CHARLESTON, SC -- Although uncertainty about the economy may have kept attendance down slightly at this year's National Watermelon Association convention, that didn't stop the approximately 400 members of the trade who turned out for the event, now in its 95th year. The event was Feb. 18-22 at the Francis Marion Hotel, here.

WASHINGTON - After holding the regulations up for one last review, the Obama administration gave final clearance for the mandatory country-of- origin labeling rules to go into effect March 16.

WASHINGTON - With the country mired in an economic downturn, Congress eying food-safety legislation and a massive peanut butter recall underway, produce companies need to make food safety an essential part of their business culture, according to Bob Whitaker.

Dr. Whitaker, the chief science office at the Produce Marketing Association, plans to tell buyers and sellers at the association's March 19 Produce Solutions Conference that produce companies need to view food safety as a revenue generator, not a costly burden.

It came as no surprise, but it is now official. The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation announced Friday, Feb. 20, a zero allocation of water from the Central Valley Project for agriculture use for 2009. As reported previously in The Produce News, Westlands Water District, which has historically provided CVP water to some 660,000 acres of farmland on the West Side of the central San Joaquin Valley, will be the most seriously affected by the zero allocation.

The theme was Fire & Ice, but the list of award winners was nothing but hot. At its annual industry celebration banquet held Feb. 7 in Vidalia, GA, the Vidalia Onion Committee announced the 2008 award recipient for Grower of the Year and its Hall of Fame inductees.

WASHINGTON -- A new study shows that the economic and employment contribution of the produce and floral industries amounts to $554 billion annually - a number that is likely to boost the industry's influence among decision-makers on Capitol Hill and across state capitals.