Category: Produce Blueprints

In the opinion of Ron Fong, president and CEO of the California Grocers Association, Gelson’s Markets’ success is pretty straightforward.

Gelson’s Markets made the strategic decision to provide the best possible customer experience within a smaller number of stores rather than overexpanding.

With just 27 locations from San Diego to Santa Barbara, Gelson’s Markets is recognized as one of the most successful supermarket chains in the United States.

It’s not surprising California, especially Southern California—with its proximity to superb growing regions, international trade, and a diverse population and workforce interested in a healthy lifestyle—would be able to support an exciting and competitive supermarket environment.

What effect have lists like the Dirty Dozen had on produce consumption?

Recently, I was commiserating with a longtime industry leader about the state of produce in North America. We concurred that we’ve seen many changes—many good, and others not so good, and we agreed there will be several more changes coming down the pike.

Teresa Thorne, executive director of the Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) says that the Dirty Dozen is pernicious.

American consumers' produce consumption levels play a part in the pesticide residue debate.

The Environmental Working Group and similar groups base their arguments on the premise that EPA standards aren’t adequate to ensure safe levels of public pesticide consumption.

According to the FDA’s 2019 report for its Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program, released in November 2021, “98.7 percent of domestic and 89.1 percent of import foods were compliant with federal standards. No pesticide chemical residues were found in 42.4 percent of the domestic and 49.4 percent of the import samples.”