The New Jersey blueberry deal is off to an early start thanks to favorable weather, according to officials at Sunny Valley International Inc.

"Crews started picking a few organic blueberries today at Big Buck Farms in Hammonton, New Jersey," Phil Neary director of operations and grower relations for Sunny Valley International Inc., headquartered in Glassboro, NJ, told The Produce News June 2.

The chairman of a committee developing voluntary national standards for sustainable agriculture, including flowers and potted plants, told The Produce News June 10 that he would resign in frustration when the 58-member committee meets Monday, June 14, because a for-profit firm continues to hold copyright on standards developed by the committee.

TRENTON, NJ — A severe winter, record snowfall, a normal, wet spring and slightly higher temperatures have blueberry growers throughout New Jersey seeing the blues — as in blueberries.

Some growers were expecting to begin picking the Duke variety as early as the weekend of June 5-6. Others said that the season is four to five days earlier than last year, and are advising retailers that there will be plenty of volume in time for the Fourth of July holiday.

The first Ohio Food Summit will be held June 23. Heading the summit is Lori Panda, the Ohio Proud liaison in the division of markets of the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

On June 2, Ms. Panda told The Produce News that the summit involves a meeting in Columbus that will bring retail, restaurant and distributor buyers to meet with Ohio suppliers. The suppliers will have tabletop product displays and prescheduled one-on-one meetings with buyers.

Last year's West Side melon deal in California came in at 19.3 million 40- pound cartons, a slight decline from 2008 totals.

Jerry Munson, manager of the Cantaloupe Advisory Board, said that the board anticipates 20 million 40-pound cartons in 2010.

In 2009, West Side growers were short of product toward the end of the year. Most crop is in by mid-September. The final total ratchets upwards of the projection as the harvest continues to Oct. 1 or later.

Tapping into consumer interest in celebrity chefs, the California Avocado Commission put together an innovative public relations program combining new social media tactics and the organization's ongoing relationship with chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, known together as the Too Hot Tamales, to spread new ideas that encourage demand for California avocados. Ms. Feniger also has received national attention as a finalist on Bravo’s hit reality series, "Top Chef Masters."