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Saying he is "embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some people on my team," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday apologized to the people of New Jersey for his aides' role in a scheme to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee by closing lanes that lead to the George Washington Bridge.

What those staffers did last September, Christie said, was "completely unacceptable." He said he has fired one top aide, Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly, for her role in what looks to have been a dirty trick that led to four days of horrendous traffic jams on New Jersey's side of the major route into New York City.

Saying that "I had been drinking" at the time, former NBA player Dennis Rodman has had his publicist issue an apology for the obscenity-laced rant he went on earlier this week during an interview on CNN.

In that combative exchange with the news network's Chris Cuomo, Rodman implied that American citizen Kenneth Bae, who is imprisoned in North Korea, did something to deserve his punishment. Rodman is in North Korea with a group of other former NBA players.

Now, Rodman's publicist has sent a statement to The Associated Press and other news outlets. In it, Rodman is quoted as saying:

"I want to first apologize to Kenneth Bae's family. ...

"Some of my teammates were leaving because of pressure from their families and business associates. My dreams of basketball diplomacy was quickly falling apart. I had been drinking. It's not an excuse but by the time the interview happened I was upset. I was overwhelmed. It's not an excuse, it's just the truth. ...

"At this point, I should know better than to make political statements. I'm truly sorry."

Walk through the produce section of your supermarket and you'll see things you'd never have seen years ago — like fresh raspberries or green beans in the dead of winter.

Much of that produce comes from Mexico, and it's the result of the North American Free Trade Agreement — NAFTA — which took effect 20 years ago this month.

In the years since, NAFTA radically changed the way we get our fruits and vegetables. For starters, the volume of produce from Mexico to the U.S. has tripled since 1994.

There are several reasons why, explains Jaime Chamberlain, president of J-C Distributing Inc., a large produce importer and distributorship in Nogales, Ariz.

First, NAFTA eliminated tariffs. Cantaloupes, for instance, used to have a 35 percent tax on them when they crossed the border. No tariffs meant lower prices.

Second, NAFTA encouraged investment. So companies like Jaime Chamberlain's have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Mexican farms. That has helped create year-round supply and demand for U.S. and Canadian customers.

"Twenty years ago in tomato items alone, you did not have 365-day distribution from Mexico to the United States," he says. "And now ... every single day of the year, you will find Mexican tomaotoes in the U.S. market."

Availability is what seems to matter to shoppers like Garrett Larriba, whom I encountered at a Tucson, Ariz., Safeway.

Does he know where your produce comes from? I ask him.

"No, no I don't," he says.

Does he care? "No, not really."

But a number of other people I spoke with at the same Tucson Safeway do care — including Larribas' companion, Christine Peterson.

"I try to eat local as frequently as possible," she tells me, "and I do care where it comes from."

Peterson says she wants to support local farmers — and justified or not, she worries about food safety.

Of course, for consumers fully committed to buying local, that also means buying only what's in season.

"I don't have much fruit in the winter — bluntly," says Joan Gussow, a nutritionist and author who has been called the "matriarch of the eat-locally-think-globally food movement."

Gussow eats mostly dried fruit in winter and whatever vegetables grow near her home in New York's Hudson Valley. By selling fruits and vegetables bred to travel long distances, Gussow thinks NAFTA has helped train people to value convenience over flavor.

"It's meant that people don't know anything about where their food comes from, and they don't know anything about seasons," Gussow says. "And so they really have settled — as they have with tomatoes — for something that is really like a giant orange golf ball."

Jaime Chamberlain disagrees. He says the produce industry has made great strides in packaging and shipping more flavorful fruits and vegetables from Mexico. Chamberlain says don't knock availability — celebrate it.

"We should be teaching our children that nowadays, you're able to enjoy strawberries even though you're in the dead of winter in January," he says.

Enjoy it or not, that's what we got from NAFTA. As for getting your children to eat more fruits and vegetables — that's another issue altogether.

Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson stood before Congress and declared an "unconditional war on poverty in America." His arsenal included new programs: Medicaid, Medicare, Head Start, food stamps, more spending on education and tax cuts to help create jobs.

In the coming year, NPR will explore the impact and extent of poverty in the U.S., and what can be done to reduce it.

When President Johnson waged war against poverty in 1964, he traveled to Martin County, Ky., an Appalachian coal-mining region with a poverty rate of more than 60 percent, to promote his campaign.

Today, the poverty rate in Martin County is lower than it was when Johnson visited, but it's still 35 percent, more than twice the national average. Coal mines are shutting down, and many of the youngest and brightest residents say that they have to leave the county if they want to make a living.

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