For the eighth year, Titan Farms and Harris Teeter joined forces and donated peaches to Second Harvest Food Banks in Raleigh and Charlotte, NC. This year’s donation was especially impactful to local communities, with 76,000 pounds of peaches donated to local food banks — more than double last year’s donation.

Consumer education and outreach aimed at increasing consumption of Michigan apples is an important focus of the Michigan Apple Committee.

The MAC engages in marketing, research education and communications for the benefit of Michigan’s apple growers. Its mission is to enhance the reputation of Michigan apples, improve their share of sales in target markets and aid the profitability and sustainability of Michigan’s apple industry.

The International Fresh Produce Association announced that Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR) and FDA leaders Susan Mayne, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Frank Yiannas, deputy commissioner for Food Policy and Response, will participate in The Washington Conference event held in Washington, DC, Sept. 26-28.

United Natural Foods Inc. has added new meal solutions to its offering to better allow retailers to meet the growing demand for quick, restaurant quality meals, while reducing in-store labor and the time required to create similar products on their own. The meal solutions are available nationwide to the more than 30,000 customer locations UNFI services.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of approximately $400 million to provide essential local and regional food systems coordination, technical assistance and capacity building services through USDA’s new regional food business centers.

Instacart has acquired Rosie, an e-commerce platform for local and independent retailers and wholesalers. With this acquisition, Instacart said it is deepening its commitment to serving local and independent grocers and expanding its Instacart Platform e-commerce offerings.