Posts Tagged “feature”
Eating an apple a day might in fact help keep the cardiologist away, according 
to research from Ohio State University.
In a study of healthy, middle-aged adults, consumption of one apple a day for four weeks lowered by 40 percent blood levels of a substance linked to hardening of the arteries.
Taking capsules containing polyphenols, a type of antioxidant found in apples, had a similar, but not as large, effect.
The study, funded by an apple industry group, found that the apples lowered blood levels of oxidized LDL — low-density lipoprotein, the “bad” cholesterol. When LDL cholesterol interacts with free radicals to become oxidized, the cholesterol is more likely to promote inflammation and can cause tissue damage.
“When LDL becomes oxidized, it takes on a form that begins atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries,” lead researcher Robert DiSilvestro, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and a researcher at the university’s Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center, said in a press release. “We got a tremendous effect against LDL being oxidized with just one apple a day for four weeks.”
The difference was similar to that found between people with normal coronary arteries versus those with coronary artery disease, he said
The study is published online in the Journal of Functional Foods and will appear in a future print edition.
DiSilvestro described daily apple consumption as significantly more effective at lowering oxidized LDL than other antioxidants he has studied, including the spice-based compound curcumin, green tea and tomato extract.
“Not all antioxidants are created equal when it comes to this particular effect,” he said.
DiSilvestro first became interested in studying the health effects of eating an apple a day after reading a Turkish study that found such a regimen increased the amount of a specific antioxidant enzyme in the body.
In the end, his team didn’t find the same effect on the enzyme, but was surprised at the considerable influence the apples had on oxidized LDL.
For the study, the researchers recruited nonsmoking healthy adults between the ages of 40 and 60 who had a history of eating apples less than twice a month and who didn’t take supplements containing polyphenols or other plant-based concentrates.
In all, 16 participants ate a large Red or Golden Delicious apple purchased at a Columbus-area grocery store daily for four weeks; 17 took capsules containing 194 milligrams of polyphenols a day for four weeks; and 18 took a placebo containing no polyphenols. The researchers found no effect on oxidized LDLs in those taking the placebo.
The study also found eating apples had some effects on antioxidants in saliva, which has implications for dental health, DiSilvestro said. He hopes to follow up on that finding in a future study.
The study was conducted as a master’s thesis by graduate student Shi Zhao, and was funded by a grant from the U.S. Apple Association/Apple Product Research and Education Council and a donation from Futureceuticals Inc. of Momence, IL.
Also involved in the study were associate professor Joshua Bomser and research associate Elizabeth Joseph, both in the Department of Human Nutrition, which is housed in the university’s College of Education and Human Ecology.
Produce shipments in the Eastern shipping areas of the USA have entered its lightest volume period of the year. Still there are a number of states that ship produce the year around, although most of it is in light volume.
The New England states, particularly, Massachusetts and Vermont are loading apples destined primarily for markets in the Northeast as well as Eastern Canada….Massachusetts also is providing loading opportunities with cranberries from the Cape Cod area.
New York state probably has the best volume in the Northeast. Apple loadings are occuring in the Hudson Valley. Some other areas of New York have less volume than usual due to weather factors earlier in the year….The Empire State also is a major shipper of storage onions. It is averaging about 250 truckloads per week with volume increasing. Orange County, NY is providing the most shipments….New York also is shipping cabbage, primarily from the Buffalo and Rochester areas.
In the Applachacian districts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia light to moderate volume of apples are moving. However, all four states combined are averaging only about 125 truckloads per week.
Sweet potatoes from Eastern North Carolina are moving in decent volume.
Southern Georgia has light shipments of cabbage, as well as kale and other greens.
Florida will have limited loading opportunities until spring. Grapefruit and other citrus are being shipped. If for some reason you are stuck in Western Florida, there are limited amounts of mature green tomates, as well as grape tomatoes being loaded.
New York cabbage – grossing about $1700 to New York City.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $2200 New York City.
Fall is definately settling in across the USA and autumn produce loads also are increasing.
The biggest indication the new season is gearing up is in the Northwest with shipments of apples from Washington’s Yakima and Wenachee Valleys. Last week the state’s apple volume exceeded 2,200 truckload equivalents and the amount will continue increasing in the weeks ahead. Demand for apples around the country is strong in big part due to Michigan losing most of its crop due to weather, plus significant losses in New York state.
In California, the heaviest volume for produce shipments continues with table grapes from the San Joaquin Valley, averaging about 1,600 truckloads per week. Salinas Valley lettuce is providing the next most available loads averaging about around 1,200 truckloads each week. There also are good loading opportunities with Watsonville area strawberries and with tomatoes from the Central San Joaquin Valley. The valley also is shipping stone fruit, but it is now in a seasonal decline.
