Michel Desjardins Ltd., one of Montreal's larger wholesalers and importers of fruits and vegetables, filed a proposal under the Canadian Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act Oct. 17, the Dispute Resolution Corp. announced in a statement.

Alain Gravel, vice president of Michel Desjardins, told The Produce News Oct. 24 that the company was still operating and that it was business as usual while its lawyers and trustees worked to resolve what he termed "a bump in the road."

While in office, he wasn't well known for eating healthy, but former President Bill Clinton has signed up with Nickelodeon in a campaign to reach children in the fight against obesity.

Nickelodeon, the children's television network that has committed more than $28 million and 10 percent of its air time to health-and-wellness messaging, plans to run new public service announcements featuring Mr. Clinton and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckebee as they encourage kids to eat healthy and stay active.

If it happens, the Kroger Co. would become the nation's largest supermarket with sales approaching, if not topping, $100 billion.

If it happens, Kroger would receive about $1 of every $5 America spends at the supermarket.

What the "it" is, of course, the potential sale of the No. 2 supermarket-specific chain in the United States to the chain occupying the No. 1 slot in that category.

Though those rankings can be disputed, depending upon who is counting and what is counted, there is no doubt that the resulting firm would be No. 1 by a large margin.

Malena Produce Inc. in Nogales, AZ, announced changes to the sales staff starting with the fall-winter vegetable season.

Malena sales executive Danny Stoller will take over as sales manager for the company's full product line. Saul Gonzalez joins the Malena sales team as senior sales executive.

WASHINGTON -- House and Senate negotiators agreed Oct. 26 to delay the controversial mandatory country-of-origin program another two years for all commodities except seafood.

If it gains final approval, the bill would not require grocers to display origin labeling for fresh fruits and vegetables until September 2008.

"We are pleased with the delay because the existing law is so untenable," said Kathy Means of the Produce Marketing Association. But this doesn't fix anything, she said. "This is not a panacea or a silver bullet."

Hardly a week goes by without hearing about concerns from local domestic producers about the negative impact of consolidation and the lack of support from their customers, notably retailers, for the domestic industry - not just here in Canada but worldwide.

What is also interesting is how folks determine what is local and domestic. Local to one producer often takes on a different definition depending on where he or she lives and what he or she sees as "their" market.