Posts Tagged “feature”
By Larry Oscar
Well, here we are well into another year. We have a lot more people now that have moved to our lake in Northeastern Oklahoma, and they have come from all parts of the nation and all walks of life. They have brought with them their customs and the local culture from whence they came.
Some of them have found it hard to adjust to our frontier way of life. Oklahoma is just a bit over 100 years old . We have our own way of doing things and our own outlook on life. For the most part we are individual self-reliant people who want to be left alone. The pioneer spirit and that culture of freedom rings true for all Native American people. And in Oklahoma that is our native culture.
That is one reason we see things so different than many of the other more populous states. One thing we are not very good at is following the crowd. We are independent thinkers. Which is one reason we are slower to adopt change. It is also why we don’t suffer the problems that other states get themselves into.
The common sense of the people in Oklahoma is without question. “Look before you leap “ has been a very common practice among our people. It is for that reason we are not in the financial trouble many states are in. We are leaders in many other ways. While we are a heavy oil and gas producing state we are also the third leading producer of wind powered energy.
Our state also has an abundance of lakes and water resources. That is often a shock to those who live in coastal states. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “Where do you sail in Oklahoma?” In fact, the Catalina Nationals will be held this summer on Lake Fort Gibson for the second time. I travelled in 48 of our 50 states in my travels. During all of those travels I found no other state that had a better quality of life than we do here in Oklahoma.
One thing that has made Oklahoma a great place to live is our work ethic. We have always been a people that has a “can do” attitude. A strong work ethic and family oriented value system has been a hallmark of the Oklahoma people. My grandfather, Earnest A. Hetherington, owned a farm just west of Cushing, Oklahoma. He fathered and raised 8 children in the middle of the Great Depression and the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.
Yet he never took a single dime of government handout money. It was a matter of pride with him. Compare that with today’s new millennial generation of over emotional whiners and complainers. There is a stark contrast to be made here. It is my belief that the move to a dependant society in our country is due in large part to single parent families.
It was my father that told me to “suck it up, nobody owes you a thing.” If I had been raised only by my mother I would have grown up thinking that we were all just going to dance in the daises and sing kumbaya. The ethics parents pass on to their children does matter. In a world that is growing more emotional and intolerant of others beliefs you can expect change agents to cause a higher degree of social upheaval. Our close link to the values of our forefathers has kept the people of Oklahoma more grounded in reality than other states.
Regardless of the situation you can count on Oklahomans to survive. We have survived floods, tornados, droughts, fires, and even a losing season at OU in our past, and we are still standing tall. So bring on 2019, hoist a few beers, grit your teeth, and hang on.
(Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.)
PennRose Farms of Wimauma, FL., has added two more growers to its network in the U.S. and Mexico.
Moore Farms of Manor, GA, and Patterson Farm of China Grove, N.C., has joined PennRose Farms, as exclusive suppliers, according to a news release. Moore Farms grows bell peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, specialty peppers, cabbages and eggplants. Patterson Farm launches its season in June with shipments of bell peppers, specialty peppers and cucumbers, continuing through October.
“Our spring, summer and fall vegetable lineups bring substantially greater value for our customers with the addition of these growers who share our vision of quality, safety, sustainability and service,” Jason Wyatt, director of sales and business development at PennRose Farms said in the release. “As a grower-owned company, we will continue investing in innovative and long-term supply chains.”
Chuck Ciruli, managing partner of PennRose Farms, welcomed Moore Farms and Patterson Farm to the company in the release. Patterson will have a key role in expanding year-round distribution as a local producer with retail and foodservice customers.
Imports of Mexican mangoes for the 2019 season are finally moving into good volume following a slow start in January and February.
Overall volume from Mexico through mid-May will be 11 percent less than last year — about 27.9 million 8.8-pound boxes, according to the National Mango Board of Orlando, FL.
The Mexican mango season began the second week of January and should continue into early October.
