United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Marketing Service 

Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee 

Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, VA 

September 29-30, 2014 

Minutes 

This summary of the September 29-30-31, 2014, meeting requires approval by the full 

Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee (Committee). A number of presenters 

at the meeting used Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat slides to convey 

information; the slides will be made available for viewing at www.ams.usda.gov/fv. 

Attendees: 

Virginia Barnes, Barnes Farm, LLP; Tiffany Boaldin, Golden Eagle Casino/Kickapoo

Tribe of Kansas; Ben Burkett, B&B Farm; Catherine Burns, Produce Marketing 

Association; Carlos Castaneda, Castaneda & Sons, Inc.; Helen Dietrich, Ridgeview 

Orchards; Kristine Ellor, Phillips Mushroom Farms; Richard Ha, Hamakua Springs 

Country Farms; Richard Hanas, A. Duda and Sons, Inc.; James Johnson, Carzalia 

Valley Produce; Beth Knorr, Cuyahuga Valley Countryside Conservancy; Vaughn 

Koligian, SunMaid Growers of CA; Lorri Koster, Mann Packing Company; Ricke 

Kress, Southern Gardens Citrus; Roland McReynolds, Carolina Stewardship 

Association; Paul Newman, Oneonta Star Ranch; Robert Nolan, Deer Run Farms; 

Christopher Puentes, Interfresh, Inc.; Brent Roggie, National Grape Cooperative 

Association; Diane Smith, Michigan Apple Committee; Jorge Vasquez, Latin 

Specialties, LLC; Thomas Williams, SpartanNash; David Yanda, Lakeside Foods, Inc.; 

Charles Parrott, Committee Manager; and Pamela Stanziani (Designated Federal 

Official), Agricultural Marketing Service 

Teleconference: 

Jin Ju Wilder, Valley Produce 

Dianne Nury, Vie-Del Company (Tuesday only) 

Absentees: None

Observers and Presenters: 

Anne L. Alonzo, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Administrator 

Devonia Betts – USDA AMS 

Michael Durando – USDA AMS 

Tom Karst – The Packer publication

Leanne Skelton – USDA AMS; U. S Food and Drug Administration Liaison 

Karla Whalen – USDA AMS 

Randle Macon, USDA AMS 

Heather Pichelman, USDA AMS 

Andrew Tobin, USDA, Office of Ethics 

Christopher Purdy, USDA AMS 

Terry Long, USDA AMS 
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Casey Wong-Buehler, USDA AMS 

This was the Committee’s first meeting after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

issued it a new two-year charter in March 31, 2009 and appointed new members in 

December, 2009. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) convened the meeting 

at the Columbia I Room of the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, SW, Washington D.C. 

Monday, September 29, 2014 

At 8:22 a.m., AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs’ Deputy Administrator and Committee 

Secretary Chuck Parrott called the meeting to order. Mr. Parrott welcomed the 

Committee to the first official meeting in Washington, DC and provided an overview of 

the Committee’s history, their responsibilities, and what to expect from the two-day 

meeting. He then reviewed the two-day agenda with the Committee and asked each 

member to introduce themselves. 

Remarks from the Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service 

The AMS Administrator, Anne Alonzo arrived at the meeting. Administrator Alonzo 

provided a welcome to the Committee and presented each of them with a Committee 

membership certificate, after which a group photo was taken. 

Administrator Alonzo began her remarks highlighting the key priorities for the 

Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the expectations 

for the Committee to ultimately provide the Secretary with thoughtful and meaningful 

recommendations on behalf of the specialty crops industry. Additionally, she discussed 

how to get more fruits and vegetables into the school feeding programs. 

Administrative Matters 

Ms. Devonia Betts, USDA Management Analyst who handles all travel for the 

Committee members, was asked to provide an overview of the Administrative matters 

(travel reimbursement) for the Committee. 

The Committee took a 30 minute recess at 9:51 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. 

