Bread of life: Fighting world hunger with breadfruit

Excerpts from a 2/18/10 article in the Miami Herald by Ellen Kanner

Green and bumpy on the outside, pale and starchy on the inside, breadfruit may not be much to look at, but Diane Rangone believes it can help feed the world.

Breadfruit is rich in fiber, calcium and potassium, and of all the starch crops, it's the highest in energy-sustaining complex carbohydrates. It may be bland, says Rangone, director of Hawaii's Breadfruit Institute, but what it lacks in flavor, it makes up in volume: One fruit makes a meal, with leftovers.

Speaking at the Kampong last month to the Rare Fruit Council and other interested South Floridians, she explained a clever cultivation coincidence: The regions most plagued by food insecurity -- sub-Saharan Africa, pockets of Latin America and the Caribbean -- are the ones best suited for growing breadfruit.

"Being a pioneer with these fruits is always interesting and sometimes difficult,'' says Craig Wheeling, president of Brooks Tropicals in Homestead.

Wheeling grew breadfruit in Haiti in the early 1990s. The trees thrived and produced beautifully, he says, but exporting the fruit was a problem.

"It had a short life,'' he says. ``But this project is aiming more toward the local markets, and that's important. I think it is a very interesting initiative.''

The Breadfruit Institute's efforts to establish the fruit in Honduras have been promising. Jamaica has purchased baby breadfruit from Rangone, and 45 other countries have requested it, she says, including Haiti. In the aftermath of the earthquake, breadfruit production is hardly an immediate concern, but Rangone hopes to move forward there in time.

``If we could plant millions of trees in the hills of Haiti, in the long term, we could transform the island,'' she says.

Once a tree takes root, it can bear fruit within three to five years, meaning a food-impoverished people can quickly see -- and eat -- the result of their efforts.

From breadfruit's culinary possibilities include boiling, baking, mashing. Breakfruit makes great nachos, cake and hummus.

Brooks Tropicals launches new papaya box

02/03/2010 Produce News article by Christina DiMartino

Homestead, FL-based Brooks Tropicals has introduced a new papaya box for its year-round movement of "Caribbean Red" papayas from Belize.

"It is a display-ready, corner-post box," Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Brooks Tropicals, told The Produce News Feb. 3, explaining that corner post refers to the small triangle that fits into the corner and acts as a post in the box to provide more rigidity and stability.

According to Ms. Ostlund, the new "Caribbean Red" papaya boxes address the company's top priorities. "They provide the best in fruit protection," she said. "Our new corner post boxes have gone through considerable testing and have shown to increase fruit protection substantially. They can stack higher without suffering damage, and when they arrive at stores on pallets, they're in as perfect condition as possible. That results in less bruising and shrink."

The boxes also requires less paper to manufacture, said Ms. Ostlund, so they are also better for the environment.

"We have created new 'Catch the Wave' artwork to grab the consumer's eye," she added. "The boxes are ready for the produce aisle display just by taking off the lid."

The machine that produces the boxes has been installed in Belize, and trial shipments will begin in February. They will then be rolled out in increasing fashion.

Ms. Ostlund said that Brooks Tropicals plants papaya trees based on projected forecasts from its customers. "This enables us to work with customers on promotions and advertisements, in some cases a year in advance," she said. "We literally sit with our customers and work out their papaya shipments so they'll have volumes they need."

Ms. Ostlund said that Brooks has up to 20 people watching the fields at all times and reporting back to the company's laboratory in Belize. "We have really beefed up the lab," she said. "It's a stellar facility, maybe the best in South [America] or Central America. This gives us great insight into the good and negative things that can happen and what conditions create the best quality papaya. Every imaginable detail is considered and examined."

She added that Brooks has several key individuals who manage papaya operations for the company.

Henry Warrington has worked with Brooks Tropicals for a couple of years as the head of its papaya field operations in Belize. His background is in large- scale farming in the citrus industry. He has managed farms in South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and California.

"He has fantastic understanding of papayas, and he understands what bad weather like storms and hurricanes can do," said Ms. Ostlund.

Victor E. Salguero, a new employee at the Belize laboratory, is a leading entomologist. He heads what Ms. Ostlund said might be the best in-field laboratory in Central America or South America. She added that Mr. Salguero's study of the efficacies of fertilizers being used was crucial in advancing the company's quality program.

Richard Mancini joined Brooks Tropicals' sales office in Homestead in mid- January. He got a great deal of retail experience as district sales manager for a regional distributor.
"It takes someone of Richard's ability to focus on our papaya brand and work with customers to meet their volumes and papaya needs," said Ms. Ostlund. "Richard works directly with all our sales reps to ensure they are delivering the best quantities and qualities to our customers."

Fruta Bomba donates computers

This morning Fruta Bomba donated 2 new computers to the Corozal Police Department. The computers will be used by detectives of the Special Investigations Unit. This donation will help them to be more efficient at their job, and will benefit the community also.

Here's Henry Warrington with representatives from the Police Department.

Florida avocado season winds down

The Packer article by Doug Ohlemeier published on 02/05/2010

Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Brooks Tropicals Inc., Homestead, Fla., views some bins of avocados arriving at the packing shed on Feb. 3.

Florida’s avocado harvest is winding down, and unless another round of freezing temperatures are on the way, the spring crop shouldn’t be affected.

