Effective systems for organizing product information are essential to producers and aggregators in local and regional food systems, especially those operating at the wholesale level. This project provides a template for utilizing data guidelines that will increase the consistency of fresh produce product data across the local foods sector.

The following reflect the steps followed for this rulemaking process. The current step in process is indicated in bold. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that in a referendum held May 13-27, 2024, producers in the federal marketing order for pears grown in Oregon and Washington approved lowering the voting requirement for changes to the fresh pear handling regulations from the current 80% in favor to 75% in favor.