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HERE’S A GLIMPSE OF WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR AG COMMUNITY.
To view more events like the ones you see here, visit our website at www.FloridaAgNews.com and click on our AgriCalendar.
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
September 18
WINTER HAVEN FARMERS’ MARKET
Enjoy the fall season and get fresh produce! Head down to the farmers’ market, held weekly on Thursdays, from 8-5 p.m.
For more information, contact Audrey McIntosh at (863) 291- 5870.
September 20 & 27
LAKELAND DOWNTOWN
FARMERS CURB MARKET
The Lakeland farmers market is open every Saturday (except August), from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the street at the intersection of E. Pine Street and N. Kentucky Avenue. Enjoy produce from farmers plus resale produce, artisans and street food, music and more. For more informa- tion, contact Becky Abel, LDDA Coordinator at (863) 687-8910 or visit www.downtownfarmer- scurbmarket.org.
September 25
FARM CREDIT/AG INSTITUTES CANDIDATE’S FORUM
This is an event that has at- tracted over 300 of the state's agricultural leaders in the past; come hear the gubernato-
rial candidate’s agricultural platforms. For more informa- tion, contact Ron O’Connor at marketing@farmcreditcfl.com.
October 11
TOWER TRAINING BRUNCH & LEARN
Learn how to grow fresh fruits and vegetables at home with a hydroponics tower. The Mission of Winter Haven is offering a Brunch & Learn on the topic, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at 180 East Central Avenue in Winter Haven. For more information, call (863) 299-2348.
OCTOBER 1
HAINES CITY
FARMERS’ MARKET
Stop by Railroad Park in down- town Haines City and check out all the great local produce and products available, held every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call (863) 421-3700.
October 2
72ND ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
MEETING AND POLITICAL FORUM
If you're an active member
of Polk County Farm Bureau, then the Annual Membership Meeting and Political Forum is
a must-do event. The corn boil and political forum will begin
at 5:00 p.m. at the W.H. Stuart Center in Bartow, followed by dinner and the Annual Member- ship Meeting. Formal invitations will be mailed to PCFB active members. Call the Bartow of- fice at (863) 533-0561 ext. 112 or email lorik@pcfb.org to RSVP or get more information.
October 6-9
ALVIN C. WARNICK
REPRODUCTIVE
MANAGEMENT SCHOOL
The UF/IFAS South Florida Beef Forage Team will be offering an intensive course in cow
herd reproductive management designed for owners and operators of the beef cow herd on October 6-9 in Lake Placid at Buck Island Ranch. The
fee for this three-day course is $350. For more information and registration forms, please contact your local County Extension Agent or Bridget Carlisle at (863) 519-8677 Ext. 104 or bccarlis@ufl.edu. Registration deadline is Friday, September 19.
October 10-11
CRACKER STORYTELLING
FESTIVAL
The 26th Annual Cracker Storytelling Festival will be held at the Homeland Heritage Park in Homeland. Gates open at 9 AM and close at 3 PM. Admis- sion is $6 for adults and $4 for children. Parking is free. Enjoy a day of diverse storytelling, music and dancing, crafts and good food in a historic setting. A whip cracking contest will
be held Oct. 11th at 12:30
PM for trophy and cash prizes. The registration fee is $10. For more information, go to www. crackerstorytellingfestival.com.
October 10
FPA ANNUAL MEETING
AND CONFERENCE
The Florida Pomegranate
Association will be holding
their Annual Meeting and Conference
at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
For more information or to register, call Cindy Weinstein at (863) 604-3778.
THE TRUE TALE OF TUNA IN THE COLD SUPPLY CHAIN
THECOLD-SUPPLYchainprovides volumes of interesting “there-to-here” stories— tales about how foods get safely from production to your dining table. Picking up from last month’s column, let’s tell the travel tale of tuna originating from Southeast Asia.
First, please note that foreign producers of America-bound seafood have to meet the same U.S. food-safety regulations faced by domestic producers. When foreign companies want to compete in the U.S. seafood market, they have to play by our rules and be subject to inspections by our food-safety agencies.
Tuna is one of America’s top seafood imports, with more than half of canned
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tuna we import coming from Thailand. All of the tuna we eat here are wild-caught, meaning the fish are snagged at sea and then processed, packaged, and preserved (much of it frozen or refrigerated) right aboard ship— literally a food factory and refrigerated warehouse at sea. Good seafood processors will use time-and- temperature recorders (TTRs) in their cargo holds and containers— sometimes even within a case on a pallet to monitor transit storage temperatures and cold chain integrity.
Once the containers are filled at the processor’s location, the ship makes its way to the United States (major ports include Los Angeles and Miami), with transit by
sea usually taking three weeks. At port, pallets of tuna are placed on reefer truck trailers or rail cars for distribution to warehouses like Adams Cold Storage. After temporary storage,
the tuna is further distributed by truck or rail to its final point of use or sale.
by BEN ADAMS, JR.
From “catch” to the consumer, the tuna is subject to rigorous inspection, with technology and paperwork very closely checked to make sure the integrity of the cold-supply chain was never broken.
BIO: Ben Adams Jr. is an owner and president of Adams Cold Storage LLC in Auburndale. He has been directly involved in citrus production, warehousing and distribution, as well as state and community support, since 1980. His facility incorporates 200,000 square feet of multi-tem- perature warehousing, with an extensive expan- sion project currently underway.
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