The Committee reconvened after the recess at 10:30 a.m. At this time, DFO Stanziani 

reviewed the parameters of this Committee as far as what agricultural concerns and topics 

can be covered based upon the suggested subject areas submitted by each member when 

solicited by AMS prior to the meeting. There are over 200 USDA Advisory Committees, 

each with a specific focus area as dictated by their individual charters and we have to be 

careful not to cross over the lines to infringe on other committee chartered focus areas. 

DFO Stanziani reviewed several of the other USDA advisory committees that deal with 
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fruits and vegetables as they relate to international trade, crop insurance, organic 

standards, women’s, children and infants nutrition, and other areas at this point. 

The purpose of the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee is based on what is 

best for the fruit and vegetable industry as a whole and all the parts and agricultural 

capacities within that particular industry. The focus is to make sure that the USDA can 

help the industry solve problems, or address problems that are occurring, such as the lack 

of farm labor and H-2A difficulties, food safety and FSMA, aspects of the procurement 

of specialty crops, increased funding for public produce breeding programs, and the 

promotion and education of consumers on various fruit and vegetable benefits are all 

within the Committee’s parameters. 

At this point, DFO Stanziani advised the committee members that AMS will provide as 

much support regarding facilitation of any research, data gathering, and SME/speakers 

opportunities, as possible, as well as help guide with regard to next steps along each 

process of recommendation development and presentation. Also, the committee was 

advised on the process for working group meetings which involve teleconferences and 

email communications, and the importance of including the DFO and/or Committee 

manager in all meetings and correspondence based upon requirements of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as well as taking minutes for each meeting. Also, it is 

imperative that every member of each working group and Committee be actively 

involved in all discussions and recommendation formulation. Attendance and 

participation in all working group and committee meetings are required unless otherwise 

engaged in other business activities. 

Members who served on previous FVIAC committees were introduced so that new 

members had an idea of who could provide insight and/or be a good resource to new 

members, or if there are any questions on processes and procedures, in addition to 

explaining the importance of overlapping terms. All previous members introduced 

themselves, including those members who called via teleconference to this meeting. 

Committee Chair and Vice Chair 

At the conclusion of the ethics training, Mr. Parrott and Ms. Stanziani reviewed the duties 

and responsibilities of the Committee Chair and Vice-Chair. These positions provide 

leadership for the Committee, must understand the FACA requirements including helping 

to develop and approve each Committee agenda, help identify fact finding needs, 

document the Committee’s advice, promote contribution from each member and will 

collaborate with the DFO if there are any problems with any Committee members. 

Though one member recognized another previous member as a good chair candidate, the 

group was reminded that the election of the chair and vice chair would have to occur after 
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the Office of Ethics presentation and training. At this point, the Ethics Division 

representative arrived and was introduced. 

USDA Office of Ethics presentation 

Acting Deputy Director Andrew Tobin provided the Committee with an overview of the 

ethics rules that apply to Advisory Committee members and other USDA stakeholder 

appointees. Mr. Tobin provided a history of why Advisory Committees are required to 

undergo ethics training (based upon a 2005 GAO report on the inconsistencies of FACA 

member designations and the application of the rules regarding each category for every 

Committee). Mr. Tobin explained the three-tiered system of ethics training, each with a 

different level of rules to adhere to: federal employees, representatives (such as members 

of this Advisory Committee) who are appointed for the purpose of representing your 

point of view and outside perspective from within the industry you are here to represent, 

and special government employees who provide independent expertise as a “subject 

matter expert” on a committee, typically from the private sector who are experts on 

subjects of a very narrow scientific nature, and who are considered under the supervision 

of a federal employee. Mr. Tobin explained the differences and restrictions for each 

tiered group, including those relating to this Advisory Committee. 

A discussion about different topics and focus areas and how each member of the 

Committee should provide input and insight based upon their expertise, geographic 

region, commodity, agricultural capacity, among other criteria. Member Vazquez 

brought up the topic of USDA inspection as it relates to ports of entry and the delays, and 

elaborated on the issues that have arisen based upon these inspection delays due to lack 

of inspectors, timing of inspections, the phytosanitary inspections done by APHIS. 

