Our Valley seems to be locked into a permanent winter weather pattern of successive ‘gray days’ occasionally interrupted by rain. As the calendar goes, we are concluding our first month of winter-there are still two more months until spring. The question “What’s New, What’s in Season” remains a popular one and there are only so many ways that we can say ‘Brussel Sprouts and Blood Oranges’ as an answer. For a diversion, there are three items of interest to us at the moment: Hearts, as in Valentine’s Day: Health-the new Dietary Guidelines; and the Web-new information on the Produce Express website.
  Hearts-Many of you are planning special Valentine’s Day menus and there are several seasonal Items available. As of this week we will be stocking California Asparagus in the 28lb. case. The majority of the new crop is from the Imperial Valley. In season, Asparagus is available in four sizes-Pencil, Standard, Large and Extra Large/Jumbo. 90% of what we sell is graded Large and is available by the case and pound. The other three sizes are case only. Please be specific when ordering. If you wish to emphasize the color Red as well as seasonal items on your menu, consider:

                 Lola Rosa Lettuce                     Baby Red Carrots
                 Baby Red Romaine                    Radishes
                 Red Oak Lettuce                       Dried Cherries
                 Red Mustard                             Dried Cranberries
                 Radicchio                                    Red Pears
                 Red Belgian Endive                   Blood Oranges
                 Baby Red Beets                         Endigia
                 Baby Chioggia Beets                 Red Pearl Onions
                 Ruby Fingerling Potatoes           Traviso

  Health-Hopefully, you are all familiar with the phrase ‘5 A Day’. It refers to the suggested number of servings of fruits and vegetables the average person should consume on a daily basis as part of a healthy diet. The 5 A Day Program is an alliance of several well known public and private agencies including The American Cancer Society, The American Heart Association, The United States Department of Agriculture, The Produce for Better Health Foundation and many more. The purpose of the program is to establish and promote dietary guidelines. Since the Program’s inception in 1988, 5 A Day has grown to 5-9 A Day and, earlier this month, the Federal Government released the 2005 Dietary Guidelines recommending that consumers eat 5-13 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, depending on their caloric value. The new guidelines reflect the latest scientific evidence that, whether your motivation is to look good in a bathing suit this summer
or to avoid cancer and heart disease in your old age, everything points to daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. The Guidelines also form the basis of the soon to be released new and revised Food Pyramid.
  The new Guidelines are good news if you are in the business of selling produce or running a restaurant. Health conscious consumers will, when dining out, lean towards restaurants offering a wide variety of produce on their menus. As a company, our concept is to provide you with quality, service, variety and a fair price with regard to our produce. We also wish to provide information to you concerning the healthful benefits of fruits and vegetables. Consider it our New Year’s Resolution. Information on the current Guidelines can be found at the following websites: www.5ADay.gov (this site will answer that all important question ‘What is a serving’?); www.5ADay.com; and, to read the report-www.Healthierus.gov

  The Web-For the past year Produce Express has had this website sitting out here in cyberspace. This site contains a company profile, market report and information on Del Rio Botanicals, the Produce Express farm. This site will become the logical way to begin the discussion on produce and health. In the next few weeks, we will be adding two new pages. “What’s In Season” will provide a monthly calendar to answer that very question. “Produce Encyclopedia” is an ambitious attempt to provide you with an Apple to Zucchini description of produce. We have identified hundreds of items and will post the descriptions as they are completed. Hopefully, you will visit our site and, if so inclined, use the ‘contact us’ link for any questions or thoughts that you may have regarding our products. The website will never replace the way we have been doing business since we started-communicating directly to our customers with the human voice.