Castroville, CA-based Ocean Mist Farms recently added a new section to its web site, oceanmist.com, that is dedicated to promoting the company's sustainability initiatives.

Willcox, AZ-based Eurofresh Farms, a year-round producer and marketer of greenhouse-grown tomatoes and cucumbers also located in Snowflake, AZ, has developed and is implementing a benchmark food-safety system to elevate the protection of its produce.

Eurofresh announced the food-safety protocol during the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition Oct. 15-18 in Orlando, FL.

Mount Vernon, IL-based Frey Farms Produce, one of the larger U.S. grower- packer-shippers of pumpkins, announced Oct. 18 that it has renewed its partnership with CHEP, a leading pallet and container pooling company.

Frey Farms Produce is now transporting its branded pumpkins, watermelons and cantaloupes from its facilities in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado and Michigan to supermarkets, wholesalers, clubstores, fresh processors and foodservice operators in the United States and Canada on CHEP pallets.

The Eagle, ID-based Idaho Potato Commission has become an official sponsor of the Boise State University and the University of Idaho football teams.

Beginning this season and for the next five seasons, Idaho's famous potatoes will be the "official team tater" and have a significant presence in both Bronco Stadium and Kibbie Dome, according to a press release from the commission, which will also be the major sponsor of the much-anticipated BSU-UI football game that is being played Nov. 12 this year at the Kibbie Dome.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service administrator, Ed Knipling, and other agency experts met in late October with concerned representatives from the apple and other agricultural industries to address the impact of a rapidly emerging orchard pest: the Brown Marmorated stinkbug.

The discussion was organized by the U.S. Apple Association and hosted by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

(Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association, sent the following remarks to association members following the mid-term elections Tuesday, Nov. 2.)

On Tuesday, Americans exercised one of our most cherished rights by participating in free, fair and open elections of our nation's congressional and state leaders. And what an election it was. With a net change of 60 more Republicans in the House of Representatives, and at least six in the Senate, we're going to see a very different Congress-- and relationship with the president -- for the next two years.