NEWARK, DE - The 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has released its new recommendations for food consumption. It is the first time the advisory committee, which updates its recommendations in a report every five years, has considered the environmental impact of food choices.
Also for the first time, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee singled out "added sugars" — those not naturally found in foods such as fruit and encouraging Americans to sharply cut back, according to USA today.
Rather than focus on the effects of individual ingredients, the report urges Americans to think about healthy dietary patterns, with more fruits, nuts, legumes, vegetables and whole grains, and less red or processed meat. This type of diet is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, according to the USDA’s report. Plant-based diets also use fewer resources, such as land, water and energy, and produce fewer greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change and are less likely than livestock to pollute the land, according to the report.
Cathy Burns, President of Produce Marketing Association (PMA) said in a statement, “PMA commends the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for their emphasis on fruit and vegetable consumption throughout the report. Key findings detailed in the report reinforce what we already know to be true; fruits and vegetables are integral parts to a healthy diet. Notably, the committee found that the consumption of fruits has remained low, but stable, for the U.S. population. Vegetable intake has declined, particularly among children and adolescents. Findings like this reinforce the need for marketing initiatives that make a connection to our healthy foods for young consumers – like the eat brighter!™ movement.”
Registered Dietitian Bonnie Taub-Dix tells USA Today it makes sense to move meat from a "starring role" as the main dish to side dish or "accent."
"It's not only healthier, but it's more economical," says Taub-Dix.
According to USA Today, the committee's scientific report will be used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services to write the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, scheduled to be released by the end of the year.
The federal government uses those guidelines to plan menus for the National School Lunch Program and when developing nutrition programs for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which provides food vouchers for low-income families.
Government food policies are important because diseases such as obesity and diabetes disproportionately affect poor people, says committee member Lucile Adams-Campbell, Associate Director for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington.
The report notes that 49 million Americans, including 9 million children, live with "food insecurity," meaning they don't have a stable source of nutritious, affordable food.
Poor nutrition is a critical concern for Americans of all incomes, the report says.
“We thank the committee for their efforts and acknowledge their thoughtful recommendations for a healthful, nutritious diet,” Burns continued. “As part of our work in Issues Leadership – bringing our expertise and leadership to issues that affect members most – we’ll be submitting comments on behalf of the produce industry that support the commitment to fresh, affordable and nutritious options that are available to consumers of all demographics.”
The advisory committee also recommended that Americans get less than 10% of their daily calories from added sugar. According to the Food and Drug Administration, Americans today get about 16% of their daily calories from added sugars.
The new guidelines state that people following a 2,000-calorie diet should consume no more than 50 grams of added sugar a day. In response, the FDA has proposed changing food labels to list added sugars. The current label lists total sugar, a combination of added and natural sugar.
The report calls on the nation to shift toward preventing health problems rather than treating them after they develop, says committee member Barbara Millen, Registered Dietitian with Millennium Prevention in Massachusetts.
About half of American adults have one or more health problems linked to poor diet and lack of exercise, such as heart disease, obesity, cancer or type 2 diabetes, according to the report. About two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of children are obese.
With any luck, these new guidelines will build even greater support for fresh and nutritious food options.
JAPAN - Step aside Apple Watch, another fruit has hit the accessory line for fitness and fashion.
Dole Japan has married produce, exercise, and technology with its new wearable Smart Banana, which will be unveiled at the annual Tokyo Marathon.
Check it out for yourself in the video below:
With sensors that are able to measure the runner’s heart rate and race time, all the company needs to do is slip the technology under the peel to give the runners something a bit unique to run with. And LED lights of course, because fashion is just as important as function.
The technology is, however, slightly cannibalistic, advising runners to eat bananas at each rest stop along the race. But if you can’t beat them, join them! The runners can eat the bananas as soon as they’ve crossed the finish line, though the jury is still out on if sensors and lights affect the taste.
HOUSTON, TX – The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the $8.2 billion Sysco/US Foods merger.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the FTC voted 3-2 in favor of the lawsuit, saying that the merger would create a dominant national company that could raise prices and reduce service.
Sysco and US Foods are the only U.S. food distributors with the geographic reach to offer nationwide contracts to deliver food and other supplies to hotel chains, hospitals and fast food restaurants.
“Consumers across the country, and the businesses that serve them, benefit from the healthy competition between Sysco and US Foods, whether they eat at a restaurant, hotel or a hospital,” Debbie Feinstein, head of the FTC’s bureau of competition, said in a statement.
Though Sysco has been in talks with the FTC to circumvent an antitrust lawsuit, Reuters is reporting that the company already secured law firm O’Melveny & Meyers LLP as counsel to fight the potential lawsuit.
