Friday Food Facts

In America, the traditional Christmas meal is often turkey or prime rib, a variety of vegetables, squash, and pumpkin pie and other yummy goodness. Plus, the USA has such a range of immigrant cultures that just about every type of food is eaten someplace on Christmas Day. And, just about everything we eat at Christmas can be grown or raised in Arizona.

The West contains only 20% of the U.S. farmland but it produces 60% of the total value of the agriculture product we enjoy today; an important message for food security and national security. The Reason we’re so productive out West? Targeted, managed irrigation including drip, and other modern-day methods of raising the food we eat. We grow more, using less.

For beef lovers, prime rib is considered an ideal alternative to turkey at Thanksgiving. And no wonder, Arizona is home to some of the highest quality and tastiest beef around. For beef recipes and to purchase directly from an Arizona rancher go to Fill Your Plate.org. The Schnepf family tradition is to have Mark Schnepf do all the cooking.

Greek yogurt has become the next big superfood. In Arizona, our dairy cows produce high-quality milk for one of our very own yogurt manufacturing plants. Remember, dairy contains 9 essential nutrients, making it one of the most nutrient-rich food items you can enjoy.

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. And Schnepf Farms can provide the Pumpkins!