This past weekend, the fresh produce industry showed its commitment to alleviating childhood obesity through healthy food choices with a 17,141-pound fresh produce donation to the Food Bank of Monterey County after the annual PMA Foodservice Conference & Expo.

MASHANTUCKET, CT — Bozzuto's Inc. held its 2014 Merchandising Marketplace Aug. 5-6 at the Fox Tower at Foxwoods, here, drawing a good crowd, as always.

Fresh produce was of course well represented at the two-day conference, which also included representatives from many sectors of the supermarket, such as bakery, deli, meat, cheese and frozen foods.

“Mushroom blendability is the driving and emerging trend for mushrooms in both foodservice and retail,” said Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council. “Mushrooms are on target to make a big impact at foodservice and retail that will improve consumers’ nutrition and maybe improve the cost to prepare some meals. It’s a win for everyone and will change how consumers think of and use mushrooms.”

Despite weather challenges, River Point Farms is expecting to harvest a good quality onion crop this season. “Weather reduced the volume from the Columbia Basin over-winter crop, including ours,” said Mackenzie Mills, customer service representative. “There were too many days of low temperatures, which resulted in substantial reduction in harvested volume from fields.”

Weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest were variable during the current onion production season. And Matt Curry, president of Curry & Co. in Brooks, OR, said start dates will be a mixed bag. “We have had some weather impacts with onions,” he told The Produce News. “The freeze in December in the Pacific Northwest did do some damage to crops, and delayed them as well. A combination of the freeze and cooler-than-usual spring weather delayed Walla Walla onions by as much as a week to 10 days.

With a similar acreage planted to last year and normal yields expected, the 2014 California garlic crop should be up a little from last year, when yields were off somewhat, according to Bill Christopher, president of Christopher Ranch LLC in Gilroy, CA.