Friday Food Facts

Last we heard, the largest turkey on record weighed 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog. Americans consume 46 million turkeys at Thanksgiving each year. A few of our Arizona retail farms raise turkeys for the holidays. But nearly the whole meal can be grown and raised in Arizona… except the cranberries.

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.

Arizona is an excellent place to grow alfalfa because of our favorable climate that allows for up to 10 harvests of premium quality alfalfa per year, averaging at least 8 cuttings, compared to 3 to 4 cuttings in the Midwest. Arizona alfalfa grows green and beautiful in the winter.

It’s Fall, our favorite time of year. Go to Fill Your Plate and check out all the farms you can visit to celebrate all the fall festivities and pick out your Arizona-grown pumpkin. Our farms open to the public include country stores, corn mazes and more to make this season shine.

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.