News on Food Trends from the Americas

The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 225 points in September 2011, down 2 percent, or 4.5 points, from August. The FAO Food Price Index is only 13 points below the peak of 238 reached in February 2011, though still higher than its September 2010 ...

Golden birch trees marked the edge of Greg Kalal's fields, but the dentist-turned-farmer was more interested in hues beneath the soil on his land south of Mount McKinley. Among the thousands of colorful potatoes — from yellow German Butterballs to Mag...

Directly advertising food items to children worries many parents and health care providers, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association have expressed concern about the negative impact of advertising on children's ...

A lawyer for a New Brunswick potato farmer jailed in Lebanon, Henk Tepper, has until the end of the month to present a plan to keep his client's farming businesses afloat and pay off creditors.

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division today celebrated the success of its most ambitious environmental sustainability project to-date by announcing that its Casa Grande, Arizona, facility has reached 'near net zero'. 

Doris Demers, the nutrition program director for York and Kittery schools, had a blunt response today when asked about proposed federal guidelines limiting white potato servings as part of the federally funded school lunch program. "It's ridiculo...

The following statement is from Randy Hardy, Vice President of Trade Affairs for the National Potato Council (NPC) and owner of Hardy Farms, a potato growing operation in Oakley, Idaho, on the transmission by the Obama Administration of the pending fre...

Potato late blight, that same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine, resurfaced in Alaska this fall. This wasn’t the first time the disease, widespread in the Lower 48 and worldwide, came to Alaska. Plant pathologist Jenifer McBeath suspects it...

Over two and a half tons of french fries were served at the annual Potato Bowl French Fry Feed at University Park in Grand Forks on Thursday evening September 22, 5,010 pounds to be exact! This breaks the old record by 120 pounds set in 2008. Sco...

Will a newly discovered russet potato variety make the Red River Valley a yield contender with the Pacific Northwest? Carl Hoverson of Larimore, N.D., thinks so, and — as one of the key growers for the Simplot-processed potato plant in Grand Forks, N....

Machine manufacturer Heat and Control, Inc. has purchased Spray Dynamics, Ltd. The purchase is a continuation of Heat and Control's commitment to provide food processors with complete single-source support, and to help expand its selection of coating s...

United Potato Growers of Canada has hired a potato industry veteran as its new General Manager. Kevin MacIsaac, of Bear River, Prince Edward Island will join United in this senior role, effective Monday, October 3rd. Along with his brother, Kevin has ...

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed William Kitchen to the Michigan Potato Industry Commission. The Michigan Potato Industry Commission works to foster and promote an economically sustainable potato industry in Michigan. "William's backgroun...

PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2011 was 'a ringing success', according to show owner/organizer PMMI. 'Record-breaking only begins to describe it' boasts the headline on packexpo.com.

Because of the research she does on many different issues important to the potato industry, University of Idaho potato specialist Nora Olsen is a rising star. Her work on a new inhibitor that prevents potatoes from sprouting while in storage is the la...

Recently, The Salt had a chance to chat with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He's held the top post at USDA since January 2009. As a former Iowa governor, he knows a thing or two about farm country and he's been open about his struggles with weight....

Leading food manufacturer, Inventure Foods (NASDAQ: SNAK), has partnered with legendary Nathan's Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ: NATH) to license the popular Nathan's restaurant brand name for a new line of snacks that will be available at grocery, vending and c...

As goes consumer confidence so goes the global foodservice industry and when consumer confidence sagged in the second quarter this year so did foodservice traffic in most countries around the world, according to The NPD Group, a leading market research...