Building on its commitment to helping its members understand transportation issues critical to the fresh produce industry, particularly the recently amended U.S. Department of Transportation hours of service rules, the Produce Marketing Association released via its web site a question-and-answer guide to the new regulations. These regulations went into effect Oct. 1.

Mike Casazza has been changing keys within the produce industry for a few years now.

The 27-year-old aspiring musician works as a sales manager at Fresh Directions International, an avocado house in Ventura, CA. Mr. Casazza grew up in the small farming town of Hughson, CA, and was exposed to the trade at an early age.

"I have family that's involved," he said. But the way I got fully involved was when my father was a vice president at Del Monte.

SAN FRANCISCO -- When Ray Mah, Joe Thomas and Steve Ng joined their three separate businesses to form Fresh Green on the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, it was a decision based more on the future than the present.

"None of the businesses were in any trouble," said Mr. Thomas, formerly president of DeMattei Bros. "We just said, 'Let's try it.' All of us are hard workers, so we knew that wouldn't enter into the picture.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Shing Ho took his background in catering for renowned San Francisco-based Bill Graham Presents and fashioned a wholesale produce company -- VegiWorks Inc. -- that delivers fresh produce to its clients.

TORONTO -- In a little under four hours, a fund drive held Sept. 23 at the Ontario Food Terminal, here, raised over $17,000 in Canadian funds for Hurricane Katrina relief.

Project: Re-Leaf was designed to show the Canadian produce industry's support for those suffering in the wake of massive Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in late August.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will close two of its five PACA branch offices in February as a cost-cutting measure, according to Bruce Summers, chief of the PACA.

According to Mr. Summers, who was installed as chief of the PACA about four months ago, closing the Northeast regional office in New Brunswick, NJ, and the Midwest regional office in Glen Ellyn, IL, will result in a savings of over $1 million annually.