Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

7-15-08



Contacts: Rich Pirog, (515) 294-1854, [log in to unmask]; or Laura
Miller, (515) 294-5272, [log in to unmask]



WHERE DO YOUR FRESH FRUITS AND VEGGIES COME
FROM? FIND OUT WITH NEW TOOL



AMES, Iowa -- Consumers who want to know where their apple or bunch
of broccoli might have been grown can check out a new online resource that
tracks the origins of 95 different fresh fruits and vegetables typically sold
in U.S. supermarkets. Besides showing product origins, the tool allows the user
to see which state is the leading domestic producer of these crops.



The new web site tool, Where do your fresh fruits and vegetables come from?,
was developed by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Center
for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University. Find it at:
www.leopold.iastate.edu/resources/fruitveg/fruitveg.php.



"This tool is designed to help people increase their knowledge of food
geography and the origins of fresh produce typically sold in the U.S. retail or
food service sector," said Leopold Center Associate Director Rich Pirog,
who guided development of the tool.



Pirog explained that the resource uses information collected by the Fruit and
Vegetable Market News Service of the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. An
annual USDA summary shows a sampling of domestic rail and piggyback movements
and imports as well as export shipments of 95 fruit and vegetable crops. 



The resource also shows the percentage of shipments each month, one indication
of when a fruit or vegetable crop may be in season.



"As might be expected, more than half of the tracked shipments of grapes
come from California, which is our leading domestic producer of grapes," Pirog
said. "But grape shipments monitored in 2007 also came from Chile, Mexico,
  Brazil, Peru, Egypt, South Africa and Argentina." 



Pirog noted that the USDA data does not include all domestic movements of fresh
produce commodities in the United States. It is possible that a produce item
may come from a state or country not listed in the USDA report or this
resource. Locally grown food items sold in stores usually are labeled as such,
and may or may not be tracked by the USDA.



Other interesting findings:

• Although Florida and Texas are leading producers of grapefruit, the United
  States also receives grapefruit shipments from the Bahamas, Mexico, Israel
and Peru.

• In 2007, the USDA tracked more kiwi shipped to the United States from Chile
than from New Zealand, where growers renamed the fruit after their national
bird in 1959 and began to market it abroad. The United States also markets kiwi
from Italy, California, Greece, Panama and Thailand.

• China is a new and growing source of fresh produce for the United
  States. In 2007, the USDA tracked Chinese shipments of 17 different kinds of
fresh fruit and vegetables coming into the United States.



For more information about "Where do your fresh fruits and vegetables come
from?" contact Pirog at (515) 294-1854, or [log in to unmask]

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