WASHINGTON — With the latest changes to federal food-safety regulations due out any day, produce industry representatives will be listening closely to Mike Taylor, food safety chief at the Food & Drug Administration, when he speaks at United Fresh Produce Association’s Washington conference.

Some 500 produce industry representatives are signed up to attend the United Fresh Washington Conference, Sept. 8-10, here, and their message to Congress during the two-day visits will be focused on the need for immigration reform and to hold firm on school nutrition. California folks are expected to add the water crisis to the list of must-haves during the visits.

While perhaps not on the congressional agenda for this year, the produce industry will be eagerly awaiting Taylor’s comments on the Food Safety Modernization Act rules that touch on food imports, produce safety and preventive controls, all of which have been sitting at the White House for weeks.

“We hope to have a preview of what to expect,” said Ray Gilmer, vice president of issues management and communication for United Fresh, referring to Taylor’s speech on Sept. 10.

United Fresh has also scheduled a Wednesday meeting at FDA’s College Park, MD, headquarters with the FDA produce staff charged with writing the new rules.

“The face-to-face time is critically important,” Gilmer noted.

On Sept. 9, United Fresh is hosting, for the first time, a session on genetically modified foods and how that debate affects the fruit and vegetable industry. Cathleen Enright, executive vice president at the Biotechnology Industry Association, and Randal Giroux, vice president at Cargill Inc., will discuss the ramifications.

At a recent session on produce marketing, Gilmer said it took only a few minutes for speakers to be peppered with questions about GM crops. Produce businesses are wondering whether the technology will be embraced by the industry and/or consumers.

“I think this is something the produce industry needs to talk about more openly,” Gilmer said. The issue of market acceptance is likely to get hotter as the technology is viewed as one weapon in the battle of citrus greening.

In another session, three of the nation’s leading school-nutrition advocates will discuss the need to maintain the new school meal standards, instead of allowing some school districts to be given waivers from the stricter nutrition standards.

James Barnett Jr., a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, will discuss Mission: Readiness, a nonprofit group of military elite who are advocating for good nutrition to fight the nation’s obesity crisis and keep the nation’s military fit for service. Other speakers from the American Heart Association and the National PTA will discuss the need to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in schools.

No meeting is complete without a session on immigration reform. United Fresh is lobbying for the Senate comprehensive immigration reform bill, and Gilmer said the group has no comment at this point on the Obama administration’s plan to make changes administratively, thereby bypassing Congress.

Oscar Gonzales, deputy chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Juliet Potrykus, aide to Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA), will field questions on prospects for immigration reform.

“We want the momentum rekindled,” Gilmer said, adding that there is talk that immigration reform may have to wait until after the midterm elections.

Gilmer acknowledged some industry members are becoming increasingly frustrated by lack of momentum on key issues in Congress, especially the long battle for a legal workforce.

But he added, “You can’t sit it out.” Lawmakers need to hear from growers the real-world impact of not being able to harvest because of labor shortages. “We can’t back down from that,” he said.