More than 150 volunteer leaders of the United Fresh Produce Association joined together for the association’s annual Winter Leadership Meetings in Tucson, Ariz. last week to address programs, policies and priorities to serve the association’s broad supply chain membership.

Individual meetings were held by the association’s four market segment boards: the Grower-Shipper Board, Fresh-Cut Board, Wholesaler-Distributor Board, and Retail-Foodservice Board.  Meetings were also held by two of United Fresh’s expert advisory councils, which provide cross-cutting functional expertise across the supply chain, the Food Safety & Technology Council and Supply Chain Logistics & Technology Council. 

Two additional expert councils will hold their meetings next month, with the Global Advisory Council meeting at Fruit Logistica in Berlin, Germany February 4, and the Government Relations Council meeting in Washington, DC February 25-26.

Following individual meetings, all groups came together to discuss the current economic outlook in the fresh produce and food industry with Dr. Ed McLaughlin, Professor of Food Marketing and Director of the Food Industry Management Program at Cornell University.  The groups also discussed what our industry can expect from the new Obama Administration and Congress, talking with United Fresh General Counsel Marshall Matz who served as President Obama’s top campaign agricultural adviser, and United Fresh outside legislative counsel Randy Russell, one of the top Republican agricultural leaders in Washington.

The week’s events culminated with a two-day meeting of the United Board of Directors to hear from each of its leadership groups, set key public policy priorities for the year ahead, and shape programs that will serve the broad membership.  The Board took the following actions.

Public Policy

The Board adopted the three policy documents below, all of which will be published on the United Fresh website:

1. The Board adopted 2009 Government Relations Priorities recommended by its Government Relations Council.  These priorities will set the agenda for United’s work with Congress, the Obama Administration and others throughout the year.  Key priorities include increasing fruit and vegetable sales through nutrition policy; ensuring appropriate food safety legislation and regulation; passing comprehensive immigration reform and blocking the union card-check bill; ensuring proper funding and implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill; and taking an active role in supply chain issues such as the highway transportation bill, energy policy, and traceability.

2. The Board adopted a Food Safety Policy White Paper outlining specific legislative policies and provisions developed by a wide cross-section of industry associations and companies serving on the Government Relations Council and the Food Safety & Technology Council.  The white paper was prepared to provide a roadmap for United Fresh and others in evaluating and drafting specific legislative language and potential regulations that might be considered by Congress and the Administration this year.

3. The Board adopted a set of 2009 Child Nutrition Reauthorization Policy Priorities recommend by its Government Relations Council to shape association goals in this broad legislative process determining the state of school lunch, school breakfast and competitive foods sold in schools for the next five years.  Specifically, the goals call for a "Salad Bar in Every School" campaign; increased reimbursement rates to allow schools to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables; and funding for non-food assistance grants to help schools enhance refrigerated storage as well as purchase salad bars and other similar equipment.

In addition to the policy documents above, the Board took action on two major issues confronting the industry:

1. The Board took a strong position in opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, which would eliminate workers’ right to a secret ballot in determining whether to form a union.  Also known as the card check bill, this legislation is expected to be considered by Congress this year, and poses a strong chance of passing based on past support.  The Board endorsed new funding from the association and the strongest possible effort to oppose the bill through leadership in broad national business and agricultural coalitions and work in key states where Senators may be undecided or open to endorsing our position.

2. The Board directed that harmonization of produce safety standards continue to be a major priority for United Fresh, and urged strong industrywide participation in the upcoming Global Conference on Produce Food Safety Standards, a post-show conference to be held immediately following United Fresh 2009 in Las Vegas, April 24-25.  This conference will bring together worldwide bodies involved in setting produce safety standards, auditing companies and non-profit organizations, government officials, and leaders from retail, foodservice and the produce supply community involved in produce safety. 

Member Service Programs

The Board also endorsed two new member service programs:

1. The Board agreed to form a new Nutrition and Health Council, joining the four expert advisory councils already in place to provide volunteer leadership to the association.  The Nutrition and Health Council will be designed to maximize the value and participation of produce industry members in nutrition policy programs such as the School Fresh Fruit and Vegetable School Snack Program, fruit and vegetable vouchers in the Women, Infants and Children’s (WIC) program, school breakfast and lunch, USDA commodity purchasing programs, and more.  The Government Relations Council and the Board of Directors will continue to drive policy change to enhance nutrition programs to promote fruit and vegetable consumption, while the new Council will focus on direct application of these programs in the day-to-day produce business.
   

2. The Board agreed to develop a new Traceability Demonstration Center on the show floor at its upcoming United Fresh 2009 convention April 21-24.  The Traceability Demonstration Center will bring together hands-on tools and information to assist companies in understanding how to incorporate the Produce Traceability Initiative’s GS1 recommendations into their own businesses.  The Center will house demonstration projects on how companies at each stage of the supply chain are incorporating whole-chain traceability, a discussion area to meet with other companies engaged in similar challenges, and samples of tools and technologies that can help make the process easier and most cost-effective, whether you’re a grower-shipper, repacker, wholesaler, retailer or foodservice operator.

"Our Winter Leadership Meetings provided a great chance for volunteer leaders from all sectors of our association to come together in common purpose to serve our membership," said United Fresh Chairman Tom Lovelace, McEntire Produce.  "Clearly, our members have a lot on their agenda, and it is gratifying to see the boards and councils tackling the many major issues confronting our industry."