A new way of shipping fresh produce that puts fruits and vegetables "to sleep" for the journey while destroying hitchhiking insects has been successfully demonstrated by a collaborative project involving the military, business and UC Davis. The pesticide-free process helped rescue more than $60 million in annual California produce sales and will save the U.S. Department of Defense several million dollars annually in freight costs. It also revived shipments of fresh produce to soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in Guam, Hawaii and Japan. The team demonstrated on a large scale the successful use of a new pesticide-free controlled-atmosphere system, according to Joe Ahrens, a Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Davis who provided key guidance and expertise for the project. He expects the system to be adopted increasingly by industry. The process involves controlling an atmospheric mix of oxygen and carbon dioxide gases in specially adapted shipment containers so that produce is preserved and hitchhiking insects are destroyed.