MR. GREENS "FRESH TIPS"
March 24, 2003

Did rain stop the Strawberries?

STRAWBERRIES (Monday, March 24): Today is the first Monday of Spring, so say, "Ah, Straaahberries." About 80% of the nation's strawberry supply is now coming from California. The rest, from Florida. There are two main growing regions in California, Southern and Northern. From about December through April, Southern California, from San Diego to Santa Maria, is the main supplier. In normal years, from about April right into the fall months, supplies will be from Northern California, primarily Watsonville. This year, with a milder than normal winter, Watsonville growers say they are about 3 weeks ahead of schedule in the plant growth. Some Watsonville growers, in fact, have already begun harvest of their spring crop. Recent rains throughout California dumped as much as 4 - 5" of rain on the berries. In normal years, this would cause some disruption in supplies for about a week or so, but with so many growing regions in production, all at once, we most likely won't see any major disruption in supplies, quality or pricing. California is packing about 2 million cartons of Strawberries a week, so get out the shortcakes.

KIDS AND PRODUCE (Tuesday, March 25): Michael Marks, Your Produce Man will be speaking at the annual Kids Marketing Conference in Orlando, Florida next week, sponsored by Hospitality Restaurant magazine. Today is American Diabetes Alert Day, a wake-up call to the huge threat of diabetes in America, particularly with young people. The American Diabetes Association is particularly alarmed with the drastic rise of Type 2 Diabetes among young people. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause two problems. First, and right away, your cells may be starved for energy. Secondly, over time, high blood glucose levels may hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart. Public health officials believe that obesity in kids, combined with the release of growth hormones during puberty may be responsible for the alarming rate of Type 2 Diabetes among children. The way to cure this is to prevent it. Your Produce Man will be challenging restaurants from around the country to begin "serving food that kids will have fun eating, not get fat from."

When will Cantaloupe prices get back to normal?

CANTALOUPE (Wednesday, March 26): Happy birthday Leonard Nimoy. "Spock" of Star Trek turns 72 today. His "out of this world" travels just about matches the "out of this world" prices of melons all winter long. Prices have been much higher than normal, and will stay that way until new crops begin harvest mid-to-late April in Texas, Arizona and California. Until then, all melons are still being imported, primarily from Central and South America and the Caribbean. Mexico had been a major supplier of Cantaloupe to the United States during winter months. However, in October, just when growers in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico were beginning their melon harvest, the USDA stopped all imports from Mexico. The USDA said that growers in Mexico would have to file for permission to sell Cantaloupes to the United States, and provide documentation that their farms were being operated using food safety and good manufacturing practices. Only a handful of growers were able to complete the paperwork in time. Many simply sold the fruit within Mexico, while others disced under the fields. Mexico had supplied about 50 - 60% of the Cantaloupe supply to the United States during the winter months. With those supplies gone, prices obviously rose. When domestic growers begin harvest, that's when we can get out the Vanilla ice cream again, and enjoy some sweet Cantaloupe.

Super sweet Navel Oranges

NAVEL ORANGES (Thursday, March 27): Don't turn away from the Navel Oranges. Sure, they may start looking a little ugly this time of year. That's normal for Navel Oranges, but if you can get by the "ugliness," you'll enjoy some super sweet Oranges. Virtually all of our Navel Oranges are grown in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The navel is a winter orange, in season from about mid-October through April. However, late in the season, the peel begins to get a bit puffy in appearance, almost spongy. During the winter, the oranges suck up a lot of moisture, getting juicier and sweeter. Late in the season, there is so much juice in the fruit, that it begins "bursting" the tiny "water balloons" inside the orange. As these water balloons burst, the inside fruit begins to dehydrate, shrinking a bit, pulling away from the rind, causing this "puffy" appearance.

LETTUCE, BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER (Friday, March 28): A year ago, America was still paying near record prices for lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and celery. That was a result of two months of much colder than normal temperatures in the desert growing regions around Yuma, Arizona. Cold temperatures greatly slowed growth and reduced harvest times by about 40%. This winter, however, temperatures were much more normal in Arizona, which has led to very steady and heavy supplies of lettuces and row crop vegetables. This time of year, we begin a transition from those southern growing regions, to more northern growing regions in California, from Oxnard to Salinas. Growers in Salinas say that they are about 3 weeks ahead of schedule this year, and that should mean very little gaps in suppies - if any gap at all - during this transition. In fact, some Salinas growers have begun harvest of broccoli and some lettuces already. Usually, there may be a gap of a week or two when the southern growing regions end harvest in late-March to mid-April when northern growing regions pick up the harvest. A mild winter in northern California allowed tractors in the fields early to prepare the soil for planting. Once the soil was prepared, growers were able to plant almost immediately because of very little rainfall. Mild temperatures also allowed those young plants to take root and thrive. What a difference a year makes.