Tagged: agriculture

Food Prices
8:30 am
Mon February 4, 2013

$5 A Pound? Tomato Price Threat Seen As Tactic In Trade Dispute With Mexico

Credit www.omroundtheworld.com
EXTREME TOMATO: The price in Japan is nearly five dollars for a single tomato. In the U. S., a prediction of five-dollars-a-pound is being debunked as a scare tactic to preserve Mexican market share.

Will stopping Mexican tomatoes at the border raise tomato prices prohibitively for American consumers?

An importers group predicted recently that if the 1996 tomato agreement with Mexico is terminated, tomatoes could rise to $5 a pound in American supermarkets. Florida growers now say that's a scare tactic by interest groups who favor Mexican imports. "Under no circumstances will this be true," said Edward Beckman, president of Certified Greenhouse Farmers.

Read more
Business
8:04 am
Wed January 23, 2013

Fla. Tomato Growers Think Trade Deal With Mexico Is Rotten

Credit J. Pat Carter / AP

Originally published on Wed January 23, 2013 11:01 am

Half of all tomatoes eaten in the U.S. come from Mexico, and tomato growers in Florida aren't happy about that. In fact, they're willing to risk a trade war to reverse the trend.

At JC Distributing In Nogales, Ariz., one misstep and you're likely to get knocked over by a pallet full of produce. Forklifts crisscross each other carrying peppers, squash and especially tomatoes from trucks backed into the warehouse loading dock.

"This is a Mexican truck being unloaded," says JC President Jaime Chamberlain. "He's just waiting for his paperwork to get back."

Read more
Florida Sugar
6:24 am
Fri October 19, 2012

Evaporated Cane Juice: Sugar In Disguise?

Credit Karen Castillo Farfán / NPR
If you look very closely, you'll see "evaporated cane juice" in the ingredients list on this yogurt. A California woman is suing the Chobani yogurt company over its use of the term.

Originally published on Thu October 18, 2012 7:08 pm

If you're one of those people who vigilantly checks the ingredient list of the things you buy at the grocery store, you may have already seen this: Some food products now contain something called "evaporated cane juice." It can be found in yogurt, fruit juices and lemonades.

So what exactly is evaporated cane juice? Well, it depends on whom you ask. We spoke with a few folks outside our local grocery store, and many of them were confused. Take a listen:

Read more
Agriculture
11:12 am
Tue October 16, 2012

Agriculture Commissioner Says Industry Needs 'Stable, Legal Workforce'

Credit DeusXFlorida/flickr
Starfruit inside Sarasota Jungle Gardens

Immigration and agriculture go hand in hand.

That's what community and business leaders in Tallahassee recently heard from Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

He said immigration reform is vital to the health of the state’s agriculture industry

Putnam told the Economic Club of Florida he is concerned the U.S. is losing business to developing countries that have different standards for hiring farm workers.

Read more