As of the week ending February 9th, Mexican growers had shipped approximately 608,336 boxes to the U.S. this season. During the same period last year, Mexico had shipped about 1.5 million boxes.
Vision Import Group of Hackensack, NJ started its Mexican mango imports in early March when it completed its Peruvian mango imports.
Freska Produce International LLC of Oxnard, CA was shipping limited supplies of Mexican mangos in the middle of February, and was trailing last season’s imports by about 1 million pounds due to weather factors during the growing season.
Amazon Produce Network of Vineland, NJ received its first Mexican mangoes February 11th, which was showing some quality problems, but improvements have come with arrivals of the tropical fruit since then. Heavy volume with quality Mexican product was expected for April and May. By then Amazon also will be imported mangoes from Guatemala, Coast Rica and Nicragua.
Ciruli Bros. LLC of Rio Rico, AZ received its initial Mexican mangoes coming through South Texas and Nogales, AZ in early March. Imports were expected to be good until the week before Easter (April 21st), picking slows because of labor challenges during Holy Week. Normal imports were expected in time for Cinco de Mayo, May 5th.
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Vegetable grower Village Farms International recently completed conversion of 1.1 million square feet of greenhouse area in a partnership with cannabis company Pure Sunfarms in Canada. It is now ready pursue hemp and Cannabidiol (CBD) oil production at its U.S. facilities.
The company has filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list common shares on the NASDAQ Capital Market under “VFF,” according to a news release.
“As a company with substantive U.S. assets and operations and, with our recently announced intention to aggressively pursue potential opportunities in the now federally legal U.S.
hemp and CBD industry, the listing of our common shares on NASDAQ is intended to provide broader exposure to, and greater liquidity for, U.S. investors,” CEO Michael DeGiglio said in the release. “A NASDAQ listing will provide Village Farms with access to the largest equity market in the world to support our intended hemp and CBD growth strategy should U.S. state laws follow the U.S. federal decision to legalize hemp, as well as, potentially, for cannabis, in the event that it is federally legalized in the U.S.”
In anticipation of the recent passage of the farm bill, which includes the Hemp Farming Act, the company has undertaken “broad and extensive foundational work to ensure Village Farms can move quickly, aggressively and profoundly,” DeGiglio said in another news release. The Hemp Farming Act federally legalizes hemp and hemp products in the U.S., including extracts, derivatives and cannabinoids.
Pure Sunfarms is waiting for Health Canada to approve 344,000 square feet for cultivation of cannabis, bringing the total to just over 1 million square feet at its Delta, B.C. facility.
The company’s January 2019 Investor Presentation almost focuses solely on cannabis/hemp/CBD opportunities.
According to the presentation, Pure Sunfarms has options on Village Farms’ Delta, British Columbia vegetable greenhouses, which total 3.7 million square feet. The Texas vegetable greenhouses (four facilities totaling 5.7 million square feet/130 acres) can be rapidly converted to hemp or cannabis (upon federal legalization), according to the presentation.
Village Farms is the sole owner of the Texas facilities, but would benefit from experience gained in the 50-50 venture with Pure Sunfarms in Canada, according to the presentation.
The company also has vegetable-growing partnerships in Mexico, and in Ontario and British Columbia.
April and May tend to be the peak shipping months for Florida spring vegetables and favorable growing conditions are expected to provide a good shipping season.
For example, West Coast Tomato LLC of Palmetto is expressing optimism as its volume has been ahead of last year. It has about 3,000 acres in the Immokalee and Palmetto areas and has been shipping tomatoes since October and will complete shipments in early June.
Florida Vegetable Shipments
Duda Fresh Foods Inc. of Oviedo, which grows vegetables on 6,000 acres in the Belle Glade area, reports good weather and plenty of water supplies and has been shipping celery since December and will continue through April.
