Better Know a Bean

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Fill Your Plate
Beans and Legumes

Celebrate National Bean Month by knowing your beans (photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com)

Beans have been around at least as long as we have and are one of the plants that have been cultivated the longest.  Beans have been an important source of protein throughout history because on average they provide more than 9 grams of protein for only 80 calories.  The term bean originally referred only to the seed of one type of bean, the fava bean but over the centuries it has expanded to include most legumes and other plants like soybeans and chickpeas.  March in National Bean month and we thought it would be a great time to highlight this protein-rich dietary staple by helping you to better know your beans.

The majority of beans grown today are summer crops that require warm temperatures in order to grow.  The average growing time is 55-60 days and most bean plants need external support in order to grow.    Beans are not only high in protein, they are also a great source of soluble fiber and a single cup of beans provides 9-13 g of soluble fiber.  The world genebank currently lists about 40,000 different varieties of beans although most of those are not currently being cultivated.   To help expand your knowledge of the humble bean, we picked the most commonly used varieties to spotlight.

Black Bean

The black bean, which is also called a black turtle bean, is commonly seen in Latin American and Southwestern cuisine.   Because these beans are dense with a rich texture, they are also prominent in vegetarian dishes.    Black beans are much higher in calories than some of their less dense siblings with 350 calories per 3.5 oz but they also pack a ton of protein, providing 21.25 grams for that size serving.

Black Eyed Pea

Although you may not know by its name, black-eyed peas are actually considered beans because they belong to the legume family.  These beans are pale in color with a large black spot.

Chickpea

Chickpeas are also legumes and may be known by several other names including garbanzo bean, ceci bean, and Bengal gram.  They have been cultivated for at least 7,500 years and contain about twice as many calories, 164 per 3.5 oz, as the average bean.

Green Bean

Green beans are called by many names.  They may also be referred to as string beans, snap beans, French beans, or haricots beans.  Green beans are actually un-ripened pods of common beans and are much lower in both calories and protein, providing 31 calories and only 1.8 g of protein in a 3.5 oz serving.

Kidney Bean

Kidney beans are one variety of a specific type of bean called the common bean.  Named because its shape resembles that of a kidney, these beans are often seen in chili, soups, and stews.  Similar to black beans, kidney beans are much higher in calories, 333, and protein, 24 g, than some of their cousins.

Lentil

Lentils comes in a wide range of varieties and have been part of our culinary experience since the Neolithic period which means we have been eating them for more than 10,000 years.  They can range in color from yellows to greens to reds and oranges.  From a nutritional perspective, they are closest to kidney beans in terms of calories and protein.

Lima Bean

Lima beans are also known as butter beans and are distinctive amongst the most common culinary beans because of their wide flat appearance and light green color.  They can be grown on both the bush and the vine and have a nutritional profile in line with the average for all beans.

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You’re Invited to the Adams Natural Meats Grand Opening!

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Fill Your Plate

Adams Natural Meats, formerly known as The Arizona Buffalo Company is having their Grand Opening on Friday, February 28th from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 1st 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

meat

They will have great prices on their full line of All Natural Bison Meats, Local Chickens, Smoked Turkeys, Local Honey, Salsa and more! They will have tastings set up, with an array of our fabulous dishes that can be made from products, music, and a buffalo burger stand that lunches can be purchased.

Arizona buffalo (photo credit: Adams Natural meats)

Arizona buffalo (photo credit: Adams Natural meats)

Adams Natural Meats is a Bison Ranch located aprox 30 miles west of Central Phoenix in Buckeye Arizona. Owners Bryan and Mary Adams are dedicated to humanly and naturally raising their Bison not only out of their passion for this magnificent animal but to help meet the growing demand for the Quality Meat Products they provide.

