Farmers Profit from Growing Local Food Movement

The local direct-to consumers food movement has grown steadily in the last decade, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Check this out from the Beaumont Enterprise:

Family's goat products are farmers market success

Pickin' a Pepper at Amazon.com

I am a die hard pepper head, but I've yet to hit my capsicum mainline via my broadband connection. Looks like some people have...

Dave's Gourmet Six Pure Chiles Gift Shaker
Dave's Insane Seasonings - This product really is a great selection of peppers to have many great dishes. Chipotle Pepper Flakes, Ancho Chili Pepper, New Mexico Chili Pepper, De Arbol Chili Pepper, Cayenne Chili Pepper, Habanero Pepper Flakes

20+ Bhut Jolokia / Naga Morich Seeds

20+ Seeds for the hottest chile pepper in the world. These are still somewhat rare and hard to find. This searingly hot chile comes from India and is known by several names: Bhut Jolokia, Dorset Naga, Naga Morich, The Ghost Pepper...... Bhut Jolokia seems to be the most common. It was registered as the new world record holder for heat in 2006. The former champ was a habanero called "Red Savina" @ 350,000 Scoville units it is incredibly hot in it's own right. Most people can't eat it. So imagine a chile that is 3 times hotter !!! We have a 95% germination rate on these seeds. We are licsensed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. All seed purchases come with detailed instructions on germination, growing and bringing the plant to maturity.

Those Trampy Olives

Firmly ensconced in the summer doldrums as the TV rerun wasteland washes over the US, I've rediscovered an old BBC gem that is available on Hulu.com in its entirety. Peep Show concerns the roommates of a Croyden, South London flat. I've always thought my internal dialogue qualified me for institutionalization, but Mark and Jeremy's internal musings left me assured. What does this have to do with food?

Jeremy's come-on line: "Third pressing, fourth pressing - who wants slutty olive oil?"

Which segues to today's news:
Lab tests cast doubt on olive oil's virginity

UC Davis researchers report that most common brands sold in California are mislabeled, which can cost consumers money and worse.

Food and Beverage News

KPMG Survey: Food and Beverage Executives Expect Improved Revenue, Profitability This Year and Next; Majority See Small Increase In Hiring

PRNewswire:

Product, Merchandising Innovations Seen As Biggest Revenue Drivers: Most Now See Full U.S. Economic Recovery Two Years Out

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Senior executives in the food and beverage industry see improved revenue and profitability this year and next, but caution that the jobs outlook in their sector will only gradually improve in 2011 according to a recent survey conducted by KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm.

Soda taxes fizzle in wake of industry lobbying

Now, the beverage industry has momentum flowing in the opposite direction. Its lobbyists quashed every other state effort to pass a soda tax this year, including bills in Mississippi, New Mexico and New York state. In Washington state, an industry-funded initiative to repeal the new soda tax appears certified to go before voters on this November's ballot. Its sponsors turned in 395,000 signatures, much higher than the 240,000 required.

The American Beverage Association (ABA) is supporting the campaign for Initiative 1107 by funneling money to its Washington state branch, which relies on Pepsi and Coke's Northwest bottling warehouses for most of its revenue. ABA spent more than $1 million just gathering signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. Sandeep Kaushik, a spokesman for the coalition of children's health groups who advocated for the soda tax, expects the industry to pour as much as $10 million into the election.

CDC: Fresh salsa, guacamole linked to foodborne illnesses

Looking at surveillance data provided by state and local health departments on foodborne outbreaks, researchers found that salsa or guacamole-associated outbreaks accounted for 1.5% of restaurant and deli outbreaks between 1984 and 1997, a number that doubled to 3.9% during the 10-year period from 1998 to 2008, the researchers found.

Restaurants and delis were the settings for 84% of all salsa and guacamole-associated outbreaks between 1984 and 2008, the research found. While CDC began tracking outbreaks in 1973, there were none associated with these foods before 1984.

USA Today Article

Peach Heaven!

I know I missed the Parker County Peach Festival this past weekend, but with all the rain this summer any Central Texas peach is going to be enjoyable on a quantum level. Case in point, I hit the Cooper Farms Produce truck at Lake Air Drive & Sanger Avenue in Waco and reveled in peaches that bordered upon the religiously sublime.



Please be sure to visit your local Farmer's Market to partake in this year's crop. Do yourself a favor and get acquainted with the beautiful bounty that comes from just down the road.

From the Waco Tribune:

McAdams has a line of customers waiting for her every morning when she lays out a full table of peaches, pecans, tomatoes, cucumbers and more, most of it grown in Fairfield.

She tries to sweat out the day until 4 p.m. but sometimes has to close early when all of her inventory is sold.

She said she’s usually there through Labor Day.

“We’ll stay here as long as we have peaches,” she said.

There’s also a good selection of summer’s bounty at the Heart of Texas Farmer’s Market three days a week.

Fairy Nell Lightsey of Lightsey Farms in Mexia said it wasn’t just peaches that performed this year. She said her plums, apricots and other produce did pretty well, too.

The Farmer’s Market, at the Heart O’ Texas fairgrounds on Bosque Boulevard, is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays .

Sunday Brunch on the Patio