After years of negotiations, the Maitland, FL-based Florida Tomato Growers Exchange reached an agreement Nov. 16 with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers that will pay the state's tomato harvesters an additional penny per pound of product picked.

The agreement also establishes a cooperative complaint resolution system, a participatory health and safety program and worker-to-worker education programs.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate invoked cloture Nov. 17 to move forward with debate on S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

During the debate on the bill, the Senate will consider a provision in the bill that would exempt certain segments of the food industry, including food facilities and farm operations, from requirements for basic food safety standards.

Robert Guenther, United Fresh Produce Association's senior vice president of public policy, issued the following statement on the bill:

Joseph P. Jarjura, 89, died Oct. 21 at Saint Mary's Hospital in Waterbury, CT, after a brief illness. The Waterbury resident was the founder and chairman of the board of J.P. Jarjura & Sons Co., a family-run wholesale fruit and vegetable distributor serving the area.

Monterey, CA-based PRO*ACT, a leading fresh produce supplier to the foodservice industry, has been named a primary distributor for Scottsdale, AZ-based Eddie V's Restaurants Inc.

Eddie V's operates three white-tablecloth restaurant concepts with a total of 14 units in Texas, Arizona and California. The concepts are Eddie V's Prime Seafood, Roaring Fork and Wildfish Seafood Grille.

New York Produce Inc. is preparing to open a larger cash-and-carry facility Dec. 1 in the Bronx, NY.

The company, which specializes in tropical produce and is based in Secaucus, NJ, had operated a 9,000-square-foot cash-and-carry on Grinnell Place two blocks from its new facility at 511 Barry Street, which is the former site of Baldor Specialty Foods Inc.

December is National Pear Month, and Cristie Mather, director of communications for the Pear Bureau Northwest, said that she is gratified by the national features focusing on pears.

"This has really been a good year for us," she told The Produce News in early November. “We're really excited about the quality of these stories.”