 

 

 

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Looking for Ways to Manage Your Land? There’s an App for That

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Fill Your Plate
Farmer apps

If you’re looking for ways to help manage your land, there may be an app for that. (photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com)

To most of the people in Arizona, the agriculture industry may seem like one of the few areas where technology wouldn’t play as much of a role.  But as those of us in the industry know, technology plays a huge role in modern farming, assisting with everything from deciding how much seed to lay down on any given piece of land to accessing real-time information on the rain.  With that understanding, it is no surprise that there are a whole host of smart phone apps aimed at helping our farmers boost productivity and manage everything about their crops, fields, and equipment.

Here are some of the best smart phone and tablet apps for farmers.

Raindar

Wondering if rain is on the way?  Raindar provides an animated Doppler radar projected over Google Maps right in your pocket!   This handy app also provides information on storm tracks, inclement weather information including identifying what type of storm the precipitation is or will be coming from including thunderstorms, hail storms, and extreme storms like those capable of producing tornadoes.

HandyMan Calculator

This app is handy for anyone who works with their hands.  It helps calculate materials, track time spent on individual tasks or projects, and saves calculated information to a notepad function.  No matter where you are on your ranch, you will have everything you need to complete and store complex calculations.

FarmBooks

This all-inclusive farm/ranch accounting system provides mobile functionality to help ranchers manage their finances on the go.  The full app provides accounting registers, invoicing functions, check writing capabilities, and tools for managing payroll, account receivable, and accounts payable.  This package also provides inventory control functions and reporting capabilities.

MyShed  

This invaluable app provides access to parts manuals, part number lists, and even assembly diagrams for most machines used in the agriculture industry today.  In addition, it makes it easy to create a list of parts needed and send the list directly to your preferred dealer.  The functionality included makes it easy to manage all your machines from anywhere on the ranch.

Farm Logs

This app provides farmers with a big picture view of their farm without having to leave the barn.  It provides satellite map views of fields and crops and gives farmers access to rainfall figures for the past 5 years.  Powerful reporting capabilities make it possible for farms to use real data from their fields and yields for better decision making.   The app automatically synchronizes across multiple devices to ensure the most up-to-date data is always available.

Field360 Notes

By offering farmers the ability to capture notes and photos while in the field and associating those notes and photos with the farmer’s current location using satellite imagery, Field360 Notes provides a powerful tool for managing many aspects of the farm.  The app makes it easy to keep crop scouting details organized and accessible and to see field boundaries superimposed on the easily accessible satellite maps.

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30 Ways to Use Avocados

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Fill Your Plate
Avocado

Try one of these delicious avocado recipes. (photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com)

Arizonans love avocados!  Maybe this is why they feature so prominently in southwestern cuisine.  Also called an alligator pear, the avocado belongs to the same botanical family as cinnamon and bay laurel.  It grows on trees and is native to Mexico and Central America.  It frequently makes an appearance in healthy recipes because of its stellar nutritional profile.   In 3.5oz of raw avocado, there are 160 calories, almost 7 grams of fiber, and a wide range of vitamins and minerals.  They are higher in fat than most fruits and veggies with almost 15 g per 3.5 oz but they majority of that fat is the monounsaturated kind that is frequently considered to be “healthy fat”.  Celebrate  avocados this month with these fantastic recipes.

  1. Avocado and Pistachio Ice Cream
  2. Avocado and Tomato Salad
  3. Avocado Appetizer
  4. Chicken Breasts with Cheese and Chilies
  5. Corn and Black Bean Salsa
  6. Golden Beet, Fennel, and Avocado Salad
  7. Rasher or Buckboard Bacon Burger
  8. T-A-B-L-E Cosmos
  9. Zesty Papa Protein Scramble
  10. Chipotle Shrimp Taco with Avocado Salsa Verde
  11. Papaya Avocado Salad
  12. Hot Chile Grilled Pork Rounds with Avocado Mango Salsa and Couscous
  13. Pan Seared Tuna with Avocado, Soy, Ginger, and Lime
  14. Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Avocado Dip
  15. Avocado and Grapefruit Salad
  16. Avocado Hummus with Crispy Pita Chips
  17. Southwestern Avocado and Black Bean Salad
  18. Steak with Avocado Sauce and Tomato Salad
  19. Seven Layer Dip
  20. Mexican Baked Fish
  21. Chicken Avocado Egg Rolls
  22. California Chicken
  23. Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad
  24. Tangy Cucumber and Avocado Salad
  25. Carne Asada Tacos
  26. Kale, Quinoa, and Avocado Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
  27. California Roll Salad
  28. Santa Fe Salad
  29. Grilled Salmon with Avocado Dip
  30. Shrimp Avocado Pasta Salad
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Study Says Your Food Prices Could Go Up without Labor Reform