Member McReynolds addressed the issue of food safety and the proposed FSMA rules. 

He thought that the Committee might be able to talk about what potential responses 

would be appropriate to FDA’s requirements, and in particular, the new proposals for 

supply or verification and environmental testing, as well as implementation and the 

burden on the small farmer, etc. 

Member Ellor addressed concerns regarding the inconsistencies among different 

regulations such as food security versus know your farmer/local farm. Also the 

contradictions that exist relating to organic production and sustainability audits, and 

regulations (that are contradictory to sustainability). Member Burns added to this concern 

with particular emphasis on how PMA is hearing from its members that there is a fair 

amount of audit fatigue, and how with new FSMA regulations, this could get worse. A 

proposed topic to address is the potential harmonization between AMS and FDA so that 

one activity occurs/that USDA dual verification activities are established and recognized 

when comparable FDA inspections happen. Member Koster adds to this topic with the 

concern about private industry audit companies cropping up and how different buyers 
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require audits from different private auditors so there are duplicative audits that are costly 

to the producer and supplier, and generally labor intensive and unnecessarily exhaustive. 

Member Boaldin brought up the issue of how to increase funding for public fruit and 

vegetable breeding programs for regionally adapted plant varieties or sovereign seeds. 

There is a need to attract and bring new farmers, particularly a new breed of young 

farmers, in order to keep growing the tradition of family farming in comparison to factory 

farms. Also, it is important to bring more local family farms into the school systems 

procurement processes. Member Johnson added that food safety requirements are driving 

the industry so that family farms have to turn into corporate farms. It isn’t feasible to 

think we can bring more small young farmers into the industry with the heavy burdens 

placed on them by the federal government, they cannot afford to have a fulltime 

dedicated food safety person. One member mentioned they go through seven different 

audits a year, which are crop specific, which is very much audit fatigue. 

Members Yanda and Roggie rounded out the discussion with comments regarding using 

common sense recommendations based on facts and science, regardless of what form a 

commodity takes, whether fresh, frozen, or dried, or if you are a processor, farmer or 

grower. The concern of what form a commodity takes is unnecessary since the dietary 

guidelines say that half of the plate is to have fruits and vegetables on it. Our job is to 

figure how we’re going to get half of that plate to be fruits and vegetables and not what 

form it is in. The committee should be concerned about providing an educational 

component to consumers on how to accomplish this. Member Burkett brought up 

additional concerns with regard to the importation of produce versus domestic producers 

being used by buyers, and Member Koligian brought up the important purpose of why 

there are audits, to ensure products are safe, and they are a necessary evil, but the key is 

harmonization of these audits, similar to the BRC audits (British Retail Consortium) 

which is accepted by most entities. 

Additional discussion occurred regarding audits and inspections, third party inspectors, 

and other related topics by various members. At this time, the discussion was wrapped up 

by Mr. Parrott and Ms. Stanziani, who then spoke about next steps with regard to the 

meeting, lunch options and other meeting logistics prior to the lunch recess. 

 

The Committee recessed at 11:55 a.m. for a one hour lunch period. 

At 1:06 p.m., the meeting resumed with Mr. Parrott calling the meeting to order, and 

checked to ensure all members were back including those on teleconference. At this time, 

Member Helen Dietrich was able to join us (delayed as a result of cancelled flights and 

bad weather), and introduced herself to the group. 

Mr. Parrott called for nominations for chair and vice chair to begin. 
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Chair and Vice Chair Election 

Nominees included Brent Roggie, Beth Knorr and Paul Newman as chairs; Paul Newman 

was elected chair by the majority of Committee members. Beth Knorr was elected as vice 

chair by a majority of the Committee. Once elections were finalized, the chair and vice 

chair took over the meeting leadership and process. 

