The specialty produce category is nearly impossible to define. Its interpretation is based on a product’s uniqueness, difficulty in procuring, newness to the market, short growing season, limited growing region and other factors. The category includes the odd, peculiar or particularly interesting in shape, size, color or texture. One commonality is that specialty produce is typically more expensive than conventional products.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, returns to the Washington Public Policy Conference 10 years after his landmark suggestion to provide schoolchildren a free fruit or vegetable snack each day to promote better health. The author of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in the 2002 Farm Bill, Senator Harkin will speak on the importance of continued involvement and vigilance on child nutrition matters on Tuesday, Oct.

A new report for the first time charts what the industry has known for years: California farmers for the past 12 years have been switching from older pesticides and moving to safer, more modern compounds to pursue Integrated Pest Management strategies.

The five-page report, titled Pesticide Use Trends in California Agriculture, compared the total use of 40 organophosphate and carbamate pesticides and found their use has declined by 66 percent from 1998 to 2009. The numbers come from California regulators who began requiring all agricultural pesticide use reported in 1990.