Sysco Chief Executive Bill DeLaney said in a statement, “The facts are strongly in our favor, and we look forward to making our case in court. Those of us who work in the industry every day know it is fiercely competitive.”
Before yesterday’s FTC decision, Sysco and US Foods offered to sell 11 distribution centers with $5 billion in sales. The centers would have been sold to Performance Food Group in an attempt to make it a national competitor.
As we have previously reported, the merger has been delayed more than once since the official offer made in December of 2013.
The FTC is planning to try the merger case through its own administrative litigation system and set a trial date of July 21, according to the Wall Street Journal. The commission is also planning on asking a Washington, D.C. federal court to issue a preliminary injunction to block the deal while the case proceeds.
The merger agreement is set to expire in September, but it could be extended if the litigation is not finished by then.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest on this developing story.
UNITED STATES – The West Coast port slowdowns are taking a toll on Chilean fruit being imported into the United States.
Both FEDEFRUTA and the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX) are reporting that the damages have reached approximately $50 million, which is higher than previously anticipated.
According to ASOEX, the slowdown has delayed the unloading of ships from a two-day average to 7 days and expects that to increase even further to 12 days.
U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Michael A. Hammer, met with FEDEFRUTA President, Juan Carolus Brown, and Director of the Federation, Cristián Allendes Marin, to discuss this problem.
“Ambassador Hammer understood our situation and told us that he has communicated the concerns of Chilean growers through the American diplomatic channels,” Brown said in a press release.
He continued, “It became clear that the American state is doing its best to mediate and bring the parties in conflict, so that the dispute comes to an end.”
As we previously reported, U.S. Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez, is in California this week to work with the ILWU and the PMA to help end the 9-month long contract dispute.
Currently, there are approximately 1.8 million boxes of fruit from Chile at the ports. If the disputes are not resolved soon, the situation could become dramatically worse. ASOEX says that in mid-March, 5 ships will reach the ports with a combined total of 2.5 million boxes of fruit.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for continued updates on this developing story.
BENTONVILLE, AR - Wal-Mart has said 500,000 full-time and part-time associates, nearly half of its workforce at Wal-Mart U.S. stores and Sam's Clubs, will receive pay raises in April to at least $9 an hour. This raise will top the federal minimum wage by 24% and take a bite out of the company’s profit this year.
By next February 1, their pay will go to at least $10 an hour, according to CNN. The company said workers will also have more control over their schedules, but it declined to give details of those changes. Wal-Mart also said it would invest more in training to give entry-level workers greater chance for promotion.
The wage scale and other improvements in work conditions will cost the company about $1 billion in this fiscal year, CNN writes. Wal-Mart's pay and employment policies have been the focus of protest by some workers and outside labor groups seeking to organize Wal-Mart employees. Black Friday protesters last year were demanding a $15 an hour pay minimum across the company.
Currently, only about 6,000 Wal-Mart employees out of more than 1.2 million nationwide are paid at the $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage, according to the company. It employs more U.S. workers than any other business.
Once the company's starting pay rises to $9 an hour in April, the average pay for full-time retail workers there will be about $13 an hour, according to CNN. Wal-Mart has previously said that the average wage already stands at $12.94 an hour.
The decision comes as the vast gap between the richest Americans and the rest of the country has become a key political issue for both parties, writes The Wall Street Journal. Wal-Mart, with its low wages and scheduling policies that critics say make it hard for part-time employees to predict their hours, has long been a flash point for that debate.
President Obama has proposed raising the federal minimum to $10.10 an hour, but Republicans in Congress have so far blocked those efforts. Many states have taken matters into their own hands and raised their own state minimum wage rates, either by action of the legislature or voter initiative.
"We're not taking a position on what the government does,"Carol Schumacher, Vice President of Investor Relations for Wal-Mart told CNN. "But anytime any company, whether it's us or someone else, raises wages, it's a help for the economy.”
The improved labor market, with employers hiring at the strongest rate since the 1990s, is giving workers a boost. The average wage nationwide climbed by 2.2% over the previous year, according to the Labor Department.
Chief Executive of Wal-Mart, Doug McMillon, has for months said the company would soon detach itself from the official minimum wage, joining retailers like Gap Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. that have committed to paying workers more than federal law requires. Aetna Inc. also said last month that it would boost the wages of its lowest-paid workers by as much as a third, to $16 an hour, to draw better prospects and reduce turnover, The Wall Street Journal reports.
OUR Wal-Mart, the union-backed group organizing protests at Wal-Mart, took credit for the company's announcement.
