“Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days … ”You might recognize this opening line from the 1986 hit recording by the country duo The Judds. I was thinking about this recently, reflecting on how agriculture has been such a big part of my life — as I’m sure it is with many readers of The Packer — in one manner or another.My dad, “Buddy,” ran a small cow-calf operation in southern Colorado deep into his 70s. He returne...

It’s unlikely that 19th century Irish novelist Margaret Wolfe Hungerford was gazing at a banana when she wrote, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but the well-worn adage is especially true when it comes to bananas.Any produce retailer who’s peered longingly into a case of the sunny-hued fruit, hoping for a very particular shade of yellow green, can confirm that what constitutes a perfect fruit specimen to one p...

Just when you thought the controlled environment agriculture hype was winding down, San Francisco-based vertical farming company Plenty Unlimited Inc. secures its largest investment to date.The indoor ag startup procured $400 million in a Series E financing round, led by One Madison Group and JS Capitol, that includes Walmart and existing investing partner SoftBank Vision Fund 1 in January 2022.Leaders from Walmart a...

Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market launched a Rescued Organic produce program in all 130 stores in California.The program reduces food waste and supports local farmers by bringing to market organic produce that would typically be discarded due to imperfections that do not affect quality, according to a news release.This produce may be misshapen, under- or over-sized or slightly off-color, but it has the same t...

ShopRite has launched dietary lifestyle filters on ShopRite.com to help shoppers find food and recipes based on their needs — which almost certainly would include fresh produce.The shopping filters are the most recent addition to the retailer’s health and wellness program, called Well Everyday, according to a news release. The program encourages customers to make better food choices and take small steps toward achiev...