In the upper mid-west, central Wisconsin about 400 truckloads of potatoes a week, but this will be increasing. In the same area, fresh cranberry shipments are small compared to potatoes, but still significant and will be increasing, particularly by the end of October as Thanksgiving shipments get underway.
In New England, there are light amounts of apples being shipped. Massachusetts cranberry shipments from the Cape Cod area also have started, and will increase in a similar fashion to those in Wisconsin.
On New York’s Long Island, about 60 truckloads of potatoes are being shipped weekly from the eastern end of the island.
Looking at North Carolina, the nation’s largest sweet potato shipper, there are about 65,000 acres of the product. Normal volume is expected. Some of the old crop is still being loaded. However, the new sweet potato crop will soon provide most of the shipments. A average amount of about 15 million cartons of sweet potatoes should be shipped from North Carolina over the next 10 or 11 months.
Washington apples – grossing about $4400 to Chicago.
Salinas Valley vegetables and berries – about $7100 to New York City.
Wisconsin potatoes – about $1000 to Chicago.
North Carolina sweet potatoes – about $1500 Atlanta.
The on-again, off-again exclusive lease negotiations between the city and the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market have been extended for the third time, this time through October 31st, according to a recent article on Crain’s New York Business.com.
Hunts Point is the world’s largest wholesale terminal market. Located in New York City’s, South Bronx, it is a cooperative with 115 merchants. Thousands of refrigerated big rigs deliver loads of fresh fruits and vegetables to the market each week from across the USA, as well as from Canada and Mexico.
The extended negotiations are between the Economic Develpment Corp. and the Hunts Point co-op. Hunts Point officials have been threatening to move the humongus facilty to New Jersey for years.
The incentive is a public hearing the merchants requested of city council members to discuss the city’s Business Integrity Commission, which has regulatory authority over the market. The hearing is set for Oct. 23.
Last June the federal government offered $10 million to help modernize Hunts Point. The market, which opened in 1967, faces many challenges ane the one state-of-the-art terminal is now showing its age.
Buildings are in need of renovation and a shortage of cold storage has many companies storing fresh produce in trailers parked in front and/or in back of their units. Loading docks are not refrigerated.
There are complaints trucker access into and out of the market is poor and that roads are in disrepair or just cannot handle the heavy traffic.
Everyone agrees on one thing: something has to be done. Numerous negotiations, talks, meetings, task forces and committees over the years failed to come to a solution. Politics. governments and red tape all contributed to a slow moving process.
New Jersey has aggressively made bids to move Hunts Point to the Garden State. However, the Hunts Point co-op continues negotiating with New York City on rebuilding the facility at its current location. In reality, most Hunts Point tenants prefer remain right where they are.
The current 10-year lease on the market expired in May 2011, and on June 19, 2012, the federal government offered $10 million to help modernize the large market, but first the market’s merchants and the city must agree to a new lease.
The merchants in reality have little use for New York City’s Business Integrity Commission stating the agency is assessing needless fees and penalties for various infractions, including parking violations within the market. The situation reached an impasse in late August when the merchants decided not to renew their exclusivity agreement to negotiate a new lease with the city, citing their differences with the commission as the reason.
But don’t hold your breath, it will probably be a cold day in hell before Hunts Point uproots to New Jersey, or anyplace else.
This is the time of year when shipments of Florida grapefruit gets underway, as 
well as the new crop of sweet potatoes from various states coast-to-coast. It also means shipments of avocados will soon be shipping from California to arrivals of ports of entry from Mexico, as well as at various ocean ports receiving avocados from Chile.
Florida Grapefruit Loads
There was a shortage of California fruit and those shipments the first half of September ended about two weeks earlier than usual. Florida citrus shippers are beginning their new season shipping grapefruit right on schedule. Growers in the Indian River region began harvesting the last week of September. Loading opportunities for Florida grapefruit should start volume in early to mid-October.
Avocado Shipments
Plenty of avocado shipments should be available as California supplies wind down and Mexican and Chilean shipments increase.
California loads will be available longer than usual this fall, and big volumes from Mexico will be crossing the border in the coming weeks. By mid-October, California should be mostly finished for the season.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potato shipments in the USA may be down slightly this season, which extends through next summer.
As we previously reported, Louisiana and Mississippi were onlyslightly affected by Hurricane Isaac in late August….North Carolina and California are the largest shippers of sweet potatoes.
In 2011, there were 133,600 acres of sweet potatoes planted, while this year an estimated 131,400 acres planted.
