The Alliance for Food & Farming, a non-profit group founded to deliver credible information to consumer about the safety of fruits and vegetables, recently launched its newly updated website — www.foodandfarming.info.

Energy and excitement are running high in Washington apple orchards this season. Producers such as Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers in Wenatchee, WA, expect careful long-range planning to pay significant dividends — fruit of exceptional volume, quality and size — in the coming years.

Suzanne Wolter, director of marketing for Rainier Fruit Co., said apples provide the kind of lift that benefits both the category and overall produce department sales.

Aided by good weather, South Carolina’s 2014 watermelon crop recorded a robust gain of 64 percent over last year’s total, according to a National Watermelon Report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As production ended in early August, the state had shipped almost 81 million pounds of seeded and seedless watermelons.

Yakima, WA-based Holtzinger Fruit Co. recently welcomed retail and produce sales veteran Paul Montmeny to its team as sales manager.

Montmeny brings over 25 years of experience in the apple/berry industry to Holtzinger. He has a diverse background of experience in marketing and selling apples, with successes in international and domestic program development.

Heather Cox is back with a new lineup of weekly videos and contests that are scoring big points with college football and Idaho potato fans across the country. The popular college football sideline reporter and Boise resident was recruited by the Idaho Potato Commission last year to help promote Idaho potatoes during the fall season, one of the heaviest buying periods for the brand.