Author Archive
In 2014 f.o.b. prices for San Joaquin Valley walnuts topped $2 a pound for higher-quality nuts. But even California walnut growers guilty of over production knew it wouldn’t last.
Walnut growers haven’t been told how much they’ll get for the nuts they sold last year, but some experts estimate that top prices may be no higher than 75 to 80 cents per pound. Those declining prices are the result of China increasing its production, while U.S. growers have become victims of their own success.
Walnuts have been one of the more stable and valuable agricultural commodities in the Central Valley — where about 90 percent of U.S. walnuts are grown. But over the past decade, farmers have planted more trees to expand their acreage, while others replaced other crops with walnuts in hopes of better returns.
Many trees reached maturity within the past couple of years, significantly increase walnut supplies. Additionally, China, normally a major buyer of U.S. walnuts, is expanding its own walnut industry and competing with U.S. growers. A strengthening U.S. dollar compared to the Euro, is also hurting prices.
While 2015 was a “bumper” year for walnut growers, what happens next season is uncertain, because of the heavier-than-average production per tree that generated a record 575,000 tons of nuts.
The industry was left with about 60,000 tons of unsold walnuts from last year — 20,000 tons more than average — which will have to be sold this year with the new nuts. A “bumper” harvest tends to be followed by less productive years, which should help reduce the glut of walnuts on the market and help elevate prices.
Record heat and above-normal rainfall have played havoc with Florida produce shipments, making tighter supplies likely for at least the next couple of months.
Florida cabbage shipments are particularly lacking, with some of the vegetables growing to the size of footballs, while other heads are maturing too slowly, risking they won’t be ready by the prime shipping time leading up to St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th.
The situation is really serious in South Florida, which was deluged by nearly eight inches of rain in four days in early December. Afterward, shipments of cucumbers, endive, escarole, radishes, squash, grape and Roma tomatoes plummeted.
At the end of January, 14 of 15 shipments of different Florida vegetable crops were running behind, with celery, squash, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries, sweet corn and avocados among the hardest hit.
The Florida Department of Agriculture predicts shortages will continue through late March or early April.
April and May are typically the months for heaviest Florida produce shipments during the year. How long the peak shipping season lasts usually depends upon when summer heat starts taking its toll.
Florida produce shipments – grossing about $2100 to New York City.
by Fresh Solutions Network, LLC
San Francisco, CA – Fresh Solutions Network announced its packaging design award from Graphic Design USA, American Packaging Design Awards. The award celebrates Side Delights® Roastables fresh potato package design, with its vibrant color palette and rustic visuals, encouraging a perfect potato choice for dinner tonight.
“We had very clear objectives for the design team to express the potential of potatoes as a canvas for bold flavors, while providing the best packaging design on the market,” said Kathleen Triou, President and CEO of Fresh Solutions Network, “We designed the packaging with a very specific audience in mind; stimulating shoppers’ creativity both in-store and at home.”
Side Delights® Roastables are the finest quality, triple-washed, “Awesome Little Yellows,” “Rad Little Reds,” and “Red and Yellow Combo” petite potato varieties. The packaging was designed to appeal to the growing, and coveted group of Millennial shoppers, who are self-described as adventurous with their food choices, frequently trying new recipes featuring fresh food items, and consider food preparation as an important feature of their lifestyle.
Side Delights® Roastables include sachets of delicious, Montana Mex spice blends made with pure, sustainably sourced, gluten-free, 100 percent natural spices. These spice blends appeal to everyone with taste buds, and encourage recipe experimentation at home.