Scotlynn Sweet Pac Growers LLC of Belle Glade grows and ships corn and other vegetables reports similar good growing conditions. It began shipping in early March and reached good volume in early April that should continue through May. The company ships primarily sweet corn to start, but later in the season has radishes, beans and cabbage, among other items.
At Weis-Buy Farms Inc. of Fort Myers, ships tomatoes and peppers, with a season starting in early October and continuing until June 1st.
Overall Florida vegetable volume is ahead of last year, in part because of favorable weather without hurricanes, unlike a year ago.
L&M Cos is based in Raleigh, NC, but has offices in Palatka, FL. The company reports Northern Florida has had some weather issues causing some vegetable crop to be running late, particularly with cabbage, broccoli and greens.
Mack Farms Inc. of Lake Wales began digging potatoes in early February from about 1,600 acres and has had good volume.
Jones Potato Farm of Parrish reports good shipments of potatoes, and green beans after starting in late March.
Utopia Packing LLC of Myakka City has good volume with bell peppers and cucumbers.
Florida Specialties Inc. of Immokalee shipping
green beans, eggplant, bell peppers, squash and specialty peppers through May.
Florida Fruit Shipments
Wish Farms of Plant City plans to be shipping blueberries until Memorial Day, with Florida growers expecting to pack nearly 4 million pounds of “blues” this season. This would be an increase from 3.4 million pounds a year ago.
Florida Classic Growers, which markets product for the Dundee (FL) Citrus Growers Association is planning to ship valences through May.
Florida Watermelon Shipments
Southern Corporate Packers Inc. of Immokalee is shipping watermelons from Southern Florida through May, with loadings coming out of Northern Florida from late May though June.
The company also grows watermelon in Georgia, Missouri, Indiana and Delaware, which enables the company to have melons available through December.
McMelon Inc., a subsidiary of Mack Farms Inc., both of Lake Wales will start shipping watermelons in early May.
Florida vegetables, watermelons and potatoes – grossing about $2700 to New York City.
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Since 1995, an activist group has released a so-called “dirty dozen” produce list. However, peer reviewed studies show this list’s recommendations are not scientifically supportable while other studies show it may negatively impact consumers since it discourages purchasing of any produce – organic or conventional.
“There are many ways to promote organic produce without resorting to disparaging the more accessible forms of fruits and veggies that the science has repeatedly shown are safe,” says Teresa Thorne, Executive Director of the Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF), which represents organic and conventional farmers of fruits and vegetables. “For example, the AFF has awebpage at safefruitsandveggies.com with lots of positive information for consumers about organics,” she adds.
“It is time to stop calling non-organic forms of healthy fruits and veggies ‘dirty’ and perpetuating unfounded safety fears that may negatively impact consumers’ purchasing of both organic and conventional produce,” Thorne says.
Some key studies about produce safety and nutrition include:
- A study specifically examined the risk/benefit of consuming a diet rich in conventionally grown produce and pesticide residue exposure. That study determined that if half of all Americans increased their consumption of a fruit and vegetable by a single serving each day,20,000 cancer cases could be prevented each year. The study authors concluded that the overwhelming difference between benefit and risk estimates provides confidence that consumers should not be concerned about cancer risks from consuming conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.
- Peer reviewed research has shown that the author’s “dirty dozen” list recommendation to substitute organic forms of produce for conventional forms did not result in a decrease in consumer risk, because residues are so low on conventionally grown produce, if present at all.
- The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pesticide Data Program (PDP) and the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) residue sampling program both found that more than 99 percent of the produce sampled had residues far below Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) safety levels, if present at all. The USDA stated in their report summary: “Based on the PDP data, consumers can feel confident about eating a diet that is rich in fresh fruits and vegetables.”
- An analysis conducted by toxicologists with the University of California’s Personal Chemical Exposure Program found a child could eat hundreds to thousands of servingsof a fruit or vegetable in a day and still not have any health effects from residues. For kale, a woman could eat 18,615 servings in a day and a child could consume 7,446 servings.
