WASHINGTON -- Florida tomato growers, already decimated from this year's drop in crop value, now find themselves having to make tough decisions on whether to plant for next year's crop with a Salmonella warning still hanging over some of their products.

The ongoing outbreak continues to tarnish the overall produce industry and put Florida tomato growers in the "untenable position" of trying to plan for next year's crop, said Mike Stuart, president of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ -- "We are finally into the South African season," Marc Solomon said July 10. "We had a very slow start with late crops" from not only South Africa, but Chilean and Peruvian citrus as well.

Mr. Solomon is the president of Fisher Capespan U.S.A. LLC, which has offices here and in Montreal.

On July 10, Fisher Capespan was among a number of importers receiving South African citrus brought to the port aboard a green reefer refrigerated break-bulk ship docked at the Gloucester Marine Terminal, here.

Terrence (Tip) Murphy, a veteran of some of the more visible produce operations in the country, including Chiquita Brands International and Ready Pac Foods, died Sunday, July 13, after suffering a heart attack while playing golf with his friends. He was 48.

Most recently, Mr. Murphy worked at Ready Pac Foods, where for the past 16 months he served as its Eastern division vice president of retail sales.

According to Matt McLean, founder and chief executive officer of Uncle Matt's Fresh, the organic produce arm of Uncle Matt's Organic, the number of organic citrus growers and the amount of acreage dedicated to organic citrus that the company manages are rising at a steady and healthy pace.

"We currently manage over 1,000 acres of citrus groves that include 15 different family-owned farms," Mr. McLean said in a press release. "This number is expanding every day as we help conventional groves transition to organic."

Bozzuto's Inc., the wholesale supplier to 700 supermarket retailers in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, will hold its Supplier Appreciation Golf Tournament & Spa Retreat Monday, Aug. 10, in conjunction with its August trade show at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Ledyard, CT. The golf tournament will be held at Lake of Isles, adjacent to the casino.

Gourmet Mushrooms Inc. in Sebastopol, CA, grower of the "Mycopia" brand of organic specialty mushrooms, has concluded agreements with two other Pacific Coast growers and now offers an all-organic program to its customers.

Gourmet Mushrooms' five varieties of specialty mushrooms are now complemented by organically grown Shiitake and Maitake. The company's own varieties have been certified-organic since 2003. Bob Engel, director of marketing, believes that customers are becoming familiar with and demanding a wider range of organic varieties.