As a fifth-generation member of her family's cattle ranch in Solvang, CA, Jessie Condit practically grew up on horseback. The 26-year-old comes from a very close-knit family. In fact, her grandfather, father and brother, Austin, 23, compete together in team roping.

Ms. Condit's grandfather taught her to drive a flatbed truck when she was six. She once owned a clothing company with her mother and her grandmother. She learned responsibility early and learned how to work with others.

ANAPOIMA, COLOMBIA -- Countless technical features make this an outstanding basil greenhouse, but it is the women hovering over the herb crop that makes a startling and lasting impression.

An herb farm here producing in partnership with Infinite Herbs, based in Miami and Everett, MA, utilizes customized technology that makes it fitting to call this a place that is truly unique in the world.

WASHINGTON -- Two bills introduced in Congress this month would set new food-safety standards for fresh produce, but both allow leeway in setting those standards.

At a March 2 press conference at DiMare Fresh-Tampa in Riverview, FL, U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) said that he planned to reintroduce his bill, the Safe Food Enforcement, Assessment, Standards & Targeting Act, or the Safe FEAST Act.

Editor's note: The following is an account of a particularly challenging, albeit rewarding, project of setting up a produce department in one of North America's more extreme locations as told by In The Trenches columnist and produce consultant Ron Pelger.

In the year 1001, Erik the Red's son, Leif, and his sea-faring Vikings sailed from Iceland to Greenland and eventually found their way to Labrador and the very rocky island of Newfoundland in what is today a province in eastern Canada.

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA -- "Bananas, we think, are a primary food in all of our markets," said Luis Arango, president of Uniban, a grower-owned cooperative, which is among Colombia's larger banana producer-exporters.

Thus, Mr. Arango expects that in a difficult world economy, banana sales "will be affected less than other kinds of goods and products."

Watsonville, CA-based Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc. has established a new business unit - Driscoll's of Europe - in order to better serve the marketing needs of retail and foodservice customers on the European continent.

The new company is headquartered in Breda, the Netherlands, and Theo Houwen has been named managing director of Driscoll's of Europe. Previously, he served as director of Northern Europe for Bonduelle Groupe, a manufacturer of fresh and processed vegetables, and has been in the food industry in Europe for 19 years.