Thorne adds that there are decades of nutritional studies largely conducted using conventionally grown produce which conclude that a diet rich in fruits and veggies prevents diseases, improves health and increases lifespan.
“Sinceonly one in 10 Americanseat enough fruits and vegetables each day, it is important to promote consumption and support public health efforts to encourage healthier diets instead of creating unnecessary fears about eating non-organic fruits and vegetables, which are wholesome, safe and more affordable,” Thorne says.
For consumers who may still be concerned about residues, the FDA sayswashing your produceunder running tap water often removes or eliminates any residues on organic and conventionally grown produce that may be present.
To learn more about the safety of all fruits and vegetables visit safefruitsandveggies.com or our Facebook and Twitter pages.
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The Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) is a non-profit organization formed in 1989 which represents organic and conventional farmers. Alliance contributors are limited to farmers of fruits and vegetables, companies that sell, market or ship fruits and vegetables or organizations that represent produce farmers. Our mission is to deliver credible information about the safety of fruits and vegetables. The Alliance does not engage in any lobbying activities, nor do we accept any money or support from the pesticide industry.
A gift from the Alliance for Food and Farming to the Illinois Institute of Technology, Center for Nutrition Research helped fund the research published in the peer review journal, Nutrition Today. However, the AFF was uninvolved in any facet of the study nor were we made aware of the study findings until after the paper was peer reviewed and accepted by the journal.
While there were tight supplies of Southern California strawberries for Valentine’s Day shipments, growers expect improved volume leading up to Easter, which is April 21st.
Strawberry acreage in Ventura County is once again down this season — 5,300 acres compared to 5,518 acres last year — but production is expected to increase since farmers are planting higher-yielding varieties.
The California Strawberry Commission, based in Watsonville, confirms there has been reduced acreage during the past several years, but at the same there has been record-breaking shipments annually for the past 4 or 5 years.
Growers in the Oxnard area a year ago produced about 38.6 million trays of strawberries, up from about 37.2 million trays in 2017.
This year rains have hindered the start of the 2019 season.
As of the week ending February 2nd growers in the Southern California district, which includes Oxnard, Orange County, Coachella and San Diego, had shipped about 2 million trays of strawberries. A year ago, volume for the same period was about 3.3 million trays.
Easter typically kicks off the primary shipping season for California strawberries, when berries will be available from several growing areas in the state, including Watsonville.
Ventura County strawberries and vegetables – grossing about $3400 to Dallas, $6700 to New York City
A broad coalition of fruit and vegetable and other agricultural industry groups have petitionedd the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to modify the Hours of Service and Electronic Logging Device rules for perishable fruit and vegetable commodities.
The requested modifications to the hours of service and electronic logging device regulations will give increased flexibility to truck drivers for the delivery of perishable commodities, according to a news release.
A total two dozen groups asked for the following changes to the hours of service rules:
- Add an allowance for drivers to rest at any point during their trip without counting this rest time against their HOS allotments;
- Exclude loading and unloading times from the 14-hour on-duty HOS calculations; and
- Allow drivers to complete their trip, regardless of HOS requirements, if they come within 150 air miles of their delivery point.
The petition takes into consideration the safety of both the driver and consumer to deliver produce while following U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements.
The groups said current hours of service and ELD regulations contribute to higher volumes of food waste resulting from delays in shipping and delivery.
“Modifying the HOS and ELD regulations for perishable commodities will better align FMCSA with the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Rule, which spells out food safety requirements,” the news release said.
Hours of service rules do not allow a driver to turn off the ELD when stopping to rest along a route. The petition, according to the release, asks for driver ability to pause the ELD during rest periods and loading times.
The petition asks the FMCSA to consider excluding loading and unloading times from the 14-hour on-duty HOS calculations. To help address this, the petition asks for adding flexibility to the Split Sleeper Berth Provision that allows for splitting sleeper berth time, adding up to a 10-hour rest period, and allowing for more flexibility to take shorter breaks when drivers need them, according to the release.
