The USDA has announced plans to discontinue the use of an insensitive term as a size grade.
Small produce currently classified by the name "midget" will be reclassified as "petite", in a shift away from the terminology that is considered to be derogatory to people with dwarfism or other conditions resulting in short stature. The USDA says commodity groups were consulted and are in favour of the move.
The group Little People of America (LPA) has sought these changes since 2013 as part of a broader campaign to remove the term from everyday use. "Midget" pecans and raisins were previously renamed as "small" pecans and raisins back in 2015. “We recognize that every use of the term is not meant to be hurtful, but it creates a difficult and hostile environment,” LPA spokesperson Leah Smith then remarked. “It does sound like a small thing, but when people see it in reference to raisins, they think it’s also okay to use it in reference to people.” 
Croptracker aims to stay current in both regulations and social awareness. Therefore, we have updated the instances of "midget" produce varieties in our system to reflect the new naming schema. In consideration of growers who are used to entering the old term in the search box, we have structured the entries as so:
Petite X (Midget X)
With X referring to the produce name.
The changes on the Croptracker platform will go into effect September 13, 2018.
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