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sraeli officials reacted angrily Thursday night to a British decision to advise retailers and importers to distinguish on labels whether imported produce from the West Bank is being made in the settlements or by Palestinians. According to a statement released by the British Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, "Importers, retailers, NGOs and consumers have asked the Government for clarity over the precise origin of products from the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). The label 'West Bank' does not allow consumers to distinguish between goods originating from Palestinian producers and goods originating from illegal Israelisettlements."

MENDOTA, Calif. -- Consumers may pay more for spring lettuce and summer melons in grocery stores across the country now that California farmers have started abandoning their fields in response to a crippling drought. California's sweeping Central Valley grows most of the country's fruits and vegetables in normal years, but this winter thousands of acres are turning to dust as the state hurtles into the worst drought in nearly two decades. Federal officials' recent announcement that the water supply they pump through the nation's largest farm state would drop further was enough to move John "Dusty" Giacone to forego growing...

SANGER, Calif. - The deep freeze that has destroyed some $1 billion worth of California citrus could also mean months of unemployment for thousands of farmworkers, packers and truck drivers during what is already a lean season for those who work in agriculture, industry officials say. ADVERTISEMENT The bad news was already trickling in Wednesday at Harris Farms, a 7,000-acre operation about 25 miles east of Fresno. "All of my sisters-in-law, my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law just got laid off from the packing sheds," said Valentino Mexicano, a ranch hand whose family of five lives in nearby Sanger. He and...

Gassy Bugs: Microbes may produce propane under the sea Julie Rehmeyer For decades, scientists have been puzzled by periodic findings of ethane and propane in sediments that they've pulled from deep below the ocean floor. As far as they knew, these gases could be produced only as petroleum is—by great heat applied to ancient, buried organic matter. But sometimes, ethane and propane turn up in areas where that process seems unlikely. A new report suggests a different source: microbes. Bacteria and archaea within underwater sediments could chew up buried organic material and spew out ethane and propane as waste products,...

Pushing back the silvery-green canopy of an olive tree, Don Stutsman examines clusters of ripening fruit and wonders whether he'll have enough hands to pick the blushing berries. He usually finishes his harvest by the end of October. But this year a number of unusual factors have collided to leave fruit hanging longer, jeopardizing his crop and highlighting the industry's dependence on illegal immigrants. A booming construction industry is offering better pay, and beefed-up patrolling along the Mexican border has made it harder for unauthorized workers to reach farms, offering a preview of what would happen if this source of...

Goods From Gulf Will Cost More: Yes, we have some bananas -- costly ones; same for shrimp and coffee By Maria Burnham/ September 18, 2005 Despite the signs in some grocery stores around the Mid-South, residents shouldn't be too worried about the supply of bananas, shrimp and coffee. But they might raise an eyebrow or two at the price. Economists, wholesalers and restaurateurs predict an increase in the price of tropical goods that typically come through the Port of New Orleans and seafood that comes from the Gulf Coast, but say it will only be temporary and that supply shouldn't...

Uncertain labor market, shortages increase some growers’ worries Cookson BeecherWashington State Staff Writer Southwest Washington berry growers experienced labor shortages so severe this year that some of them were forced to leave thousands of dollars of fruit in the field. They warn that labor shortages will likely intensify across the state in the coming years if Congress doesn’t pass some form of immigration reform that gives agriculture a legal work force. According to government statistics, more than half of all farmworkers are in the United States illegally. Jerry Dobbins, whose farm is near Vancouver, Wash., said that though he’s experienced...

"Does anybody want to do that in the United States?" he asked, pointing to a horizon full of onion fields. "No insurance. No benefits. No A/C. You lose money by taking too many breaks. It's crazy, man. "Who is going to come do this when they can get (minimum wage) at McDonalds in the A/C?" [. . .] To many of them, used to heat and hard work, this was a pay raise. One man who jumped trains to get to the border from Honduras said the $200 he earned here in three full days would have taken a few...

