LONG PROMO:   Hey, it is time for banana splits.  Get out the ice cream, and of course, get out the bananas.  I’m going to show you a real simple way to cut these bananas for your banana splits.  Plus new crop gala apples are now in the supermarket.  I’ll tell you a little bit about them.  Plus mangoes - the most popular fruit…you’ve never tried it?  I’m going to get you to try it…next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  Hey, about half of you don’t know what this is.  It’s the most popular fruit in the world…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
BANANAS (Monday, June 9):  Wilmington, Ohio.  That’s the place to be this coming weekend.  Oh, my goodness!  The 12th annual banana split festival.  I mean, can you just think of it?  Strawberries and vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream smothered all over beautiful bananas.   Now you know, I just got these bananas, and I was just noticing this.  Look at these stems right here.  It goes from a nice green and look at this.  It’s grayish brownish.  That is all the stress caused by the floods in Ecuador.  If you remember a few months ago I said its going to cause stress on the plants, and that’s what it’s causing.  It just makes the banana not ripen nearly as nicely.  I want to show you something.  I want to show you a way of cutting this banana without getting out the cutting board, you know.  So here you go.  I’m going to leave the back on.  Right?  And now I’m going to take the knife, and because we have the back peel still on, all we have to do is just go right down here.  Be very careful so you don’t slice all the way through.  And now you’ve got your perfect banana split for your banana splits.  I’m Michael Marks.  Another fresh tip on produce.   (Takes bite)

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, a simple safe way of cutting your bananas for banana splits.

GALA APPLES (Tuesday, June 10): It is quite possibly, in my humble opinion, one of the best tasting apples and certainly one of the prettiest apples around, and it is new crop apples.  That’s right, new crop apples.  Take a look at these.  These are gala apples or royal gala apples, they also market them as.  From New Zealand.  That’s right.  It happens to be fall in the Southern Hemisphere.  So that’s why we’re getting new crop apples from the Southern Hemisphere.  Take a look…come closer again on that.  Take a look at how beautiful that apple is.  Now, the gala apple  is one of those apples…it has a lot of juice content, and that’s why we call it not a long keeper .  You can get a granny smith apple, and you can keep it in your house for like, I don’t know, a couple weeks, and it will still taste okay, but a gala apple because of its high sugar content and its high juice content, it just doesn’t keep as long, but that’s okay because they taste so good.  They don’t need to stay around so long.  Everybody eats them.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report…I know it’s not fall, but we’ve got new crop apples.  (Takes bite)  Mmm. 

MANGOES PART I (Wednesday, June 11):  Here they are.  The most consumed fruit in the world.  That’s right.  Oh, you think it’s the apple?  No, it’s not the apple.  Oh, you think it’s the banana?  No, it’s not even the banana.  The most consumed fruit in the world, ladies and gentlemen, the mango.  That’s right - beautiful mangoes.  You know this time of year it’s peak of the season for Mexico.  I mean, we’re starting to get mangoes from  everywhere in Mexico.  That means the cheapest prices and some of the best quality.  Now when you’re picking out the best mango…you know, they change from green to gold as they ripen, but one of the first things I want you to look for – take a look at that stem. See that stem right here?  It looks like it’s down in the little valley.  That means that was a mature mango when it was harvested.  Sometimes you find the stem up on, it looks like actually a little hill.  You don’t want that.  That is an immature mango.  It will never ever ripen in a million years.  So pick out the right mango.  That’s gonna taste good.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, picking out the best mango – is it on a hill or valley?

MANGOES PART II (Thursday, June 12):  You know, the most consumed fruit in the world – the mango.  Still about half of all Americans have never tried a mango, and I think I know why. You know, they get a mango home, and they don’t know what to do with it.  They don’t know quite how to ripen it. So I’m going to make it easy for you today.  You know, if you want a banana, what’re you going to do?  You’re going to eat one of these nice ripe bananas?  You’re going to get a green banana to eat!  No, you’ve got to let the bananas ripen.  That right?  The kids won’t eat them if they’re not ripe.  Well, it’s the same exact thing with the mango.  You’ve got to let them ripen and ripen properly.  I know a lot of people will set them in the refrigerator to ripen.  No!  Never in a million years put these in the refrigerator to ripen.  These are a tropical fruit.  They hate the cold.  Now, a lot of other people will put them right out on the counter top just like this.  No!  Not in a million years.  There are no natural oils on the skin so they’ll dehydrate so you’ve got to enclose them or simply put a…put a newspaper over them to protect them from the open air.  Then they will ripen, and they’ll taste so good.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  If I’m going to get you to eat a mango, I’ve got to get you to ripen them right. 
  
BLUEBERRIES (Friday, June 13):  All right.  Come here.  I need for you to see these really closely.  Take a look at these beautiful blueberries.  No, come on.  Don’t be araid.  Come right on up here.  I want you to see them.  You know, these are first of the season blueberries.  California is in full harvest.  We’ve left Florida and we’re moving up now the Eastern Seaboard and the Carolinas for blueberries.  But you know, the first of the season, the first of the pick of all blueberries, no matter where it’s at – California, the Northwest, Jersey, wherever they harvest – the first berries off the vines are these huge berries.  Take a look how huge these berries are.  I mean, these are magnificent.  That’s why I tell you, the first of the season blueberries tend to be the best berries to freeze.  That’s right.  You take them home.  Since there’s less of them, they’re much easier to freeze.  You put them on a cookie sheet, and you know, they’re twice as big so you’ve got less of them there so it’s much easier to freeze and put these in the freezer so this coming winter you’ve got some great blueberries for your muffins.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. 

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, these are huge blueberries.