The following presentation overviews were provided to the full Committee by AMS staff 

of different divisions and Programs to educate the members on the programs and services 

offered by AMS: 

 Casey Wong-Buehler, Team Leader, AMS Agency, Commodity Procurement 

Division. 

 Christopher Purdy, BD Specialist FV Programs, Business Development and 

Commodity Purchasing 

 Leanne Skelton, AMS/FDA Liaison, AMS/FV Program, Food Safety 

Modernization Act Implementation 

 Randle Macon, Division, Associate Director, FV Program , Specialty Crops 

Inspection Division regarding USDA standards, audits and inspections. 

 Terry Long, Division Director, FV Program, Market News Division spoke about 

the basics and necessity for market news reports and the expansion into retail and 

organic reporting, and efforts to include local foods reporting. 

 Heather Pichelman, Division Director, FV Program, Promotions and Economics 

Division spoke about the 12 research and promotion programs within her division 

as well as the role that the economic staff plays supporting the entire FV Program. 

 Karla Whalen, Division Director, FV Program, Perishable Agricultural. 

Commodities Act Division provided an overview of all PACA activities, and 

fielded comments from Member Puentes regarding PACA Trust decisions and the 

role that the court plays in making those decisions. 

 Michael Durando, Division Director, FV Program, Marketing Orders and 

Agreements Division provided an overview of the role that marketing orders and 

agreements play within a specific commodity’s industry. During Mr. Durando’s 

presentation, Ms. Skelton also fielded some related questions regarding FDA and 

the FSMA food safety measures anticipated. 

At the conclusion of all presentations, the Committee recessed for 30 minutes. 

The Committee recessed at 3:08 p.m. for 30 minutes 

At 3:35 p.m., the Committee was resumed by Chair Newman who then asked for any 

Observer comments. There were no comments at this time. 

Chair Newman then asked the group to review the comments from earlier that day 

regarding potential topics for the Committee to consider. He added that it is important to 

keep one thing in mind as Secretary Vilsack is an extremely busy man and the Committee 
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wants to build on whatever the topic or however many as possible, a statement that is so 

passionate he will as well feel passionate. Chair Newman noted that the issue of FDA 

harmonization was one that was passionately discussed earlier and asked the group to 

consider that among the others as possible topics. He asked Ms. Stanziani if there was an 

option for the working groups to ask people such as Leanne Skelton (on the FDA food 

safety topic) to join in on the calls for her expertise, which was agreed as appropriate as 

well as asking someone from FDA and other SMEs if relevant. It was also noted that any 

group would have the benefit of adding any SME from any department or entity to join 

the calls to provide expertise, or make a presentation on the topic of interest. 

Ms. Stanziani provided the committee with feedback on some of the topics discussed 

earlier. These topics included inspection delays and the need for reports to be more 

specific, food safety, inconsistencies among different regulations, food safety regulation 

inconsistencies as related to organic sustainability audits and the local/know your farmer, 

the PACA process (to which Member Yanda noted that Ms. Whalen cleared that issue of 

backlog up for them satisfactorily so it didn’t need to be a subject area), incentivizing and 

funding for sustainable farming, and the lack of farm labor. Member Castaneda spoke 

about how the farm labor shortage is a big problem and he believes it is very important to 

continue to work toward addressing the shortages. 

Member Koligian brought up the issues with regard to the drought, water shortages and 

environmental concerns, and how that may not be a subject matter for a whole group but 

it’s something he is interested in addressing. He discussed the growing world population 

and how the demand for food will increase along with the shortage of water and food 

supply. He also brought up the issue of the U.S. lacking port infrastructure especially in 

comparison to other countries such as China. Member Johnson added that it isn’t just 

ports but rail infrastructure that is lacking throughout the U.S. Further discussion 

continued on these subject areas, with Member Vazquez adding the ports of entry issue is 

also related to the lack of adequate rail and ports infrastructure. 

