Friday Food Facts

It’s summer! Time to find out if a watermelon is ripe by tapping it and listening for the hollow ripe sound. Arizona and California are the largest producers of this center-piece fruit of your family’s summer picnics.

Who uses water? We all do. Yes, agriculture uses a lot of water. But, there’s a lot of water in the food we eat, and it takes water to grow that food. Arizona agriculture grows for all of us.

Fill Your Plate is mobile friendly. Your weekend trip requires a morning visit to a farmer’s market. Just take out your smartphone, search Fill Your Plate.org and take advantage of our farmers’ market listing. You can also search for which farms you can actually visit!

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 and where my family farms! Queen Creek Olive Mill is one of Arizona’s most popular local olive oil suppliers.

Women represent a third of America’s farmers and ranchers. And, Arizona has the largest percentage of female farmers mainly due to so many of our native American farmers.