While Texans tend to boast about how big everything is in the Lone Star State, it is a major shipper of fresh produce, ranking in the top 10 for its volume with fresh fruits and vegetables. Many Texas produce shippers also have invested in farming operations in Mexico, and a lot of the product crosses the border into the Lower Rio Grande Valley for distribution throughout the USA and Canada.
The valley, and more specifically, Pharr, TX will be even more important in the future as a distribution point for Mexican grown produce. It is located on Highway 281 which runs north all the way into Canada. Also of importance is the 3.2-mile-long Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge connecting Mexico and south Texas. It is the longest port-of-entry bridge.
While Pharr remains relatively small with a population of 75,000 residents, the city has purchased 90 acres just west of the bridge with aim of developing a produce district with warehouses for produce destined for shipping throughout North America.
Pharr also will gain importance with the completion of the Autopista Durango-Mazatlan cross continental Mexican highway. It is a 143-mile-long stretch of highway scheduled for completion by the end of this year. It was built with the intention of trucks hauling West Mexican produce to ports of entry in Texas. The new highway ends very near Pharr.
The new road is supposed to reduce transit times of trucks from West Mexico by a full day to points in the eastern half of the USA and Canada.
The state of Texas, not including Mexico, grows and ships over 70 different fruits, vegetables and nuts. It is the fourth ranking shipper of watermelons in the USA, accounting for 15 percent of the country’s watermelons. This time of the year Lower Rio Grande Valley grapefruit becomes a major item for loads.
The Lone Star State also is a major grower/shipper of onions, cabbage, spinach, and carrots.
A recent Stanford University nutritional comparison study has generated intense consumer interest about the differences between conventionally and organically grown fruits and vegetables. But, a website – www.safefruitsandveggies.com – was created specifically for consumers who are interested in science based information and perspectives about the safety of both conventional and organic produce.
“The Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) wanted to create an information resource for people so that they can make educated shopping decisions for themselves and their families,” says Marilyn Dolan, Executive Director for the AFF. “We think the information presented on www.safefruitsandveggies.com will reassure consumers that they can choose either organic or conventionally grown products with confidence. The science and the facts support that both production systems are very safe,” Dolan explains.
The www.safefruitsandveggies.com website features information from experts in the fields of toxicology, nutrition, risk analysis, consumer attitudes, organic and conventional pesticide usage trends and farming. “One of the most popular features is the calculator function on the website,” Dolan says. This function allows consumers to click on who they are (man, woman, teenager or child) and then select their favorite fruit or vegetable. The tool then calculates the number of servings you would have to eat in a day and still not see any effect from pesticide residues. “The calculations show a consumer would literally have to eat hundreds to thousands of servings – no matter if you are an adult or a child – and still not see any health impact from pesticide residues,” Dolan adds.
The calculator function and corresponding report was developed using information from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Pesticide Data Program. The USDA’s monitoring data was analyzed by Dr. Robert Krieger, a toxicologist who heads the Personal Chemical Exposure Program at University of California, Riverside. It should be noted that Dr. Krieger was asked to analyze the highest residue levels found by USDA.
Another report “Scared Fat” features new consumer research results concerning how fear based messaging and marketing tactics are actually becoming a barrier to consumption of healthy fruits and vegetables, especially among low income consumers. “The survey showed that almost 10% of low income consumers stated they would reduce consumption of fruits and vegetables after hearing commonly used messaging that calls into question the safety of fruits and vegetables,” Dolan says.
Dolan points out that this month the USDA’s Economic Research Service issued a report that showed 10% of American households were not able to provide their children with “adequate, nutritious” food at times during 2011. “The USDA report illustrates the real issue,” Dolan says. “Low income consumers already struggle to put healthy and nutritious foods on their tables. This is why reassurance that more affordable produce is nutritious and safe is of crucial importance if we are to improve the diets of Americans and lower obesity rates. Misguided safety fears cannot become another barrier to increasing consumption of the very foods that health experts say we should be eating more of,” Dolan explains.
Other popular sections on the website include “Ask the Experts,” which features videos of farmers explaining how they control pests and diseases on their organic and conventional farms, a list of the most popular fruits and veggies with explanations on their nutritional value, regular blog postings and consumer food safety tips.
“These are only a few examples of the information that can be found on www.safefruitsandveggies.com and there is just so much more,” Dolan explains. “We hope safefruitsandveggies.com provides consumers with a place that they can go to read and learn more so they can make educated shopping choices,” Dolan says. “But we also hope that this information helps them to include more fruits and vegetables in their diets with confidence.”