About Fresh Solutions Network, LLC:
Fresh Solutions Network is a group of family owned growers and shippers who choose to work together to make the potato and onion industry better for everyone. FSN helps fresh potato and onion buyers grow their categories, maximize category investment, and increase sales. FSN delivers category insights, collaborative innovation and customized assortment. Fresh Solutions Network, LLC partners are: Sterman Masser, Inc. (Masser Potato Farms and Keystone Potato Products in Sacramento and Hegins, PA), Michael Family Farms, Inc. (Urbana, OH), Basin Gold Cooperative, Inc. (Pasco, WA), Green Thumb Farms, Inc. (Fryeburg, ME), Red Isle Potato Growers, Ltd. (Prince Edward Island, Canada), NoKota Packers, Inc. (Buxton, ND), Sun-Glo of Idaho, Inc. (Sugar City, ID) and Mac Farms (Lake Wales, FL).
A 20-year lease agreement with Port Everglades has been renewed by Marine terminal operator King Ocean Services Ltd. Inc.
King Ocean operates twice a week from Port Everglades with services to Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and Aruba, The company recently celebrated its 22nd year at the port and the agreement at the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., port calls for a minimum 72,000 container lifts annually over an initial 10-year term.
King Ocean nearly doubled its port marine terminal recently to 41 total acres in two locations and in 2015, moved 153,984 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) through the port, according to a news release.
The agreement includes relocating King Ocean’s terminal within the port’s Southport cargo area during construction of the port’s Southport Turning Notch Extension project which is designed to lengthen the deep water turnaround area from 900 feet to 2,400 feet.
Those improvements should allow for up to five new cargo berths and construction is expected to begin in early 2017 and be completed by the end of 2019, according to the release.
“King Ocean has established successful business models at Port Everglades that take advantage of the port’s robust trade lanes to Latin American and the Caribbean and direct highway access,” Steven Cernak, the port’s director and CEO, said in the release.
The roller coaster ride of western winter desert vegetables has seen peaks and valleys in volume over the past three months and it is not over yet.
Light shipments of Western vegetables occurred in holidays ranging from Thanksgiving and Christmas through New Years and well into January. Then volume experienced a dramatic increase with lettuce and many vegetables heading into February. However, a potential shipping gap is looming as it appears winter vegetable shipments may come to a conclusion in mid- to late March. This would be ahead of the transition for many produce shippers to the Salinas and Santa Maria valleys.
The winter weather forecasts of hugh amounts of rains El Niño in Southern California have failed to materialize. Although a wet March is still being forecast. If that occurs and it drenches the desert, an even earlier end to vegetable shipments would most likely occur.
Some are saying that regardless of the El Niño situation, desert loadings are going to end early. While Salinas Valley vegetable shipments might get an early start, volume still will be light.
There will be some early Salinas fields harvested from mid-March to mid-April, but shipments will be variable at best.
Yuma, AZ vegetables shipments – grossing about $5700 to New York City.
Imported Mexican produce volume has been much lower than normal due to rain and cold weather throughout the winter, plus a freeze at Christmas delayed plantings and tightened supplies of many items. However better weather is resulting in higher volume in February.
While Mexican produce shipments in late February were approaching normal, some items remain in much lighter volume. For example, bell peppers are expected to remain lighter than usual. Mexican watermelon shipments should remain good until the last half of March when production will be less. Yellow mangoes loadings have started within the past week, with volume picking up heading into March.
Mexican watermelon imports should hit good volume by mid-April. A similar situation is expected with honeydews and cantaloupes. Steady Mexican vegetable shipments are expected to continue with zucchini, yellow, gray, acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash.
There is now good volume with imports through Nogales with tomatoes on the vine, beefsteak, roma, grape, yellow grape and cocktail tomatoes, yellow bell peppers and organic round and roma tomatoes and eggplant.
Imported Mexican produce through Nogales – grossing about $3200 to Chicago.
Imported Mexican produce through Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley – grossing about $3900 to New York City.
By NatureFresh Farms
Delta, OH – With an active tomato market acting much like a roller coaster at Six Flags over the last few months, NatureFresh™ Farms created a breathe of fresh air this week announcing the first crop of OhioRed™ tomatoes are being picked.