CHICAGO - Eat more fruits and vegetables. Mom says it. Uncle Sam, too. Yet people still do not get enough - and the government just doubled the recommended amount. Trying to entice shoppers, produce companies are putting freshly sliced fruit into fun packages for kids and packaging carrot and celery sticks to fit in a car cup-holder. Some on the new lines are on display at the Food Marketing Institute show, the supermarket industry's annual convention. Sunkist's Fun Fruits are sliced oranges, apples or pineapples, or red grapes with no stems, available in half-cup serving packages that have pictures of...

A tiny parasite, colloquially known as a 'vampire mite,' is devastating honeybees. That worries experts because honeybee-pollinated crops are valued at more than $15 billion a year. By Susan SalisburyPalm Beach Post Staff Writer Monday, March 28, 2005 More than $15 billion in U.S. crops rides each year on the tiny legs of an insect. The honeybee is the major carrier of pollen for seeded fruits and just about anything that grows on a vine. Everything, in other words, from apples to zucchini. Damon Higgins/The PostenlargeMark McCoy walks among the hives with a smoker to keep bees calm, which allows...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to turn over the drawing of legislative and congressional districts to a panel of retired judges could threaten some incumbents, but it won't necessarily produce a lot more competitive seats. If it does manage to increase the number of districts that either major party can win, it almost certainly will boost campaign spending by, and the political influence of, special interests the Republican governor frequently criticizes, according to research by experts in drawing district lines. Schwarzenegger has proposed creating more competitive districts as part of his package of plans to overhaul state government...

A public school district in Texas has informed its students and parents of a ban on candy canes with religious messages, pencils with the name of Jesus inscribed on them, and -- of all things -- red- and green-colored decorations at holiday parties. That action has resulted in a pair of surprise gifts under the district's tree: a federal lawsuit filed by parents and students -- and an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. According to a press statement from the Plano, Texas-based Liberty Legal Institute, an "unconstitutional censorship policy" is being enforced by the Plano Independent School District....

'Chaos in Iraq could produce another Hitler' By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 14/12/2004) The chronic instability and widespread feeling of humiliation in Iraq could give birth to an "Iraqi Hitler", the country's president, Ghazi al-Yawar, said yesterday as a suicide car bomber killed at least seven people in Baghdad. The explosion at the entrance of the "Green Zone", the capital's fortified government and diplomatic compound, left 19 people wounded. All the victims were reported to be Iraqis. An US soldier surveys the blast zone in Baghdad The blast came on the anniversary of the capture of Saddam Hussein....

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Some U.S. election experts wonder if vote will produce early clear winner 09:27 PM EDT Oct 24 BETH GORHAM WASHINGTON (CP) - With just a week to go in a deadlocked U.S. election race already plagued by major voting problems, accusations of trickery and a deluge of lawsuits, there are two big questions. It's no longer just a matter of who's going to win the Nov. 2 vote but when there will be a clear winner. Some election experts are warning that Americans could be facing another messy repeat of 2000, when the country endured a bitter five-week Florida recount...

Meet Joe Dirt Stuart K. Hayashi In 2001, comedian David Spade came out with a movie titled "The Adventures of Joe Dirt." It now appears that the film was about Joe Conason, the author of "Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth" and an editorialist for the liberal-biased Salon.com. In the person of Brad Pitt, you've already Met Joe Black. Now Meet the Real Joe Dirt. His book purports to expose how right-wingers harness the corporate media to brainwash society. Instead of demonstrating such, however, Joe is too busy flinging his Dirt around. In two...

<p>FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Californians can help create more than 5,500 jobs and generate $1.38 billion in revenue each year if they shift 10 percent of their purchases to state-grown produce, according to a new study released Thursday.</p> <p>Californians can also generate about $188 million in taxes for local and state governments if 10 percent of their total purchases included state-grown fruits, vegetables and other California farm goods, according to a study funded by the Buy California Marketing Agreement.</p>

Produce 'washes' as effective as water Wednesday, January 1, 2003 By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO -- Commercially marketed "produce washes" that claim great efficiency in removing pesticide residue from vegetables are in fact not much more effective than plain tap water, according to a new study by University of California, Riverside, researchers. Robert Krieger, a toxicologist with the university's extension office, was intrigued reading advertising that such washes are as much as 10 times more effective than water -- claims he determined are a mathematical impossibility because water itself is so efficient. The research comes amid increased consumer...