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Fill Your Plate

An approach to agricultural labor reform that focuses solely on immigration enforcement would raise food prices over five years by an additional 5 to 6 percent and would cut the nation’s food and fiber production by as much as a staggering $60 billion.

FYP 1Those are among the results of a report, “Gauging the Farm Sector’s Sensitivity to Immigration Reform,” conducted by World Agricultural Economic and Environmental Services. The report was commissioned by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

By far, the best scenario for farm labor reform both for consumers and farmers is one that includes immigration enforcement, a redesigned guest worker program and the opportunity for skilled laborers currently working in agriculture to earn an adjustment of status. Under that scenario, there would be little to no effect on food prices, and the impact on farm income would be less than 1 percent.

“Arizona farmers have been asking for visa reform for over a decade,” explains Arizona Farm Bureau President Kevin Rogers. “We must have a way to grow and harvest our food; otherwise other countries will come along and do it for us. Enforcement without a worker program hurts Arizona’s agriculture industry.”

Today, U.S. agriculture depends heavily on workers who may have improper documents with no viable means of verification. Regardless of the reform scenario studied, it is clear that a legal workforce comes at a price.

“Status quo is not a viable option for anyone involved in this issue, and as a nation, we expect better,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. “Farmers and ranchers recognize there are costs to ensuring they have a legal, stable workforce. And we are willing to step up to the plate.”

The hardest-hit domestic food sectors under an enforcement-only scenario are fruit production, which would plummet by 30 to 61 percent, and vegetable production, which would decline by 15 to 31 percent. The study also pointed out that while many consider fruit and vegetable production the most labor-reliant sector, livestock production in the U.S. would fall by 13-27 percent.

FYP3“Over five years, an enforcement-only approach would lead to losses in farm income large enough to trigger large scale restructuring of the sector, higher food prices, and greater dependence on imported products,” Stallman said.

“With a reworked guest worker program, and by allowing skilled laborers to earn an adjustment of status, food prices would remain stable and there would only be marginal impacts on production,” Stallman said. “It’s clear that we need greater enforcement, but those two key reforms must be included in the process.

Arizona Farm Bureau conducts a quarterly marketbasket of 16 food items on behalf of Arizona families. If the study’s suggested increase of 5 to 6 percent in food prices over five years is realized, that increase would be especially high in the fruits and vegetables. “To see that type of price increase factored into our cost of food especially during inflationary food-price periods can become a true hardship for some families,” suggests Julie Murphree, spokesperson for the Arizona Farm Bureau whose department spearheads the quarterly marketbasket. “We shouldn’t have to see the consequences of no visa reform hit consumers in the pocketbook.”

FYP2“Agriculture must feed 9 billion people by 2050 with fewer resources available,” said Arizona Farm Bureau 1st Vice President Stefanie Smallhouse. “Our government should not make this more challenging than it has to be to meet this need by ignoring our labor problems. We’re trying to make our diets healthier for our children. With the increased food prices, will this cause families to opt out of eating more fruits and vegetables?”

“Most Americans believe that they have outgrown farm work, which is reflected in their unwillingness to take farm jobs, even temporarily,” said Stallman. “The bottom line of this study is that we either import our labor or we import our food.”

The study compared changes in farm output, commodity prices, farm income, farm asset values, and food prices across four generic reform alternatives.

To read the study, click here.

 

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