“It’s a great day for NatureFresh™ to pick the first crop from a new greenhouse, especially in the middle of winter in Ohio”, said Peter Quiring, President. NatureFresh™ Farms announced in January 2015 that it would be building a 180-acre state of the art, high tech greenhouse project in Delta, OH that would allow the company to grow year-round in the mid-west. Interest in the project picked up considerable steam in the fall when the first tomato crop was planted in November. With an increase in hours of sunlight over the coming weeks, crop projections will rise which will mean more Ohio tomatoes making their way to the market.
“We continue to receive email & social media messages daily from consumers that are all over the mid-west asking about our new OhioRed™ brand tomatoes and when they will be available,” commented Chris Veillon, Director of Marketing. Given the location of the facility in Ohio and unique nature of greenhouse vegetable growing, the company has been getting a great deal of interest from local schools wanting tours of the greenhouse. “We look forward to educating students from all over the mid-west about greenhouse growing, just like we do with our mobile Greenhouse Education Center,” Said Veillon. The company’s #GreenInTheCity Tour kicks off March 31st with the mobile greenhouse scheduled to attend more than 80 events in 2016.
Construction of NatureFresh’s Phase II of 15.30 acres is underway and will be completed later this summer. Phase III (15.30 acres) of the greenhouse facility will begin construction late this spring with completion expected in early fall 2016. This will bring NatureFresh’s total acreage of new construction to 45 acres in Ohio alone in less than 12 months. The significant increase in acreage will permit NatureFresh™ Farms to grow tomatoes year-round in Ohio to meet the increasing demand from its customer base in the mid-west & Canada.
Combining the acreage being built in Delta, OH with the company’s current Canadian production in Leamington, ON, NatureFresh™ Farms will grow & market 175 acres of its own production. NatureFresh™ Farms continues to be one of the largest independent, vertically integrated greenhouse growers in North America.
By The Northwest Pear Bureau
A study has found that adult pear consumers had a lower body weight than non-pear consumers and they were 35 percent less likely to be obese.
In the new study, Fresh Pear Consumption is Associated with Better Nutrient Intake, Diet Quality, and Weight Parameters in Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2010, published in Nutrition and Food Science, revealed new information regarding the health benefits of pear consumption, particular interest is given the high rates of obesity in the United States,
“We believe fiber intake may have driven the lower body weights that were seen in this study because there was no difference in energy intake or level of physical activity found between the fresh pear consumers and non-consumers,” the study states.
The epidemiologic study, led by Carol O’Neil of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, used a nationally representative analytic sample to examine the association of fresh pear consumption with nutrient intake, nutrient adequacy, diet quality, and cardiovascular risk factors in adults.
“The association between pears and lower body weight is very exciting,” said Dr. O’Neil. “We believe fiber intake may have driven the lower body weights that were seen in this study because there was no difference in energy intake or level of physical activity found between the fresh pear consumers and non-consumers.”
In addition to discovering a correlation between fresh pear consumers and lower body weight, the study found that pear consumption was associated with higher diet quality (as defined by the Healthy Eating Index). Moreover, the consumption of one medium fresh pear per day had a positive effect on nutrient intake since consumers had higher usual intakes of dietary fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, copper, and potassium, and higher mean intakes of total sugars; consumers of fresh pears also had lower intakes of total, monounsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, and added sugars.
Pears are an excellent source of fiber and a good source of vitamin C. One medium pear provides about 24 percent of daily fiber needs for only 100 calories. They are sodium-free, cholesterol-free, fat-free and contain 190 mg of potassium. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans state that people who eat more fruit as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to reduce their risk of some chronic diseases, although little is published on the health outcomes associated with individual fruits, including pears.
January and February are always frustrating for produce hauls since the lightest volume of the year for fresh fruits and vegetables occur. March often isn’t much better, depending on weather factors. So here’s a peak of various commodities and the shipping potential as we prepare to barrel into spring.
Brussels Sprouts
As with many produce items in the west brussels sprout out of California have been in exceptionally light volume due to the California drought. However, supplies of the tiny members of the cabbage family seem to be improving. After a slow start in Mexico, Brussel sprout shipments are picking up from Baja California. The product has increased in popularity since being declared a super food.
