March 2008 NHC NEWS A Monthly Bulletin of the Northwest Horticultural Council AN OBSERVATION Giant grocery retailers increasingly seem to be trying to deflect the public’s attention away from those complex environmental, safety, and social practices that occur within or near the four walls of their own multitude of stores.  They, without too much thought and seemingly less concern, are imposing on far away suppliers, such as our growers and shippers, significant economic costs associated with compliance with novel production standards and audits.  Whether the need really exists for a given new food safety or ecological standard is often lost in the initial feel-good burst of the distractive mandate. Social, environmental, and labor issues left previously to federal or state governmental regulation, the economics of a free market, and/or simple common sense are now the fodder of every Corporate Social Responsibility or Fair Trade plan that can be dreamed up by an inspired corporate policy wonk or non-governmental organization (NGO) activist. After light coaching by a public relations expert on the most current “values” and “desires” of urban consumers; a stark session with the corporate legal department on the value of downstreaming liability; a soothing pitch by the ace marketing vice-president outlining how best to one-up the competition; and watching a PBS program or two on global warming, the CEO of the multi-billion dollar, multi-national grocery retailer issues a magisterial message sent by his—how many are run by women?—corporate buying offices to all suppliers that this or that will be accomplished by all doing business with the firm—by the end of some short transition period, perhaps next month.  Usually this self-congratulatory message, laced with words and modifiers such as “eco”, “bio”, “green”, “safest”, and “carbon-neutral”, is simultaneously broadcast as a media release aimed at gathering laurels from the firm’s full sweep of urban and suburban customers, otherwise hostile environmental groups, a skeptical press, and those in Congress with oversight responsibilities. ¨    AUSTRALIA For many years the Northwest Horticultural Council has followed trade policy and technical issues pertaining to the movement of tree fruit between our country and Australia , a land of some 21 million people.  Australia , while having in place many intractable phytosanitary obstacles, represents a significant export market for our fresh sweet cherries and has potential in the long term for other tree fruits grown in the Pacific Northwest . Late last month, the father and son team of John and Mark Baker from Croydon in New South Wales stopped by our office in Yakima while in transit between a business visit to the East Coast and a meeting of the Washington State Fruit Commission in Seattle .  John Baker has been the NHC’s part-time consultant in Australia since 1999.  In this capacity, he and his firm of Produce Marketing Australia have worked closely with our staff, primarily Dr. Mike Willett , in prodding forward market access issues of importance to our industry’s export efforts in Australia , as well as New Zealand .  Having someone both knowledgeable and on-site has proven to be extremely valuable, as we have worked together with Mr. Baker over the past decade on international trade issues ranging from comprehensive market access policies to the smallest of border crossing details. ¨    APPOINTMENTS The Northwest Horticultural Council will remain represented on two important national trade advisory committees.  In February, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schawb reappointed Christian Schlect to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee and Mark Powers to the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Fruits and Vegetables.  The terms of both of these federal appointments extend to January 28, 2012. ¨    Travel Christian Schlect March 4-9 – United States Apple Association’s spring committee and board meetings, Washington , D.C. Mike Willett March 18-19 – WSDA’s Fruit & Vegetable annual Inspection Program staff meeting, Pasco , Washington . Mark Powers   March 9-14 – 2008 United Fresh Produce Executive Development Program, Ithaca , New York . I had a mental picture….of my mother’s face, wasted by grief and wrinkled like a baked apple…I saw again the golden banks of the Moscow River at Serebriannyi Bor, the cherry trees loaded with fruit. Dimitrii Shepilov The Kremlin's Scholar A Memoir of Soviet Politics under Stalin and Khrushchev Northwest Horticultural Council 105 South 18th Street, Suite 105 Yakima, Washington 98901, USA Voice: (509) 453-3193, Fax: (509) 457-7615 E-mail general@nwhort.org