- (Focus Area) Food
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Abundant rainfall in January and February 2019 bodes well for the forthcoming Central Valley strawberry season, reported Reuben Contreras on ABC Channel 30 Action News in Fresno.
Contreras interviewed Michael Yang, small farms and specialty crops Hmong agricultural assistant with UC Cooperative Extension.
"We need the water as much as we can right now," Yang said. He said the rain will add to the groundwater supply most farmers use to grow their crops, plus it will make the strawberries sweeter.
Cool weather is also...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Only an hour north of Los Angeles, one of the nation's highest-populated metropolitan centers, a vibrant farming community is actively producing millions of dollars in agricultural crops, reported Teresa O'Conner on KCET.org.
O'Conner's article features Ventura County, where farms continue to prosper despite natural disasters, encroaching housing developments, drought conditions and global competition. About $259 million worth of lemons were sold in 2017, making the citrus fruit the number-two crop for the county. The top spot belongs to strawberries at $654 million. Celery, nursery stock,...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Two UC Cooperative Extension programs - 4-H Youth Development and UC CalFresh nutrition education - collaborate to give Imperial County elementary school students an introduction to the culinary arts, reported Vincent Osuna in the Imperial Valley Press.
The 4-H Teens-As-Teachers Cooking Academy runs seven sessions in which the high school students use evidence-based curriculum from 4-H to teach the elementary school students how to cook.
"I think this is a really good...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Always be mindful of the time when food is outside a refrigerator or freezer. Typically, it should be no longer than two hours, and just one hour in the summertime, according to UC Cooperative Extension UC CalFresh nutrition program coordinator Elizabeth Lopez in an appearance on the Valley Pubic Television program Valley's Gold. (The food safety segment begins at the 18:30 mark.)
Lopez recommends using an insulated grocery bag with a frozen ice pack for the trip home from the store, and refrigerating leftovers in sealed containers soon after finishing a meal to maintain food safety.
The UC...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Northern California cooks are encouraged to enter their best quinoa recipes in a contest next month co-sponsored by the UC Cooperative Extension Master Food Preservers Program, reported Heather Shelton in the Eureka Times-Standard.
"Quinoa is such an interesting food and there is quite a bit grown here in Humboldt," said Jennifer Bell, a UC Master Food Preserver who is working with UC Cooperative Extension and the North Coast Co-op to offer the contest.
People consume quinoa like a grain, though it isn't a...
