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AMES, Iowa - Consumers are supportive of locally grown food and the farmers who grow it, according to a study conducted by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich -- Spartan Stores, Inc. has entered into a supply agreement with Detroit-based Sherwood Food Distributors, the nation's largest independent meat distributor. Sherwood serves almost half of the United States from distribution centers in Detroit, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.

LONDON -- The U.K. government announced today that the country's three largest supermarket chains had agreed not to bid for Safeway, allowing their smaller rival, William Morrison, to make a new offer later in the month, Reuters reports. Morrison has 21 days to bid again for Safeway.

CHICAGO - PepsiCo today announced it would cut about 750 jobs as it reorganizes its North American soft drink business and international operations and closes a Frito-Lay plant in the U.S. in an effort to cut costs.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Bunge North America's Bunge Foods subsidiary has executed a definitive agreement to sell its bakery business to Jackson, Mich.-based Dawn Food Products Inc., for $76 million.

WASHINGTON - Kate Coler, a former lobbyist for the Food Marketing Institute, has been named deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.

Retailers here and abroad turn to buying alliances to level their playing field.

Hy-Vee c.e.o. Ron Pearson credits the autonomy of the chain's employees for making it so successful. The corporate culture empowers associates at all levels to make decisions and rewards them for it. The company revolves around its store directors, who are permitted to make all decisions about store operations, including whether to buy from Hy-Vee's warehouse.