection to a Salmonella outbreak that has caused 178 illnesses and two deaths, the Food and Drug Administration announced late Aug. 22.

As early as Aug. 17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said an Indiana farm was withdrawing product from the marketplace in connection to the outbreak, but it took until Aug. 22 for the company’s name to be identified.