NEW YORK -- "Texas grows the reddest and sweetest grapefruit on the market today," Eleisha L. Ensign, executive director of TexaSweet Citrus Marketing Inc. in Mission, TX, said as she held a Rio Star variety high in the air to show off the good-looking fruit to an audience, here, Jan. 6, at the French Culinary Institute.

The event, a demonstration of dessert recipes prepared by Gotham Bar & Grill's pastry chef, Deborah Racicot, was co-sponsored by TexaSweet and PastryScoop.com, an on-line magazine and information site founded by the institute.

Unseasonably warm weather in Florida during November and December created at least a temporary glut of fresh produce coming out of fields near the beginning of the year. Although the problem was thought to be working itself out by around Jan. 10, it did cause prices to drop at least temporarily, especially on peppers and tomatoes.

SALINAS, CA -- A state hearing on a marketing agreement that would involve a dozen or so green leafy vegetables was drawing strong interest leading into the Jan. 12 hearing at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, CA.

The hearing and the effort to gain a marketing agreement are being conducted by the California Department of Food & Agriculture at the behest of fresh produce industry associations.

Unprecedented cold temperatures will soon descend upon much of the West and Southwest. California citrus growers in the Central Valley are bracing for a string of cold temperatures Jan. 11-18. Snow is forecast on the valley floor Jan. 12 near Bakersfield. Daytime highs will range from 39 to 55 degrees with overnight lows in the low 20s to 30 degrees. Wind chill temperatures the nights of Jan. 13, 14 and 15 will be in the teens.

FRESNO, CA -- The recent rash of news reports about food-related illnesses has motivated the food industry to intensify the already high level of attention being given to food safety practices and protocols. From growers to restaurateurs to retailers, people at every level of the produce supply chain have been taking a hard look at their practices -- and their documentation of those practices -- to be sure that all bases are covered.

Gerald (Wink) Edmonds, 63, who worked for Global Produce Sales in Winter Haven, FL, died of cancer Jan. 2 at Winter Haven's Bartow Regional Medical Center.

Mr. Edmonds was born Sept. 6, 1943, in Flint, MI. He moved to Florida in 1970. He had been working for Global Produce Sales in Lakeland since 1995. Prior to 1995 he sold citrus for Lake Wales C.G.A. in Lake Wales, FL.