Fruit and Vegetable News

  Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety  Cantaloupes and Salmonella bacteria are in the news, as a major foodborne illness outbreak and recall has been ongoing related to this crop. Here is what we know. What happened? As of January 19th, 407 people in 44 states (including 29 in Minnesota) were infected with one strain of Salmonella.  158 (44%) of these cases resulted in hospitalization. 64 people in Canada were also sickened, and 7 deaths were reported.  Whole Genome Sequencing analysis showed that clinical isolates from ill people in Canada were genetically related to the ill people in the United States. FDA’s traceback investigation identified Sofia Produce of Nogales, AZ; Crown Jewels Produce of Fresno, CA; and Dulcinea of Fresno, CA as suppliers of the potentially contaminated “Malichita” or “Rudy” brand cantaloupes.  Illnesses started on dates ranging from October 15, 2023, to December 25, 2023.  As of January 19th, the CDC and FDA ...

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety Are you starting to sell more produce to farm to school programs, food hubs, or wholesale distributors? These sales can impact your status under the FSMA Produce Safety Rule. That is because where  you sell your food, along with the total annual food sales from your farm, determines your coverage status under the FSMA Produce Safety Rule. Read on to ensure you know your status for this important federal food safety law. Will my farm need to comply with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule? Follow along with these questions to determine which of three categories your farm falls under for the FSMA Produce Safety Rule and take the necessary steps to comply. First category - Excluded If your farm’s adjusted average annual produce* sales during the previous 3-year period were less than $25,000**, your farm is not subject to the FSMA Produce Safety Rule. You will not have a routine inspection and do not need to keep records for the rule....

To understand soils on small-scale diversified vegetable farms, Extension educators visited 100 farms in the spring of 2023 to test fields and high tunnels. Tests included soil nutrients, physical properties, and soil health metrics. Here are some of the key things we learned: High tunnel soils can become more alkaline over time, limiting nutrient uptake in plants We started with four hypotheses for why high tunnel soils might become less productive over time—a common complaint among growers. One idea was that salt gradually builds up in tunnels, causing toxicity problems with plants. Another was that nutrients and organic matter might become depleted over time. Both of these hypotheses were wrong. 98% of tunnels and 100% of fields were non-saline, and in general, high tunnels had more organic matter and nutrients than fields (often a lot more). We did see two other things: the soil pH (measure of acidity) in high tunnels was significantly higher than in fields, and it tended to increa...