Member Koster brought up the timeliness of the issue of audits and FSMA 

implementation proposals, and that there is time to remind the buying and receiving 

community what USDA already does with their inspection programs, including the 

quality monitoring program. There should be a working group that addresses the 

rebranding and communications of existing USDA programs. 

Member Roggie added he thinks we need to educate our younger consumers on fruits and 

vegetables so consumer education would be a valuable group. Member Burns agreed, 

noting there isn’t really enough (or any) research on kids and their eating and food choice 

behaviors, and how they are influenced on eating produce especially in school. 

Member Wilder noted that there was a working group during the last Committee that 

dealt with this topic and that it was pretty complicated since USDA doesn’t provide the 
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education directly, it goes through groups at the state level and at state agencies. It’s very 

fragmented as to how to address education for children or for schools to provide 

education so it’s hard to get hard data back on how well the state level programs worked. 

Member Boaldin addressed the option of having a chef at each school, and the work she 

has done with the Kickapoo tribe children in teaching them about food choices, and 

establishing a school garden. The tribal regions are typically food deserts and poverty 

stricken so there is a lack of education on the benefits of eating produce. Further 

discussion occurred regarding the lack of education in schools, and the lack of equipment 

and staff to work with fresh and other fruits and vegetables even when donated. 

Member Kress addressed the issue of keeping up with science especially when avoiding e 

coli contaminations (leafy greens issue) and issues such as citrus greening. The U.S. 

must be competitive with countries like China that has billions of acres of land they can’t 

use due to lack of water, so they are looking at using science and genetics. If we are not 

careful a majority of our food may continue to come from China and overseas and 

increase in volume and production. 

Member Yanda mentioned that maybe the Committee should consider things like social 

media and what it's done and how successful some of that's been without science and 

maybe think about how USDA could play a role in that, particularly thinking of the issue 

of GMO. There hasn't been a food safety issue in 30 years with GMO and without GMO 

we cannot feed the world by 2050. We're going from 7 million to 9.5 million people, but 

that 9.5 is going to consume twice the food we have today and we need to get that word 

out from a source. It has to be science-based and so I support, I guess I support the effort, 

but let's be sure we think about social media can do so quickly to damage the perception 

and the facts around nutrition, around GMO, and all of those things. I think that's a big 

challenge for the industry, one of the bigger challenges. 

Member Koligian added if it possible to have a national policy on GMO products 

(patenting and contamination), which Member Yanda agreed. Member Koligian added 

that maybe it is feared as the “no-no” or maybe it's an okay, but that it’s one of the issues, 

and that someone like FDA should come out with specific statements about the benefits 

(or not) and usages of GMO products as a result of a lack of resources like water. 

Discussion continued regarding the six different subjects and various elements of each 

and how they relate (or not). 

Chairman Newman started wrapping up the discussions and determined that there are 

roughly six different issues that have been discussed as potential topics. Ms. Stanziani 

mentioned that other topics can be added once the first several working groups provide 

their recommendations. The next several topic areas ten then be addressed. Also, it was 

suggested to review the recommendations and statements from previous committees (on 

website – link to be provided by Ms. Stanziani to the group again). There were no further 
Minutes Page 9

legal or technical issues to be review. The agenda for the next day was reviewed, and the 

group then made a motion to adjourn until the next morning at 8:30 a.m. which was 

seconded and approved. 

 The Committee adjourned at 4:20 p.m. for the day 
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 

At 8:34 a.m., The Committee reconvened at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel, with 

Paul Newman, Committee Chair, presiding. Chair Newman called the meeting to order. 

Members Wilder and Nury were added by teleconference at this time. Mr. Parrott noted 

that the meeting today would only be half a day, and that everyone should be cognizant 

of the fact that some folks will need to get to the airport and catch flights with enough 

time to check in, etc. 

Chair Newman noted that before the meeting begins, if there were any observers who 

would like to make a statement or comment, to which there were none. 

Chair Newman then addressed the Committee stating that the goal for the day is to sort 

out the topics to establish working groups then break out so the working groups could 

meet. At that point, each working group will elect a point person or chair, and a co-chair. 