“These modifications are necessary for the movement of perishable commodities and will give drivers the flexibility needed to complete deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables that meet USDA regulations and enhance driver and public safety measures,” the groups said in the release.
If the recommended changes aren’t made, the groups asked the FMCSA to delay enforcement of current HOS and ELD rules for trucks hauling perishable fruits and vegetables for two to four years to allow for improvement in the regulations.
The nine-page petition was backed by:
- American Farm Bureau Federation;
- California Citrus Mutual;
- California Farm Bureau Federation;
- California Fresh Fruit Association;
- California Specialty Crops Council;
- Eastern Cantaloupe Growers Association;
- Florida Blueberry Growers Association;
- Florida Citrus Mutual;
- Florida Farm Bureau Federation;
- Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association;
- Florida Strawberry Growers Association;
- Florida Tomato Exchange;
- Florida Watermelon Association;
- Georgia Farm Bureau Federation;
- Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association;
- Michigan Farm Bureau;
- Michigan Processing Apple Growers;
- National Watermelon Association;
- Produce Marketing Association;
- Sunshine Sweet Corn Farmers of Florida;
- Texas Farm Bureau;
- Texas International Produce Association;
- United Fresh Produce Association; and
- Western Growers Association.
Foodservice supplier US Foods Holding Corp. is expanding its Marrero, La., facility, nearly tripling its size to support growth in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
US Foods, Rosemont, Ill., broke ground on the project in late January, with plans to have it operating by late 2020, according to a news release. The project will expand the F. Christiana facility from 70,000 to 200,000 square feet.
“This is an important day for US Foods as we take the next step to expand our footprint in Louisiana and reaffirm our commitment to our customers and the community,” Keith Knight, south region president for US Foods, said in a news release about the Jan. 31 groundbreaking ceremony.
US Foods purchased broadliner F. Christiana in mid-2017.
The construction project includes a kitchen and training center for customer product demonstrations and recipe development, plus a technology center for customers to learn about US Foods’ web-based business solutions, according to the release.
The facility is designed to meet energy efficiency standards in refrigeration, lighting, and heating and cooling systems.
US Foods has more than 60 locations, according to the release.
Atlantic Fresh, which specializes in broccoli production, offers east coast broccoli to local and regional customers four or more days sooner than west coast providers, due to location.
The company, based in Clarks Summit, PA, is currently harvesting broccoli in Florida, recently added new farms in North Carolina, New Jersey and New York in 2018, and other locations have expanded their production acres as well. The increase in production is in response to growing consumer demand for broccoli. With 51 percent of grocery shoppers purchasing broccoli, and increased purchasing year over year, broccoli is making its way onto more U.S. plates. Broccoli was the third most popular produce item shoppers said they bought in 2018 that they didn’t buy previously. While broccoli has been the main focus of Atlantic Fresh, the company has also been increasing cauliflower and organic broccoli production each year and looks forward to expanding these offerings in the future.
To complement its eastern roots and harvest one day – deliver the next philosophy, Atlantic Fresh is rolling out a fresh brand redesign and new website. The redesigned logo, with bright blue anchor design, makes a playful connection to our Atlantic coast broccoli farms. The top of the anchor silhouettes in front of a red broccoli crown, that translates into a scalloped design element used in the new packaging. The revamped design can be seen on the new website www.atlanticfreshproduce.com and on conventional broccoli and cauliflower boxes, organic broccoli boxes, rubber band tags, bags, and overwrap stickers. Atlantic Fresh also refreshed its popular Asian crown “dragon” carton.
Atlantic Fresh was formed in 2010 by L&M and Parker Farms. Each company has over 15 years of experience growing broccoli on the east coast of the United States, and in 2010 joined forces to offer a reliable, high quality year-round source of eastern broccoli to their customers. Atlantic Fresh grows on 14 farms across eight eastern states including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.