Nutrification

Nutrification is a word that has been popping up more and more when it comes to food choices. The word itself to me has a kind of clinical inference, and seems to overshadow the simplicity of  what eating fresh produce is all about. Here is the definition from Wikipedia.

Enriching or fortifying foods with nutrients is called nutrification. Food enrichment is the restoration of the natural nutritive value of food before it was processed, while fortification is the adding of vitamins or minerals to food at levels higher than it originally possessed, though “fortification” is commonly used to refer to both processes.

The idea of consuming fruits or vegetables for their particular health benefits, or even adding them to something else is nothing new. Long before there were vitamin stores and health food crazes, humans were discovering some of the many specialized health benefits associated with a particular fruit or vegetable.

Today the nutrification trend is evident not only in the vitamin and diet sectors, but can also be seen on just about every shelf within the grocery store. Most food companies are now offering a nutrification version of their original product. Several examples of this are yogurt with added probiotic, milk with added omega 3 and 6, bread with extra fiber, iodine to table salt, and even fluoride to tap water.

I am glad to see this trend continue to improve the vast amount of food products that lack nutrients due to over proccesing. However, there is no real substitute for a lifetime of fresh healthy eating habits.

7 Tips to Keep You Tweeting

There was a report about Twitter that came out earlier this year that said a large percentage of twitter users abandon their accounts shortly after creating them (around 60% stopped using within one month).  I have to say that I don’t find that surprising at all, seeing as how I created a personal account that I only used for 2-3 weeks.  My reason for creating a twitter account in the first place, however, was to get an understanding of how the site worked.  It gave me a lot of ideas on how we could use the Florida Ag twitter account. So once we created that one, my original twitter account was a little useless to me.

But back to my point… I think that a lot of people are interested in twitter, but they don’t see immediate results and ditch the whole thing.  Maybe they don’t know what to talk about or where to find followers.  One of the goals in our social media efforts is to help Florida’s agricultural producers, businesses and groups use social media themselves.  I think that almost anyone can use twitter to help market their business or cause if they know how to use it.  So how can you keep from becoming a statistic?  Here’s my list of ways to keep your twitter account alive and kicking.

Facebook’s New Layout

Once again, Facebook has decided that it is in their best interest to change around the main layout of the home page. As a personal user of Facebook, it didn’t really bother me, as I am used to what seems to be the 50th home page layout change Facebook has made since it’s inception. That is until I found out about the filtering and what you might not be seeing anymore.

By now you’ve probably noticed that there are two options in your home page: News Feed and Live Feed. The News Feed is simply a summary of the ‘highlights’ from your Facebook friends, based on what it thinks you might like to see. It figures that out by your previous interactions with friends’ pages, comments, likes, etc. Also included in this are the pages you chose to become a fan of (which is why we are informing everyone about this!). Your Live Feed is an actual live feed of all your friends – or so you think.

Here’s the catch, Facebook hand picks (via a formula similar to what is used on the News Feed) only up to 250 friends that it thinks you want to see. Your fan pages are included in that as well. HOWEVER, it is fixable through a couple of easy steps:

1. Log in to your Facebook home page. Click on the “Live Feed” option.

2. Scroll all the way to the bottom. When you get to the blue bar across the bottom, there are two options to click ‘older posts’ and ‘edit options’. Click on ‘edit options’.

3. Change the ‘250′ friends option to ‘5000′. Click save and you’re good to go. You will now be able to see all of your friends AND fan page updates in your Live Feed.

We wrote this because we wanted to first, make everyone aware of what Facebook was doing. And second, because we do run a Facebook fan page ourselves. We noticed that our interaction was way down over the past couple weeks. So I did a little research and found out what the problem was. So hopefully if everyone can be made aware of this new change, not only will you benefit, but so will we!

Thank you for supporting Florida Agriculture!

*It has been brought to my attention that not everyone might not have the ‘edit option’ available. If it is not there, I’m not sure why.

Florida Produce: Carrots

Another one of those commodities that Florida is not known for growing is the carrot. Grown mainly in Orange County, Florida carrots are available from November through June.

How to buy
Carrots should be well-formed with a smooth skin and a solid orange color. The deeper the color of the carrot the more amount of nutrients it has. Do not buy carrots that are overly large; these will have a tough wood-like core and will not be sweet.

Tips for storage
If you buy carrots with green tops still attached, remove them before storage. Store carrots in the refrigerator in a sealed plastic bag. Do not store them in water for more than an hour, even if they are already peeled, or they will become limp.

Cooking tips
When a raw carrot loses its crispness, put it in a bowl of ice water in the refrigerator for up to an hour. Always blanch carrots until almost tender before using them in a stir-fry because they take longer to cook than most other vegetables. Try roasting carrots in the oven; the natural sugars in the carrot will concentrate and caramelize.

Flavors well with
Curry, honey, citrus, mint, thyme, rosemary

Here’s a delicious recipe from our very own Chef Justin. This recipe is one of many that appeared in our The Florida Chef: Flavorful Seasons cookbook.