Mexican roma tomatoes
Good volume with Mexican roma tomatoes from Sinaloa, Mexico are crossing the border at McAllen, Tx.
Lower Rio Grand Valley, Texas Mexican fruit and vegetable imports and LRGV citrus – grossing about $2400 to Chicago.
Florida Lettuce Quality
Cool, damp conditions in Florida this winter has resulted in an increase in lettuce downy mildew, caused by the oomycete pathogen Bremia lactucae. Primarily a foliar disease, it has a direct effect on yield and quality. Downy mildew causes light green to yellow angular spots on the upper surfaces of leaves. White mycelial growth of the pathogen develops on the under sides of these spots. Over time, these lesions turn brown and dry up. Severely infected leaves may die. In some instances, the pathogen can become systemic, causing discoloration of stem tissue. Extra caution is urged if your hauling Florida lettuce. Know what’s being put in your truck and if need, inform your receiver before leaving the dock.
Florida produce volume still remains light, with multiple pick ups at best required.
Florida vegetables, tomatoes, melons and potatoes – grossing about $2200 to New York City.
A study claims lettuce may produce more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than bacon does by a particular metric. And there is more to the whole story.
The claim that lettuce produces more GHGs per calorie originates from a Carnegie Mellon University study that was promoted recently.
It found that the U.S. National Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recommendations on how much produce, seafood and dairy you should eat could be “harmful to the environment.”
The study, by Prof. Paul Fischbeck, and graduate students Michelle Tom and Chris Hendrickson, examined how many resources U.S. diets consume, and how many GHGs they produce per calorie.
“Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken,” Fischbeck said in a news release.
Many outlets (and Carnegie Mellon’s news release) jumped on the study’s finding that lettuce is “three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon.”
And at least one expert blasted the claim as ludicrous.
Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Mellon University offers degrees in 20 locations around the world.
In 2014 f.o.b. prices for San Joaquin Valley walnuts topped $2 a pound for higher-quality nuts. But even California walnut growers guilty of over production knew it wouldn’t last.
Walnut growers haven’t been told how much they’ll get for the nuts they sold last year, but some experts estimate that top prices may be no higher than 75 to 80 cents per pound. Those declining prices are the result of China increasing its production, while U.S. growers have become victims of their own success.
Walnuts have been one of the more stable and valuable agricultural commodities in the Central Valley — where about 90 percent of U.S. walnuts are grown. But over the past decade, farmers have planted more trees to expand their acreage, while others replaced other crops with walnuts in hopes of better returns.
Many trees reached maturity within the past couple of years, significantly increase walnut supplies. Additionally, China, normally a major buyer of U.S. walnuts, is expanding its own walnut industry and competing with U.S. growers. A strengthening U.S. dollar compared to the Euro, is also hurting prices.
While 2015 was a “bumper” year for walnut growers, what happens next season is uncertain, because of the heavier-than-average production per tree that generated a record 575,000 tons of nuts.
The industry was left with about 60,000 tons of unsold walnuts from last year — 20,000 tons more than average — which will have to be sold this year with the new nuts. A “bumper” harvest tends to be followed by less productive years, which should help reduce the glut of walnuts on the market and help elevate prices.
Record heat and above-normal rainfall have played havoc with Florida produce shipments, making tighter supplies likely for at least the next couple of months.
Florida cabbage shipments are particularly lacking, with some of the vegetables growing to the size of footballs, while other heads are maturing too slowly, risking they won’t be ready by the prime shipping time leading up to St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th.
The situation is really serious in South Florida, which was deluged by nearly eight inches of rain in four days in early December. Afterward, shipments of cucumbers, endive, escarole, radishes, squash, grape and Roma tomatoes plummeted.
At the end of January, 14 of 15 shipments of different Florida vegetable crops were running behind, with celery, squash, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries, sweet corn and avocados among the hardest hit.