"We are so proud that by standing together we won raises for 500,000 Wal-Mart workers, whose families desperately need better pay and regular hours from the company," said Emily Wells, a leader of OUR Wal-Mart group.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for continuing updates on this story.
With the asparagus season well underway, competition between growers is ramping up and differentiation is becoming even more important.
I spoke with Charlie Eagle, Vice President Business of Development at Southern Specialties, about growth in the asparagus market and how the company's value added arenas set them apart from the rest.
As the company and its client base continue to grow, including investments in Peru and Mexico, asparagus has become Southern Specialties’ #1 product. Offering asparagus, a product most of its customers use, has allowed the company to increase sales for its specialty products as well. Creating a logistical mass allows customers to buy pallets of asparagus and then be able to add those specialty products to their order as a “spend-along”.
When asked about the company’s growth within the asparagus market, Eagle tells me, “Offering value added asparagus under our Southern Selects label has enabled us to fine tune our approach to fulfilling customers needs. We have a pack style for every consumer. We offer approximately a dozen SKU’s that range from Southern Select’s trimmed, microwave ready, asparagus tips to club store presentations.”
Southern Specialties utilizes several strategies to create ways for its customers to grow their businesses. Category management, innovative packaging, and having category expertise have been ways to add value to customers, Eagle says.
“We try to work together with retailers and foodservice distributors to create reliable programs. By that I mean our knowledge of the category, starting at ground level, is an asset that customers can take advantage of. Logistics expertise, in-house packaging solutions, private label capabilities, several levels of quality assurance and food safety certifications and year round supplies all bring value to our customers,” Eagle continues. “Loading asparagus with additional selections from our extensive menu of specialty products helps create low-cost solutions, as well. Our account managers are experts in the asparagus category and are here to serve.”
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest updates on Southern Specialties and developments in asparagus market.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - United States District Judge Andrew Hanen in Texas has blocked President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration, which has drawn opposition from 26 states across the nation.
Judge Hanen ruled to block Obama's executive actions that protected nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. In delaying the ruling, Hanen halted Obama's executive action, ruling that the administration had failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act. The act calls for the White House to afford a longer notification and comment period before taking action, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Obama administration promised to appeal the injunction in the Texas case, which argued that the President overstepped his authority with his executive action.
But while top officials expressed confidence they would ultimately come out on top in the courts, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said his department, which oversees immigration enforcement, wouldn’t accept applications for the programs while the district-court order is in place, according to CNN. The government was set to begin accepting some applications Wednesday.
The 26 states bringing the suit say the President’s immigration actions would cause an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants, forcing them to incur added costs to provide education, health care and other services, CNN writes. The White House has said the executive action falls within the President’s legal authority, and it said the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress have recognized executive-branch discretion over enforcing immigration laws.
The White House said in a statement early Tuesday that Obama's actions "are well within his legal authority" and that the Justice Department has indicated "that it will appeal that decision."
"The district court's decision wrongly prevents these lawful, commonsense policies from taking effect," the White House said in a statement. "The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws — which is exactly what the President did when he announced commonsense policies to help fix our broken immigration system.”
Obama said Tuesday he's confident that a Texas court's injunction against his executive order delaying deportations for millions of immigrants will ultimately be overruled, and is preparing to implement the order under that assumption, writes The Wall Street Journal.
The programs at issue are deferred action programs for undocumented parents of Americans and lawful residents and expansions to the program protecting illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children -- known as DAPA and DACA, respectively. Neither program had gone into effect.
The Texas court decision leaves people who would qualify for the Obama program in legal limbo at a time when immigration-rights groups have been urging people to apply. White House officials said they hope and expect that applications will be vigorous once the program has legal clearance to begin.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for continuing updates on this story.
FLORIDA – Hard freeze warnings have been posted for parts of Florida this week, which means temperatures below 27 degrees will be possible for at least 2 hours.
According to the Weather Advisory Service, these hard freeze warnings will likely be extended and expanded Friday morning as freezing minimum temperatures could be experienced as far south as Lake Okeechobee.
The coldest temperatures in inland areas on Friday could drop into the low 20’s, then a gradual warm up is expected through Monday.
AndNowUKnow spoke with Florida growers about this forecast and what it could mean for this year’s crop.
One grower tells us that if the temperatures stay in line with the forecast, things should be okay, but “if the temperature goes below what is expected and gets down to 25 for even just a short period of time, then the damage will be extensive.”
Another grower told us, “There is some level of concern for our crops, but we don’t believe that we’re facing a catastrophic event. The extent of the damage will depend on how cold it gets, the durations of time that the crop is subjected to temperatures below freezing, and what the humidity is at the time of the possible freeze.”
