The produce lords giveth and the produce lords taketh away.

And as so often, this week they deal a mix of good and bad news for fresh produce, illustrated nicely by our front page articles.

On one side of the page, the potential closure of yet more research capacity for this country’s growers could cause significant damage to their potential to develop the varieties to secure their long-term future.

But nip across a couple of columns, and you would be excused for thinking their future could be all the brighter if a scheme being rolled out in the North East achieves its objectives. If the region’s consumers follow the Scottish lead and buy more produce from independent retailers that pay more than lip service to fruit and veg, the trade would theoretically be quids in.

Both stories have a common thread. If the industry is to benefit, they need our action.

The vast majority of this industry’s people have stood idly by and watched our research facilities wilt, when a relatively small level of support could allow them to not only survive, but thrive. And corner shops around Great Britain have hardly been overwhelmed with encouragement to sell more fresh produce, let alone helped to understand how they could do it.

See next week’s FPJ for an example of how hands-on support for c-stores has boosted sales of your products through that channel in Scotland. Trusting in the fickle hand of fate makes for an uncertain future.