The Florida Department of Agriculture predicts shortages will continue through late March or early April.
April and May are typically the months for heaviest Florida produce shipments during the year. How long the peak shipping season lasts usually depends upon when summer heat starts taking its toll.
Florida produce shipments – grossing about $2100 to New York City.
by Fresh Solutions Network, LLC
San Francisco, CA – Fresh Solutions Network announced its packaging design award from Graphic Design USA, American Packaging Design Awards. The award celebrates Side Delights® Roastables fresh potato package design, with its vibrant color palette and rustic visuals, encouraging a perfect potato choice for dinner tonight.
“We had very clear objectives for the design team to express the potential of potatoes as a canvas for bold flavors, while providing the best packaging design on the market,” said Kathleen Triou, President and CEO of Fresh Solutions Network, “We designed the packaging with a very specific audience in mind; stimulating shoppers’ creativity both in-store and at home.”
Side Delights® Roastables are the finest quality, triple-washed, “Awesome Little Yellows,” “Rad Little Reds,” and “Red and Yellow Combo” petite potato varieties. The packaging was designed to appeal to the growing, and coveted group of Millennial shoppers, who are self-described as adventurous with their food choices, frequently trying new recipes featuring fresh food items, and consider food preparation as an important feature of their lifestyle.
Side Delights® Roastables include sachets of delicious, Montana Mex spice blends made with pure, sustainably sourced, gluten-free, 100 percent natural spices. These spice blends appeal to everyone with taste buds, and encourage recipe experimentation at home.
About Fresh Solutions Network, LLC:
Fresh Solutions Network is a group of family owned growers and shippers who choose to work together to make the potato and onion industry better for everyone. FSN helps fresh potato and onion buyers grow their categories, maximize category investment, and increase sales. FSN delivers category insights, collaborative innovation and customized assortment. Fresh Solutions Network, LLC partners are: Sterman Masser, Inc. (Masser Potato Farms and Keystone Potato Products in Sacramento and Hegins, PA), Michael Family Farms, Inc. (Urbana, OH), Basin Gold Cooperative, Inc. (Pasco, WA), Green Thumb Farms, Inc. (Fryeburg, ME), Red Isle Potato Growers, Ltd. (Prince Edward Island, Canada), NoKota Packers, Inc. (Buxton, ND), Sun-Glo of Idaho, Inc. (Sugar City, ID) and Mac Farms (Lake Wales, FL).
A 20-year lease agreement with Port Everglades has been renewed by Marine terminal operator King Ocean Services Ltd. Inc.
King Ocean operates twice a week from Port Everglades with services to Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and Aruba, The company recently celebrated its 22nd year at the port and the agreement at the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., port calls for a minimum 72,000 container lifts annually over an initial 10-year term.
King Ocean nearly doubled its port marine terminal recently to 41 total acres in two locations and in 2015, moved 153,984 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) through the port, according to a news release.
The agreement includes relocating King Ocean’s terminal within the port’s Southport cargo area during construction of the port’s Southport Turning Notch Extension project which is designed to lengthen the deep water turnaround area from 900 feet to 2,400 feet.
Those improvements should allow for up to five new cargo berths and construction is expected to begin in early 2017 and be completed by the end of 2019, according to the release.
“King Ocean has established successful business models at Port Everglades that take advantage of the port’s robust trade lanes to Latin American and the Caribbean and direct highway access,” Steven Cernak, the port’s director and CEO, said in the release.
The roller coaster ride of western winter desert vegetables has seen peaks and valleys in volume over the past three months and it is not over yet.
Light shipments of Western vegetables occurred in holidays ranging from Thanksgiving and Christmas through New Years and well into January. Then volume experienced a dramatic increase with lettuce and many vegetables heading into February. However, a potential shipping gap is looming as it appears winter vegetable shipments may come to a conclusion in mid- to late March. This would be ahead of the transition for many produce shippers to the Salinas and Santa Maria valleys.