For now, it is going to be a waiting game. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest updates.
VALENCIA, CA -Sunkist managed to pull out another year in the billion dollar revenue range for FY 2014, making this the company’s fifth consecutive year in doing so.
While the weather didn’t appear favorable, Sunkist’s President and CEO Russell Hanlin credits the company’s success to the efforts and strategies of the team.
“An extended cold period in December 2013 posed challenges, but the dedication and hard work of our growers and shippers, in combination with a disciplined sales strategy, allowed us to achieve positive results,” Hanlin said, according to a company press release.
Some of those effective strategies included moving the company headquarters from Sherman Oaks to Valencia, California, bringing the company closer to its growers and offering a strong investment opportunity, as well as continuing to grow its licensing program. With 49 total licenses across global markets, the Sunkist brand is now used to market approximately 700 products in 77 countries, setting them up for what they hope to be a streak that continues to climb.
“Sunkist, as a 120-year old organization, has a rich history that this new space honors along with updated technology that helps us better communicate with our customers and partners,” Kevin Fiori, Sunkist Vice President of Sales & Marketing, said in the release. “Sunkist is well-positioned for growth in the current marketplace and we look forward to continuing the legacy of the cooperative from our new home in Valencia.”
Mark Gillette, President of Sunkist-affiliated Gillette Citrus Inc. and re-elected Chairman of Sunkist’s Board of Directors, expressed an eye for future success.
“We are pleased to be recognizing our success last year, but more importantly, we are optimistic about the future of the cooperative as a result of the strategic initiatives that Sunkist has undertaken,” Gillette said in the release. “Sunkist is the leading brand for California fresh citrus and we look forward to continuing to provide high-quality fruit to our partners worldwide.”
Crucial partnerships, effective strategies, and updated technologies are key components highlighted in the company’s plans for continued success and a streak it does not intend to break.
MONTEREY COUNTY, CA – The idea of competitors sitting down together and discussing their companies’ strategies and initiatives may seem like a long shot to some, but that is exactly what the Monterey County Sustainability Working Group (MCSWG) does.
The Group's most recent meeting was held on Thursday, February 12th at Growers Express' main office and was focused on ‘Getting to know WHOLE FOODS Responsibly Grown Index’ with guest speaker Matt Rogers, Whole Foods Global Produce Coordinator.
Nikki Rodoni, one of the Group’s Founders, tells me that the MCSWG chose to focus on Whole Foods for this upcoming meeting because, “Sustainability surveys are becoming more common, and this was the most recent one to become public. The more we understand why retailers are asking these questions and what they are going to do with the information, the better we can prepare to respond confidently to industry surveys, buyer requests, and consumer demands for information on our sustainability efforts.”
I spoke with Matt about the meeting and what drew Whole Foods to the event. He told me, “It was a great meeting that featured a great collection of produce industry professionals dedicated to sustainability, each in a different way. This was a great opportunity for us. Many of our suppliers were in the room and we were able to have a detailed exchange.”
The Group was established in 2011 with the purpose of providing a resource for networking and sharing current sustainability efforts among agricultural producers and processors in the Central Coast region. Industry members are welcome to attend, but on the condition that they are ready to participate in the conversations. For the MCSWG, collaboration is key.
“Sustainability forces companies to evaluate many aspects of their operation that leads to increased efficiencies and lower operating costs. On top of that, I’ve even seen it boost company morale among employees who want to be a part of a company that ‘does the right thing,’” she says.
The Group provides an opportunity for the industry to take a proactive approach on how to stay ahead of mandates and appeal to the growing segments of environmentally conscious buyers.
“By sharing and understanding different strategies, we may reduce duplicate work, find efficiencies, and potentially create larger partnerships or programs shared between companies. Guest speakers and group members with expertise are invited to lead meetings on relevant topics to promote learning and the sharing of best management practices,” Nikki tells me.
The Group holds meetings every six to eight weeks or so, depending on availability. Companies that have been involved include: Measure to Improve, LLC, Driscoll’s, Pro*Act, D’Arrigo Bros., Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Markon, Mann Packing, Ocean Mist, Church Brothers, Taylor Farms, SureHarvest, California Giant Berry Farms, Dole, Lakeside Organic Gardens, Rio Farms, NH3 Service Co., NSF Agriculture, Grower Shipper Association, Wilber-Ellis, Steinbeck Produce, Stockman’s Energy Inc., Mission Ranches, Costa Farms, Golden Ag Assistance LLC, Ramco, Steinbeck Country Produce and Growers Express.
With collaboration at its core, the Monterey County Sustainability Working Group is bringing industry leaders together to find proactive solutions for all things sustainability.