You will need to coordinate your calendars so you can determine when best to schedule 

your first teleconference meeting, make sure that Ms. Stanziani has everyone’s correct 

contact information in order for the call invites and notifications to be sent out, and to 

determine what direction you want your working group to focus on first within your topic 

area. This will include deciding if you need someone to speak to the group at the first 

teleconference such as a subject matter expert, or if group members need to do 

independent research to present to the group during the call. 

The first category on education included education for children, for consumers in general, 

and to define what we mean by that (such as including nutrition as part of the educational 

element) and how we want the USDA to be involved. The second category mentioned 

was the expansion of port, rail and infrastructure. The topic of FSMA and the uniformity 

of audits or harmonization, third party audits and the conflict of interest that occurs, in 

conjunction with what USDA already has in place. Reinventing or re-launching any 

USDA programs and services, such as communication and promotion with consumers or 

buyers and the approach is another topic. Grant funding for new farmers and how we get 

kids involved and interested in farming, and breeding programs. Farm labor is still a topic 

that will probably be a group, and the issue of lack of water or the drought throughout the 

country and how we would suggest USDA address it. Inspections at ports of entry for 

inbound produce and what issues are there and how we address those rounds out the list. 

Vice chair Knorr noted that she was very interested in FINI grants and their impact on 

small farms and how they may be better used. This may be something that is focused 

upon under Grants Funding. 
Minutes - 2 Page 1 

Members Kress and Ellor indicated that research was also noted, in particular research on 

emerging diseases. Also the issues of GMO and labeling was brought up. There was 

discussion as to what categories these three issues would fall under. Mr. Parrott was 

checking with staff on the issue of GMO and whether that falls under the USDA purview 

or with another federal agency (FDA). Chair Newman reminded the group that the goal is 

to create recommendations that the Secretary can run with, so not to make them too 

complicated or too political. 

Members Wilder and Nury were asked if they had any input into the existing topics or if 

they had new topics to consider. Both felt the issues already mentioned were on topic and 

relevant. Chair Newman inquired if the Committee was limited to how often and how 

many statements or recommendations are submitted on a subject (such as labor was 

submitted by the last Committee, is it appropriate to have additional statements on this), 

and just any limits in general. It was confirmed that there are no limits. 

Discussion ensued regarding the realigning and streamlining of the different topics. It 

was eventually determined that there would be five working groups that include Food 

safety and audit harmonization, Agricultural labor which includes H-2A and e-verify; 

Education and labeling including educating consumers/children and labeling including 

GMO; Grant funding for small farmers, plant breeding and FINI, as well as funding and 

research of pests and diseases; Ports of entry inspection delays; and a separate 

independent study done by Member Koligian on rail and port infrastructure, as well as 

drought and water shortage issues. The topics were voted upon and passed as written. 

At this time, each member indicated in which working group they would like to 

participate. 

The Committee recessed for 15 minutes at 10:06 a.m. 

Chair Newman resumed the Committee meeting when all members to returned at 10:21 

a.m. At this time, the chair advised the Committee to break out into their respective 

working groups for 30 minutes initially, and another 30 minutes for the 2nd group of 

members who joined more than one group. 

The Committee recessed at 10:25 a.m. until 11:36 a.m. 

Chair Newman resumed the Committee meeting at 11:36 a.m., and asked for any final 

thoughts or guidelines that need to be addressed. 

Mr. Parrott and Ms. Stanziani again provided guidance with regard to the 

communications and parameters of the Working Group structure according to the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (FACA). A tentative date for a second full Committee meeting 

was determined for some time over the first two weeks of March 2015 preferably on a 

Tuesday/Wednesday or Wednesday/Thursday time period, but would be confirmed based 
Minutes - 2 Page 3

upon the checking of dates for other potential conflicts and each members individual 

schedule. 

At 11:44 a.m. the full Advisory Committee was adjourned. 

Pamela Stanziani 

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service 

November 30, 2014