The winter weather forecasts of hugh amounts of rains El Niño in Southern California have failed to materialize. Although a wet March is still being forecast. If that occurs and it drenches the desert, an even earlier end to vegetable shipments would most likely occur.
Some are saying that regardless of the El Niño situation, desert loadings are going to end early. While Salinas Valley vegetable shipments might get an early start, volume still will be light.
There will be some early Salinas fields harvested from mid-March to mid-April, but shipments will be variable at best.
Yuma, AZ vegetables shipments – grossing about $5700 to New York City.
Imported Mexican produce volume has been much lower than normal due to rain and cold weather throughout the winter, plus a freeze at Christmas delayed plantings and tightened supplies of many items. However better weather is resulting in higher volume in February.
While Mexican produce shipments in late February were approaching normal, some items remain in much lighter volume. For example, bell peppers are expected to remain lighter than usual. Mexican watermelon shipments should remain good until the last half of March when production will be less. Yellow mangoes loadings have started within the past week, with volume picking up heading into March.
Mexican watermelon imports should hit good volume by mid-April. A similar situation is expected with honeydews and cantaloupes. Steady Mexican vegetable shipments are expected to continue with zucchini, yellow, gray, acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash.
There is now good volume with imports through Nogales with tomatoes on the vine, beefsteak, roma, grape, yellow grape and cocktail tomatoes, yellow bell peppers and organic round and roma tomatoes and eggplant.
Imported Mexican produce through Nogales – grossing about $3200 to Chicago.
Imported Mexican produce through Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley – grossing about $3900 to New York City.
By NatureFresh Farms
Delta, OH – With an active tomato market acting much like a roller coaster at Six Flags over the last few months, NatureFresh™ Farms created a breathe of fresh air this week announcing the first crop of OhioRed™ tomatoes are being picked.
“It’s a great day for NatureFresh™ to pick the first crop from a new greenhouse, especially in the middle of winter in Ohio”, said Peter Quiring, President. NatureFresh™ Farms announced in January 2015 that it would be building a 180-acre state of the art, high tech greenhouse project in Delta, OH that would allow the company to grow year-round in the mid-west. Interest in the project picked up considerable steam in the fall when the first tomato crop was planted in November. With an increase in hours of sunlight over the coming weeks, crop projections will rise which will mean more Ohio tomatoes making their way to the market.
“We continue to receive email & social media messages daily from consumers that are all over the mid-west asking about our new OhioRed™ brand tomatoes and when they will be available,” commented Chris Veillon, Director of Marketing. Given the location of the facility in Ohio and unique nature of greenhouse vegetable growing, the company has been getting a great deal of interest from local schools wanting tours of the greenhouse. “We look forward to educating students from all over the mid-west about greenhouse growing, just like we do with our mobile Greenhouse Education Center,” Said Veillon. The company’s #GreenInTheCity Tour kicks off March 31st with the mobile greenhouse scheduled to attend more than 80 events in 2016.
Construction of NatureFresh’s Phase II of 15.30 acres is underway and will be completed later this summer. Phase III (15.30 acres) of the greenhouse facility will begin construction late this spring with completion expected in early fall 2016. This will bring NatureFresh’s total acreage of new construction to 45 acres in Ohio alone in less than 12 months. The significant increase in acreage will permit NatureFresh™ Farms to grow tomatoes year-round in Ohio to meet the increasing demand from its customer base in the mid-west & Canada.
Combining the acreage being built in Delta, OH with the company’s current Canadian production in Leamington, ON, NatureFresh™ Farms will grow & market 175 acres of its own production. NatureFresh™ Farms continues to be one of the largest independent, vertically integrated greenhouse growers in North America.
By The Northwest Pear Bureau
A study has found that adult pear consumers had a lower body weight than non-pear consumers and they were 35 percent less likely to be obese.
