ABC's "Good Morning America" show is currently conducting what it calls the "GMA $15 Dinner Dare" series. The segment highlights celebrity chefs, such as Mario Batali, who prepare meals with ingredients that cost under $15.

Affiliated Foods Southwest Inc. and its subsidiary Produce Pre-Pak, both headquartered in Little Rock, AR, filed separate voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions.

Ballantine Produce Co. Inc., headquartered in Sanger, CA, has closed its packing and marketing operations but will continue its farming operations, according to industry sources. It is not yet clear who will now be packing and marketing the fruit from Ballantine's company orchards or where the outside growers Ballantine represented will be taking their fruit.

The Western desert melon deal starts in California's Imperial Valley, then moves to Yuma, AZ, before moving to Blythe, CA, and on to Phoenix.

After the Phoenix harvest  which starts in mid-June  the deal continues to Californias Bakersfield area in late June and the Mendota, CA, area around July 1 for what is referred to as the West Side melon deal. The majority of growers in the desert wrap up harvests there by July 1.

California 2009 new potato acreage is estimated at 8,375 acres in Kern County, a barely noticeable increase from last year's 8,362 acres. The acreage is an improvement, however, since the 2008 acreage numbers showed a nearly 10 percent decline compared with 2007, according to published data from the Kern County Department of Agriculture. Kern Countys acreage numbers stood at 9,268 acres in 2007.

In an effort to upgrade the quality of its product, River Ranch Fresh Foods LLC in Salinas, CA, will outsource its harvesting operations using Valley Harvesting & Packing Inc. during the Salinas vegetable season.

Kim St. George, senior marketing manager for River Ranch, which is a firm that specializes in producing value-added products mostly for private labels, told The Produce News that the company is continually trying to make improvements to all aspects of its operation. "This is a great opportunity to enhance the quality of our pack."