"state" news and stories

Following in the recent footsteps of Alabama making the peach their state fruit, the Minnesota Senate recently voted to make the Honeycrisp apple the state's official fruit. The Honeycrisp was developed at the University of Minnesota in the sixties in hopes of creating a durable fruit for the state's harsh cold, according to the Duluth News Tribune. Like the Walla Walla onion in Washington, the Honeycrisp's path to being the official-state-fruit-dom was forged by a school project, in this case by a class of fourth-graders. Like Florida, with it's official pie, Minnesota has an official state baked good in the blueberry muffin, according to the Pioneer Press. More info on Honeycrisp apples is available at Honeycrisp.org.

Connecticut's state senate has voted to ban the sale of sodas in schools and the governor has said that she supports and will sign the legislation. The ban would prohibit schools from stocking anything other than low-fat, nonfat, soy and rice milks and 100% fruit and vegetable juices in their vending machines. There would be an exception that could allow sodas, diet sodas and sports drinks, like Gatorade, to be sold at school events, such as football games.

The idea behind the legislation is, of course, to try an promote healthier choices among students while decreasing childhood obesity and Connecticut joins several other states, including California, in passing such legislation.

 

 

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With the weather starting to warm up (especially down here in Florida), I thought that some help finding u-pick farms would be useful. I've always relied on PickYourOwn.org. They have extensive county-by-county listings for u-pick farms (as well as some other orchards) throughout the U.S. There are also listings for Canada, Australia, the U.K., New Zealand and South Africa. Aside from farms, the site also has listings for regional festivals, mostly those related to fruits and vegetables. Contacting state agriculture departments is another good way to find local u-pick farms. Many ag departments will even have listings on their websites.

[Photo: Sharp Ranch]