Sun World lnternational LLC in Bakersfield, CA, had recently begun a new program of marketing imported Minneola tangelos from Peru when the devastating earthquake on Peru's south coast struck, with an epicenter near the agricultural community of Pisco.

The company is responding to the disaster by donating a portion of the proceeds from Peruvian Minneolas to an earthquake fund to help the victims.

The year 1953 was quite eventful for Tanya Auerbach, a wife, mother, grandmother and produce industry executive who died earlier this month. It was the year she graduated from college, co-founded a garlic company and got married.

Tanya (nee Kaplan) Auerbach was born Jan. 28, 1932 in Brooklyn, NY, where she was raised. She and Irwin Auerbach founded Maurice A. Auerbach Inc. in Mr. Auerbach's mother's home in Brooklyn in 1953 as a distributor handling a single item: garlic. The company was named for Mr. Auerbach's father.

Whole Foods Market Inc. and Wild Oats Markets Inc. announced Aug. 23 that they are now legally cleared to proceed with their merger as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has denied the Federal Trade Commission's request for a stay to preclude the closing of the merger pending the FTC's appeal and has dissolved the Aug. 20 administrative injunction, which had prevented the transaction from going forward while the court considered the FTC's motion.

Farmers have been the backbone of America for a very long time. In fact, archaeologists determined that agriculture first took place around 7,000 B.C.

In 1790, the total U.S. population was 3,929,214 and farmers made up 90 percent of the labor force. Two hundred years later, in 1990, the population stood at 246,081,000, and farmers comprised just 2.6 percent of the work force.

At a meeting held Aug. 15, the board of directors of the Hass Avocado Board approved the promotion of Jose Luis Obregon to the newly created role of managing director.

Mr. Obregon most recently served as the managing director of information technology for the board, overseeing the creation of its state-of-the-art Network Marketing Center and its intranet site, avoHQ.com.

There seems to be little doubt that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables will help fight cancer, but the Food & Drug Administration continues to find no strong link between eating tomatoes, with their high levels of lycopene, and reducing cancer risks.