Acting USDA Secretary Chuck Conner has announced the names of members of the new Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee. USDA will schedule the committee's first meeting for January 2008 in the Washington, D.C., area.

Each member is appointed to a two-year term. Originally chartered in 2001, the advisory committee advises the secretary of agriculture on issues affecting the fruit and vegetable industry. USDA's Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee Members for 2007-09 are:

Danny Arnold, A-W Produce Company, Texas; Gordon Bowman, Bowman Apple Products, Virginia; Wayne Brandt, Brandt Farms, California; William Brim, Lewis Taylor Farms, Georgia; Frederick Caito, Caito Foods Service, Indiana; Charles Ciruli, Jr., Ciruli Brothers/Amex Distributing Company, Arizona; Jim Corby, Food Lion, North Carolina; Scott Danner, Liberty Fruit Company, Kansas.

Matthew D'Arrigo, D'Arrigo Brothers, New York; Andrew Deane, Del Monte Foods, California; Joseph DeVerna, Ocean Spray, Massachusetts; Michael Hollister, Driscolls' Inc., California; A.G. Kawamura, California Department of Food and Agriculture, California; Helen Masser, Sterman Masser, Inc., Pennsylvania; Lisa McNeece, Grimmway Enterprises, California; John Millwater, Fresh Express, Texas.

Luis Monterde, B&M Blueberries, Mississippi; Robert Morrissey, National Watermelon Association, Florida; Paul Newman, Rainier Fruit Company, Washington; Daniel Richey, Riverfront Growers/Riverfront Packing, Florida; Mike Stuart, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, Florida; Lisa Strube, Strube Celery and Vegetable Company, Illinois; Jennifer Verdelli, Verdelli Farms, Pennsylvania; Rebecca Wilson, Tom Lange Company, Illinois; Larry Yonce, J.W. Yonce and Sons, South Carolina.