Global Produce News

Fruit & veg sales divide the nation

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:38:40 +0000

Our diet is providing more evidence for Britain’s North/South divide.

Healthy London households fork-out the most on fruit and veg, £500 a year. This is 26% more than shoppers in the North East, who spend the least. Source

Row over supermarket produce prices heats up

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:37:04 +0000

Vegetable and fruit growers are backing a call for an investigation of supermarket prices, although the retail marketers deny they are ripping off consumers with huge mark-ups.

The Green Party wants an inquiry and says growers face ruin because two giant supermarket chains are using their powerful position to force them to sell vegetables and fruit for less than it costs to produce. Source

Is Eating Fruits and Vegetables an Economic Activity?

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:36:00 +0000

The Washington Monthly’s Steve Benen suggests that “far-right blogs” are ignoring the “context” of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s exchange with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) about the extent of congressional powers under the Commerce Clause. As I noted yesterday, Kagan dodged Coburn’s question about whether a federal law requiring Americans to eat “three vegetables and three fruits every day” would be a legitimate exercise of the power to regulate interstate commerce. Source

New EU Organic logo comes into force

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:35:07 +0000

From today all pre-packaged organic produce will need to carry the new Euro-leaf logo. The new EU organic logo was designed by German student Dusan Milenkovic after a pan-European competition was held by the European Commission.

The aim of the new logo is to enhance consumer protection and promote organic farming. Source

Food Processing Is A Promising Sector

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:33:42 +0000

Food processing is a promising sector and India can explore it to create a niche for itself in the world Food Processing Industries Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said.

He further said India can take to large scale development of the food processing industries as it has enormous opportunity. The minister was addressing an investors’ meet and a training-cum-awareness programme on prospects of food processing industry in Gujarat, organised by the Ahmedabad-based Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI). Source

Why some apples grow larger than others

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:32:35 +0000

A variety of apples grow larger than others because of the absence of cell division, a new American study reveals.

The research by Peter Hirst, a Purdue University associate professor of horticulture, established that a new variety, called Grand Gala, is about 38 percent heavier and has a diameter 15 percent larger than regular Galas. Source

EU wants clearer food labelling

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:21:53 +0000

New proposals to regulate food labels in the EU went before the European Parliament on Tuesday.

Country-of-origin labelling may become mandatory for meat, poultry, fish, dairy produce, fruit and vegetables. Source

Purple Vegetables and Fruits Reduce the Risk of Cancer

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:20:11 +0000

Fruits and vegetables comprise a hale and hearty, nutritious meal plan. They form an important part of the balanced daily diet.

Recent research has showed that including purple vegetables and fruits in your diet provides protection against many life threatening diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer. Source

8 Vegetables That Will Soon Be Safer to Eat

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:16:39 +0000

As Environmental Health News recently reported, the EPA will ban endosulfan, a chemical cousin of DDT, the pesticide banned in the 1970s because of its devastating effects on wildlife.

While DDT was used widely to kill mosquitoes, endosulfan is used to kill insects on food crops, and therefore shows up on food. The EPA determined that this pesticide is too risky for farm workers, even those who use protective clothing and take other precautions; the state of California has warned that even bystanders may be at risk from air pollution caused by spraying the pesticide. Source

Global warming affects reign of the king of fruits

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:10:47 +0000

Indian summers are synonymous with that king of fruits, mango.

The first trickle of fruits of the season arrives in the last week of March and peaks in the month of May. By the third week of June, the flood of mangoes in the market dies down to a trickle. This, at least, used to be the pattern of the mango season. However, agriculturists say that climate change and freak showers have considerably reduced the mango production over the years. Source