In the new study, Fresh Pear Consumption is Associated with Better Nutrient Intake, Diet Quality, and Weight Parameters in Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2010, published in Nutrition and Food Science, revealed new information regarding the health benefits of pear consumption, particular interest is given the high rates of obesity in the United States,
“We believe fiber intake may have driven the lower body weights that were seen in this study because there was no difference in energy intake or level of physical activity found between the fresh pear consumers and non-consumers,” the study states.
The epidemiologic study, led by Carol O’Neil of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, used a nationally representative analytic sample to examine the association of fresh pear consumption with nutrient intake, nutrient adequacy, diet quality, and cardiovascular risk factors in adults.
“The association between pears and lower body weight is very exciting,” said Dr. O’Neil. “We believe fiber intake may have driven the lower body weights that were seen in this study because there was no difference in energy intake or level of physical activity found between the fresh pear consumers and non-consumers.”
In addition to discovering a correlation between fresh pear consumers and lower body weight, the study found that pear consumption was associated with higher diet quality (as defined by the Healthy Eating Index). Moreover, the consumption of one medium fresh pear per day had a positive effect on nutrient intake since consumers had higher usual intakes of dietary fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, copper, and potassium, and higher mean intakes of total sugars; consumers of fresh pears also had lower intakes of total, monounsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, and added sugars.
Pears are an excellent source of fiber and a good source of vitamin C. One medium pear provides about 24 percent of daily fiber needs for only 100 calories. They are sodium-free, cholesterol-free, fat-free and contain 190 mg of potassium. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans state that people who eat more fruit as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to reduce their risk of some chronic diseases, although little is published on the health outcomes associated with individual fruits, including pears.
January and February are always frustrating for produce hauls since the lightest volume of the year for fresh fruits and vegetables occur. March often isn’t much better, depending on weather factors. So here’s a peak of various commodities and the shipping potential as we prepare to barrel into spring.
Brussels Sprouts
As with many produce items in the west brussels sprout out of California have been in exceptionally light volume due to the California drought. However, supplies of the tiny members of the cabbage family seem to be improving. After a slow start in Mexico, Brussel sprout shipments are picking up from Baja California. The product has increased in popularity since being declared a super food.
Mexican roma tomatoes
Good volume with Mexican roma tomatoes from Sinaloa, Mexico are crossing the border at McAllen, Tx.
Lower Rio Grand Valley, Texas Mexican fruit and vegetable imports and LRGV citrus – grossing about $2400 to Chicago.
Florida Lettuce Quality
Cool, damp conditions in Florida this winter has resulted in an increase in lettuce downy mildew, caused by the oomycete pathogen Bremia lactucae. Primarily a foliar disease, it has a direct effect on yield and quality. Downy mildew causes light green to yellow angular spots on the upper surfaces of leaves. White mycelial growth of the pathogen develops on the under sides of these spots. Over time, these lesions turn brown and dry up. Severely infected leaves may die. In some instances, the pathogen can become systemic, causing discoloration of stem tissue. Extra caution is urged if your hauling Florida lettuce. Know what’s being put in your truck and if need, inform your receiver before leaving the dock.
Florida produce volume still remains light, with multiple pick ups at best required.
Florida vegetables, tomatoes, melons and potatoes – grossing about $2200 to New York City.
A study claims lettuce may produce more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than bacon does by a particular metric. And there is more to the whole story.
The claim that lettuce produces more GHGs per calorie originates from a Carnegie Mellon University study that was promoted recently.
It found that the U.S. National Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recommendations on how much produce, seafood and dairy you should eat could be “harmful to the environment.”
The study, by Prof. Paul Fischbeck, and graduate students Michelle Tom and Chris Hendrickson, examined how many resources U.S. diets consume, and how many GHGs they produce per calorie.
“Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken,” Fischbeck said in a news release.
Many outlets (and Carnegie Mellon’s news release) jumped on the study’s finding that lettuce is “three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon.”
And at least one expert blasted the claim as ludicrous.
Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Mellon University offers degrees in 20 locations around the world.