• Yuma, Arizona’s Leafy greens farming annually generates an estimated $3 to $4 billion.November is “Arizona Leafy Greens Month.” It celebrates the kickoff of Arizona’s leafy greens season, with abundant growth, harvest, and shipments of Arizona-grown lettuce throughout the United States and Canada.
• Arizona is the winter lettuce capital of the U.S. contributing 25% of U.S. lettuce production annually; more than 90% of it in the winter.
• Yuma farmers produce 170 million servings of lettuce per day from November to April eaten by Americans and Canadians.
• In Yuma, facilities supporting the growers and packers include 22 coolers and 10 salad plants.
  Daily between Thanksgiving and Easter, 1,500 to 2,000 refrigerated semi-truckloads of leafy greens leave Yuma to deliver all over America and Canada so all of us can enjoy our leafy greens even during the wintertime.
• These refrigerated truckloads of vegetables can deliver to New York in approximately 4 days and be on someone’s salad plate at the family dinner table or high-end restaurant fresh and ready to eat.
• In winter and unable to replicate anywhere else in the country, only Arizona’s vegetable production can harness
  • Legal available labor
  • Ideal Climate
  • Quality Water
  • Soil Health
  • Robust Infrastructure.
• Farmers work to protect public health by participating in a food safety program, which cultivates food safety practices, verifies on-farm compliance, utilizes data for improvement, and empowers industry with tools to advance food safety.
• Arizona consistently produces an abundance of nutritious and safe leafy greens.
• The desert southwest is the only place in the USA that can grow these tender crops in the wintertime, providing a fresh, wholesome, home-grown source of veggies.
• Yuma County ranks in the top 1/10th of 1% of U.S. counties in vegetable production.
• Nearly 20% of Arizona’s leafy greens are produced organically and 80% conventionally to meet consumer interest in both.
• Arizona’s 15 leafy greens are covered by the Arizona Leafy Greens Agreement (AZ LGMA) which assures stringent food safety practices:

1. Endive
2. Escarole
3. Spring Mix
4. Cabbage
5. Romaine Lettuce
6. Butter Lettuce
7. Arugula
8. Iceberg Lettuce
9. Green Leaf Lettuce
10. Red Leaf Lettuce
11. Baby Leaf Lettuce
12. Spinach
13. Kale
14. Chard
15. Radicchio

• Yuma County is considered America’s winter salad bowl. But lots of leafy greens are also coming from Arizona’s Maricopa and Pinal Counties.
• Eating more leafy greens is healthy for you! Leafy greens, especially the dark green ones, are packed with phytonutrients, protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
• The darker leafy greens are rich in A, C, E and K, and broccoli, Bok choy and mustards are also rich in several B vitamins.
• Kale contains more Vitamin C than oranges.
• Bok Choy, though celery-like in appearance, belongs to the cabbage family.
• Collard greens have been studied for their ability to lower cholesterol.
• Cabbage dates to the 1600s. Some drink juiced cabbage for stomach and intestinal issues.
• The Vitamin K contained in dark leafy vegetables is good for protecting bones from osteoporosis and helping prevent inflammatory diseases.
• The most appealing benefits of dark green leafy vegetables are their low calorie and carbohydrate content and their low glycemic index.
• Romaine lettuce is one of the five lettuce types and an excellent source of folate and vitamin K.
  Spinach is a natural hydrator with raw spinach 91% water. It’s an excellent source of vitamins A, C, and K, folate, potassium, and fiber.

WHAT IS THE ARIZONA LEAFY GREENS MARKETING AGREEMENT?

Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (Arizona LGMA) provides rigorous, science-based food safety audits to the Arizona produce industry and is managed by the Arizona Leafy Greens Food Safety Committee. Arizona is the second-largest leafy green producer in the United States. Arizona Leafy Greens members represent 98% of leafy green products grown in Arizona.

Sources: Arizona Farm Bureau, Arizona Department of Agriculture, Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, USDA-NASS, Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association, and our Arizona leafy greens farmers.
Virtual Ag Tour Series: Produce Farming

Yuma produces 90% of our leafy greens for the U.S. in the winter and they do it with efficient irrigation systems. Climate, labor, water, technology, and infrastructure mean Yuma production cannot be replicated anywhere else in the country during winter.

between Thanksgiving and Easter, 1,500 to 2,000 refrigerated semi-truckloads of leafy greens leave Yuma every day to deliver all over America and Canada so all of us can enjoy our leafy greens during the wintertime.

Yuma, Maricopa and Pinal counties are gearing up for our winter vegetable season where climate, labor, water, infrastructure, and quality seed combine to make Arizona the best place to grow leafy greens in the winter. Yuma alone produces 170 million servings of lettuce daily.

Yuma farmers produce so many wonderful fresh leafy greens, they’re helping supply about 130 million servings to the U.S. and Canada every single day. Our favorite salads come from Yuma farms. Serve it with some Arizona beef.

Arizona grocery stores are full of local food. It’s in the dairy, meat, and egg case and the produce aisle. 53% of the beef in the meat case comes from Arizona ranches, and you’ve eaten leafy greens from Yuma farms in winter.

Putting Olive oil on salad helps the body absorb nutrients. Good to know since Yuma, Arizona is considered America’s winter Salad Bowl because of all the leafy greens it produces!

Yuma farmers produce so many wonderful fresh leafy greens, we’re helping supply about 130 million servings to the U.S. and Canada every single day during the winter months. Our favorite salads come from Yuma farms. Serve your salad with some Arizona beef.