Florida Wildflower Honey Glazed Carrots
Yield 6 to 8 Servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 leek, white part only, halved, sliced small and washed thoroughly
1 pound Florida carrots, sliced
1 cup Florida orange juice
1/4 cup Florida wildflower honey
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoon chopped fresh mint
Fresh squeezed lemon juice from 2 small lemons
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek and cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium. Add carrots and cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until carrots are soft. Discard cinnamon stick before serving.

Nutritional Information:

One serving contains the following: Calories 114; Total Fat 1g; Cholesterol 2mg; Sodium 111mg; Total Carbohydrates 27g; Protein 2g. Good source of Vitamin A (426%).

TIP: If you can’t find any leeks, you can substitute sliced onion.

Fear Not the Flowers

Taking a look at the countryside in North Florida this fall I was reminded of a word I came across recently: anthrophia, fear of flowers. If this describes you then driving along parts of I-10 or secondary roads in this part of the state during the fall could be a problem. The flowers along the road and in many fields have been spectacular. My problem is not so much that I fear the flowers but that I fear growing them.

I know we are fortunate to have an abundance of native wildflowers and plants in Florida. We have a  co-op of farmers who grow Florida native wildflower seed and a speciality tag for our own state wildflower. We have native nurseries throughout the state to assist people like me who are  reluctant or not informed enough when it comes to gardening with natives.

Once established natives need less water, will re-seed, and will attract wildlife and butterflies.  Another plus is that they are already acclimated to Florida’s not-so-kind weather.  So with all of these solid arguments for growing natives, why  fear growing my own wildflowers? Truth be told, I do grow native wild flowers and some plants, but my true fear is that one day I will run out of space for all of the plants I want to use.  The choices and possibilities are endless: coreopsis, passion vine, purple love grass, rayless sunflower, blanket flower, blazing star, black-eyed susan and the list goes on.   I will keep planting natives until space no longer permits and the fear is gone.

Florida Ag Recap, Week of Nov 2-6

Here’s what was going on this week in Florida agriculture (via our twitter @freshfromfl):

• This week’s  Commissioner’s Spotlight is on Florida-Grown Products (from@SoutheastAgNet)
• There’s a big farmer’s market opening in Hollywood on November 8.
• Swedish researchers say that children born to mothers who ate plenty of vegetables during pregnancy are less likely to have type 1 diabetes.  (via @healthyeats)
• Florida Organic Growers & Worden Farm will be hosting a free farm tour for growers interested in organic production on 11/9.
• This is a great time to plant veggies, flowers & herbs! Here’s a list of what you can plant in Florida from the Orlando Sentinel.
• All orders on the Fresh from Florida store made before January 1, 2010 will receive a free apron!
• USDA makes $17 million available to train beginning farmers and ranchers.
• Check out what our Division of Marketing is doing with retailers to promote Florida produce (written by @doug_ohle)!
• National and state park entrance fees will be waived on Veteran’s Day in honor of the military.  Get outside and see Florida’s parks!
• Local and regional grown considered by Florida growers.
• Ballots for the Florida Citrus Production Marketing Order referendum will be mailed out on Nov 16.
• @SoutheastAgNet will stream a conference call on the Citrus Referendum on their site on Nov. 12
• Learn about Florida’s dairy industry! (via @FloridaMilk)
• Our twitter lists are up and running – find Florida producers, ag groups and more here!

How to bring agriculture into your life

Agriculture can influence our lifestyle in many ways. Our State’s agriculture industry not only feeds our population and is a major economic industry, but we must also realize that is a healthy source of life for everyone. Here’s how:

• Starting in your kitchen, impress your guests and family by serving meals prepared with fresh organic herbs or tomatoes grown in your own back yard or even in your apartment’s balcony. Glaze your chicken with pure and rich Florida tupelo honey made by expert Florida beekeepers and it will be the highlight of your dinner.

• A wine party serving Florida wines is a fun, unique experience. Florida wines are very different to traditional wines because they’re made with muscadine grapes or Florida grown fruits like grapefruit and blueberry. For a more tropical flair, try starfruit, mango or passion fruit wines.

• Decorating your home with orchids, bromeliads, tropical foliage and hanging baskets from Florida nurseries is the latest trend in the home fashion decor.

• Agri-tourism is our best entertainment option all year round. If you are tired of hanging out at the shopping malls, amusement park or beach scenes, have an exhilarating time with your friends watching the wild alligators in their natural habitat at the Everglades, enjoy delicious Florida strawberry milkshakes at our Strawberry Festival in Plant City or pick your own fresh scallops in our sunny coasts while in season. Keep in mind that touring Florida wineries is a great romantic escape!

• Visit state parks, agricultural fairs and rodeos or learn to play Polo with Florida finest thoroughbreds in Palm Beach and Ocala.

• Show your kids to appreciate Florida’s natural resources. Take them to our Christmas tree farms during the holidays to choose and cut their own trees, get them to pick their own fruits and vegetables at our u-pick farms or chase them through a corn maize.

Enjoy and share our pride in all that Florida has to give! Does agriculture influence your life?