WASHINGTON -- A salad bar in every school was just one of a handful of pressing legislative priorities that brought more than 400 produce leaders to attend the United Fresh Produce Association's Washington Public Policy Conference, held here Sept. 9-11.

More than half of the produce industry representatives gathered met with congressional staff during the annual conference, carrying a message to boost nutrition programs, pass a produce-friendly food safety bill, reform immigration policies and block the Employee Free Choice Act.

NAPLES, FL -- Even the worst season in a decade was not enough to keep tomato grower-shippers and attendees of the 34th annual Florida Joint Tomato Conference from focusing on the future.

"Dreadful," committee Chairman Bob Spencer said in summarizing the 2008- 09 season in the Florida Tomato Committee's annual report, which was released at the conference, held Sept. 8-14 at the Ritz-Carlton-Naples, here. It is doubtful the industry could survive another season like this one.

Minneapolis-based C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., a leading produce- sourcing and non-asset based third-party logistics company, announced Sept. 15 that it has acquired Rosemont Farms Corp. Inc., a prominent produce-marketing company, and Quality Logistics LLC, a non-asset based logistics sister company that focuses on produce transportation. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Going "green" is great unless it's on your potatoes.

NNZ Inc. and Walnut Packaging Inc. have teamed up to manufacture, market and distribute the Spud Shade anti-greening poly potato bag.

The "Spud Shade" bag is a patented design that uses a co-extrusion film process that laminates regular poly to a special opaque poly that inhibits UV light from penetrating the front of the bag. This also allows a large area on the front of the bag for printing graphics for marketing purposes.

James Michael has taken over the reins as promotions director for the Washington State Fruit Commission and Northwest Cherries. The position was previously held by Andrew Willis, who left the commission to pursue his doctorate at the University of Washington.

Mr. Michael joined the commission July 1 as the 2009 cherry season moved into full swing. "It was nice to get my feet wet during the harvest," he told The Produce News Sept. 8. "This harvest you had the phone in one hand to your ear and were sending out an e-mail with the other hand."

The whirl of activity in Washington on food-safety issues is deservedly the subject of much concern in the produce industry.

Everyone in the produce chain, from the farmer through the retailer, could be impacted by the various proposals aimed at reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses. Driven by the nationwide attention given to Salmonella in peanuts earlier this year, the temptation in Washington will be to craft the strictest possible regulations, and that may mean trouble for small farmers if not handled correctly.