Parents and school foodservice specialists are on the front lines in the charge to improve child nutrition, and Pear Bureau Northwest is doing its part to support their good work. A new partnership with Schoolmenu.com provides the Pear Bureau with a unique opportunity to educate families and school foodservice operators about healthy, fresh pears and their unique appeal to school-age kids. Launched in August, Schoolmenu.com collaborates with school districts across the country to feature news and information on elementary, middle and high school nutrition programs.

Texans are dealing with rolling power blackouts, burst water pipes and snow on the ground as far south as Houston amidst an unprecedented cold snap that has paralyzed the state this week. And more wintry weather is on the way, including the possibility of freezing precipitation in the entire eastern half of the state Feb. 3-4.

The good news is that the same cloud cover that might bring sleet, snow or freezing rain has also kept temperatures at or just below freezing since Feb. 2

WATSONVILLE, CA -- Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc. has announced changes in the company organization to better serve its global customers, growers and marketing partners. The changes were effective Jan. 31.

LODI, CA -- In the 1980s, Chiles Wilson and Brian Machado took over ownership of All State Packers. They built their business growing and packing Bartlett pears and Bing cherries, primarily in the Sacramento River and Lodi regions of California.

Steve Daum of Floralife and Jim Corby of Food Lion have been named co- chairmen of a new Produce Marketing Association task force to look at ways to "engage and serve PMA's floral community," according to Megan Miller, PMA's public relations manager.

Names of committee members were posted on the association's web site, www.pma.com, Jan. 28.

Mr. Daum is director of the Superflor division of Floralife, which provides post-harvest care and flower food products to the floral industry. He is based in Parkland, FL.

Eric Viramontes, chief executive officer of Asociación Mexicana de Horticultura Protegida, a membership organization comprised of Mexican greenhouse growers and known commonly as AMHPAC, told The Produce News that growers there today use state-of-the-art protected agriculture technology, and that the rest of the world is paying attention.