By Julie Murphree, Arizona Farm Bureau Outreach Director

According to recent findings, folks who had a higher habitual dietary intake of nitrate-rich vegetables like spinach, lettuce and kale had 11% stronger lower limb strength, as well as up to 4% faster-walking speed, compared with those with lower dietary nitrate intake. With Yuma, Arizona the Winter Lettuce Bowl Capitol of the United States, we can sing the praises of these findings!

The findings, published in the Journal of Nutrition, were based on data from 3,759 adults in Australia. This is a real celebration for our Arizona produce farmers throughout the state since we grow so much of these wonderful high-value agriculture commodities.

For the first time, a leafy green, Head Lettuce (at over $1 billion), beat out dairy and cattle as the top Arizona agriculture product in cash receipts (2019 USDA statistics; 2020 not available to report until fall 2021).

• Head Lettuce                     1                        $1.086 Billion
• Milk                                     2                            $851 Million
• Cattle/Calves                     3                            $784 Million

Other Neat Facts About Arizona’s Leafy Greens

• Governor Jan Brewer proclaimed the month of November “Arizona Leafy Greens Month.” The month celebrates the kickoff of Arizona’s leafy greens season, with abundant growth, harvest, and shipments of Arizona-grown lettuce throughout the United States and Canada.
• The desert southwest is the only place in America that can grow these tender crops in the wintertime, providing a fresh, wholesome, home-grown source of veggies.
• Yuma County ranks in the top 1/10^th of 1% of US counties in vegetable production.
• Daily between Thanksgiving and Easter, 1,000 to 1,200 semi-truckloads of leafy greens leave Yuma to deliver all over America and Canada so all of us can enjoy our leafy greens even during the wintertime.
• Nearly 20% of Arizona’s leafy greens are produced organically and 80% conventionally to meet consumer interest in both.
• Americans eat an estimated 130 million salads a day.
• Arizona’s 15 leafy greens covered by the Arizona Leafy Greens Agreement(AZ LGMA) which assures stringent food safety practices?

• 1. Endive
  2. Escarole
  3. Spring Mix
  4. Cabbage
  5. Romaine Lettuce
  6. Butter Lettuce
  7. Arugula
  8. Iceberg Lettuce
  9. Green Leaf Lettuce
  10. Red Leaf Lettuce
  11. Baby Leaf Lettuce
  12. Spinach
  13. Kale
  14. Chard
  15. Radicchio

• Yuma County is considered America’s winter salad bowl. But lots of leafy greens are coming from Arizona’s Maricopa County too.

Healthy Motivation of Leafy Greens

• Eating more leafy greens is healthy for you as the study at the beginning of this article confirms! Additionally, leafy greens, especially the dark green ones, are packed with phytonutrients, protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
• The darker leafy greens are rich in A, C, E and K, and broccoli, bok choy and mustards are also rich in several B vitamins.
• Kale contains more Vitamin C than oranges.
• Bok Choy, though celery-like in appearance, belongs to the cabbage family.
• Collard greens have been studied for their ability to lower cholesterol.
• Cabbage dates to the 1600s. Some drink juiced cabbage for stomach and intestinal issues.
• The Vitamin K contained in dark leafy vegetables is good for protecting bones from osteoporosis and helping prevent inflammatory diseases.
• The most appealing benefits of dark green leafy vegetables is their low calorie and carbohydrate content and their low glycemic index.
• Romaine lettuce is one of the five lettuce types and an excellent source of folate and vitamin K.
• Spinach is a natural hydrator with raw spinach 91% water. It’s an excellent source of vitamins A, C, and K, folate, potassium, and fiber.

So, since Arizona farmers are shipping their leafy greens all over the United States in the winter, we can feel proud we’re contributing to the health of all Americans. At least if they eat our leafy greens. Find out more about your green vegetables by doing a search within the Fill Your Plate Blog section.

We’re Yuma farmers. Along with other Yuma farmers, we’re producing so many wonderful fresh leafy greens, we’re helping supply 130 million servings to the U.S. and Canada every single day. Our favorite salads come from Yuma farms.

Right now, Yuma farmers are producing so many fresh leafy greens, they’re supplying about 130 million servings to the U.S. and Canada every single day. Annually, when you add California that translates to 50 billion servings for our two countries.

By Laura Slatalla, Recent ASU Nutrition Student

Green leafy vegetables are rich in folic acid, vitamin C and K, fiber, magnesium, and phytochemicals. They lower risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Those greens are also low calorie and low fat, so they’re excellent for weight management! But the average American diet doesn’t actually contain that many servings of leafy greens, so we need to bump up our daily servings!

Here are some easy ways to add leafy greens to your diet, and remember- the darker the green the better!

1. Load up sandwiches or wraps with spinach and lettuce. Your lunchtime favorites will taste fresher and be crisper.
2. Add spinach to scrambled eggs and omelets in the morning.
3. Make a salad for your main dish! Add other colorful veggies like bell peppers and carrots, grilled chicken, seeds, and even fruit like apples.
4. Baked kale chips are crunchy dark green snacks!
5. Add greens to your pasta dishes- layered with lasagna or tossed in ravioli.
6. Lettuce wraps can replace tortillas when you’re eating tacos, or bread when eating sandwiches.
7. Green smoothies! Any bitterness from vegetables in a smoothie can be countered with the sweetness from some fruit.
8. Add more leafy greens to stir fry! Traditionally we just throw in some broccoli, but collard greens and spinach are tasty in stir fry too.

Go to fillyourplate.org to hunt for our vegetable recipes online. During the winter, Arizona’s Yuma valley produces 90% of beautiful leafy greens for the rest of America.

Yuma, Arizona produces nearly 90% of our leafy greens and other vegetables for all the United States in the winter and they do it with one of the more efficient and amazing irrigation systems around.