For more than 90 years, Meijer has supported local communities, including through in-store holiday shopping events. In the last 10 years, the company hosted more than 1,750 events, partnered with more than 560 organizations and impacted more than 5,200 families. This year more than $970,000 was invested in its holiday shopping partnership events.

Seeded Produce, a Nogales, AZ-based distributor of Mexican produce items, has opened an office in the Los Angeles area and is expanding its product line to include items from Asia and Central and South America that it previously did not offer.

Earlier this fall, AFE Program Manager Candice Musgrove and members of the Vic and Margaret Ball Committee visited the Benz School of Floral Design at Texas A&M University, one of the many programs supported through AFE’s James and Helen Phillip Floral Design Grant. The visit offered a firsthand look at how AFE’s educational funding is helping students strengthen their skills, pursue their passions and build meaningful futures in the floral industry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture imposed sanctions on five produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. These sanctions include suspending the businesses’ PACA licenses and barring the businesses’ principal operators from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without USDA approval.

The following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:

Wholesum Family Farms, a leading grower of organic greenhouse tomatoes, is rolling out a new heirloom variety that pays homage to its French roots while offering consumers a superior eating experience.

What started as a simple gesture, leaving a few crunchy carrots next to the cookies and milk, has grown into one of the most heartwarming and enduring holiday traditions for families with young children. It’s a moment filled with imagination: kids carefully selecting the perfect carrots for Santa’s reindeer, debating which gets the biggest one and proudly arranging their display before heading to bed.