The Alliance for Food and Farming is a non-profit organization formed in 1989 which represents organic and conventional farmers and farms of all sizes. 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 to consumers about the safety of all fruits and vegetables. We do not engage in lobbying nor do we accept any money or support from the pesticide industry. In the interest of transparency, our entire 2011 tax return is posted on safefruitsandveggies.com.
Source: Alliance for Food and Farming
Record or near record shipments of peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and pistachios 
are predicted by the USDA in the coming months. In fact, most types of nuts are expected to be plentiful for the fall, holiday and winter season, coming off of the 2012 harvest.
For example, record shipments of peanuts are predicted for the top four producing states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama and number four Texas. Georgia has nearly 60 percent more planted acrerage than a year ago and expects to ship over 2.8 million pounds of peanuts. The state accounts for nearly 50 percent of the nation’s peanut shipments.
Total U.S. peanut shipments are projected to be 5.9 million pounds in 2012, up from 3.6 million in 2011.
Almond loadings are expected to be up three percent from last year, totalling 2.1 billion meat pounds for 2012 on some 780,000 acres. California ships about 80 percent of the world’s almonds, with the leaders being Georgia, Texas and New Mexico. Total USA loadings in 2011 amounted to about 270 million pounds, and this is seen as increasing this year.
California also accounts for about 99 percent of the walnut volume in the United States, up two percent from a year ago. It’s not a record, but is close.
Record pistachio shipments are forecast out of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada totalling 550 to 575 million pounds.
Thanksgiving will be here before you know it (November 22) and that means a lot of fresh cranberries will be shipped in the weeks ahead.
Wisconsin accounts for about 55 to 60 percent of the nation’s cranberry shipments, which includes not only fresh, but
Ray E. Habelman and Ray J. Habelman
processed, juices, etc. The Badger state has about 20,000 acres of cranberry bogs.
Wisconsin produces over 4.3 million 100-pound barrels, while the nation as whole with produces over 7.2 million 100-pound barrels.
The fresh fruit side of the market is still a relatively small portion of the overall USA shipments, accounting for about 300,000 barrels.
A truckload of fresh cranberries typically amounts to about 42,000 pounds in a 53-foot refrigerated trailer, according to Nate Voit, general manager of Service Trans Inc., of Bancroft, WI.
Service Trans arranges about 7,800 loads per year, with about 99 percent of those loads requiring refrigeration. Nate says the company specializes in time sensitive shipments. Of those 7,800 loads, about 800 are with cranberries. Concerning the transportation of fresh cranberries, he describes it as different from most items.
“The cranberry shipments usually come on short notice, and it is high volume for a short period of time,” Nate says.
There are about a dozen growers in Wisconsin producing cranberries for the fresh market. While cranberry shipments from Wisconsin have been underway for a few weeks, the real push will come about November 1st for Thanksgiving, according to Nigel Cooper, a principal in The Cranberry Network of Wisconsin Rapids, WI, who markets cranberrys for the nation’s largest fresh shipper, Habelman Bros. Co.
Although the big push is before Thanksgiving, the company started the tradition of extending the season to include fruit for the Christmas holidays.
Canadians celebrate their Thanksgiving each year in October (this year its October 8) and cranberry loadings destined for Candian markets are among the first each year.
The California coastal valleys of Salinas and Santa Maria typically remain the 
major sources of supply of lettuce through mid-October. Huron, which is located on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, usually fills the lettuce supply gap in late October through much of November before harvest switches to the desert in California and Arizona. Some of the hardier items, such as broccoli and cauliflower, will continue in the Salinas area until the shift to the desert (California’s Imperial Valley and the Yuma, AZ area) around Thanksgiving.
There has been strong shipments of California vegetables since early summer. A primary reason is the extreme drought in the Midwest and the upper Midwest, which knocked out some home-grown crops.
Additionally, there was the hurricane that hit New Orleans and continued on through the South hitting Kentucky and Tennessee and knocking out some of those local tomato harvests. It all helped to benefit shipments of California tomatoes.
Berries
Blackberry shipments are winding down on California’s Central Coast, but raspberries could go through the end of October.
Blackberries loadings tend to decline by the end of September and are finished by mid-October as the shipments out of Mexico pick up.
California strawberry and raspberry shipments have provided some problems for haulers over the summer. Both are more delicate fruit, especially raspberries. Much of this can be blamed on the horrendous summer heatthan began in June and continued through most of August. Good quality fruit results in more shipments (due to consumer demand), plus truckers deal with fewer rejections. Obviously the quality of the fruit has improved since the heat has subsided. The fruit holds up better when shipped.
Salinas area vegetables and berries – grossing about $4700 to Chicago.