Bill Brindle, vice president of sales management, says the avocados sustained little damage during the early and mid-January freezing weather that struck Florida.

Brindle says a February freeze could cause more damage because the trees would be flowering for the upcoming season’s crop, which normally starts in late May.

Brooks Tropicals launches new papaya box

02/03/2010 Produce News article by Christina DiMartino

Homestead, FL-based Brooks Tropicals has introduced a new papaya box for its year-round movement of "Caribbean Red" papayas from Belize.

"It is a display-ready, corner-post box," Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for Brooks Tropicals, told The Produce News Feb. 3, explaining that corner post refers to the small triangle that fits into the corner and acts as a post in the box to provide more rigidity and stability.

According to Ms. Ostlund, the new "Caribbean Red" papaya boxes address the company's top priorities. "They provide the best in fruit protection," she said. "Our new corner post boxes have gone through considerable testing and have shown to increase fruit protection substantially. They can stack higher without suffering damage, and when they arrive at stores on pallets, they're in as perfect condition as possible. That results in less bruising and shrink."

The boxes also requires less paper to manufacture, said Ms. Ostlund, so they are also better for the environment.

"We have created new 'Catch the Wave' artwork to grab the consumer's eye," she added. "The boxes are ready for the produce aisle display just by taking off the lid."

The machine that produces the boxes has been installed in Belize, and trial shipments will begin in February. They will then be rolled out in increasing fashion.

Ms. Ostlund said that Brooks Tropicals plants papaya trees based on projected forecasts from its customers. "This enables us to work with customers on promotions and advertisements, in some cases a year in advance," she said. "We literally sit with our customers and work out their papaya shipments so they'll have volumes they need."

Ms. Ostlund said that Brooks has up to 20 people watching the fields at all times and reporting back to the company's laboratory in Belize. "We have really beefed up the lab," she said. "It's a stellar facility, maybe the best in South [America] or Central America. This gives us great insight into the good and negative things that can happen and what conditions create the best quality papaya. Every imaginable detail is considered and examined."

She added that Brooks has several key individuals who manage papaya operations for the company.

Henry Warrington has worked with Brooks Tropicals for a couple of years as the head of its papaya field operations in Belize. His background is in large- scale farming in the citrus industry. He has managed farms in South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and California.

"He has fantastic understanding of papayas, and he understands what bad weather like storms and hurricanes can do," said Ms. Ostlund.

Victor E. Salguero, a new employee at the Belize laboratory, is a leading entomologist. He heads what Ms. Ostlund said might be the best in-field laboratory in Central America or South America. She added that Mr. Salguero's study of the efficacies of fertilizers being used was crucial in advancing the company's quality program.

Richard Mancini joined Brooks Tropicals' sales office in Homestead in mid- January. He got a great deal of retail experience as district sales manager for a regional distributor.

"It takes someone of Richard's ability to focus on our papaya brand and work with customers to meet their volumes and papaya needs," said Ms. Ostlund. "Richard works directly with all our sales reps to ensure they are delivering the best quantities and qualities to our customers."

Brooks adds papaya box, beefs up laboratory

The Packer article by Doug Ohlemeir on 2/01/10

Brooks Tropicals Inc., Homestead, Fla., is introducing a new papaya box, has upgraded its quality control laboratory and has brought in some new personnel to help it improve papaya deliveries.
The year-round papaya grower-shipper has expanded and fortified its Belize laboratory with new equipment.

Brooks has always had a laboratory but is now conducting more in-depth research on growing practices to ensure consistent fruit quality, said Mary Ostlund, director of marketing.

The new display-ready corner post papaya boxes — which use less cardboard — provide for more rigidity when stacking and should result in less fruit bruising and makes for better overall quality, Ostlund said.

Brooks has also added a salesman to sell its Caribbean Red-branded papayas and a scientist to head up its Belize lab.

Richard Mancini, who joined Brooks in mid-January, is the Caribbean Red papaya director of sales from Brooks’ Homestead office.

Mancini, who previously worked retail sales as a south Florida district sales manager for Fiji Water, takes the position previously held by Jose Rossignoli, who was Brooks’ vice president of sales before leaving for Colorful Harvest LLC, Salinas, Calif., in December.

Victor Salguero, an agronomist and entomologist who has degrees from San Carlos, the national University of Guatemala, and New Mexico State University and the University of Florida, leads Brooks’ Belize lab. Salguero joined Brooks last fall.

Henry Warrington is Brooks' director of papaya field operations. Henry has helped Brooks recover its papaya volume after the Category 5 Hurricane Dean damaged Brooks' Belize operations in 2007.

Brooks, which grows and ships its Caribbean Red papaya throughout the year, this year expects to increase its volumes to 1.8 million boxes, 25% more than 2009 and about the same volume it had before the hurricane struck, Ostlund said.

“We came back not only from Hurricane Dean, but Belize had some record rainfall last year, about 72 inches,” Ostlund said. “To be able to come back with the efforts of Henry and Victor in the lab, being able to put into effect agricultural measures that can combat all the negative problems you have with record rainfall, that says quite a bit about the efficiency of the lab and how we will be able to progress in the future with good quality and good volume.”

Ostlund said Brooks is experiencing the best papaya quality it has seen in more than two decades

HyVee Health Tip: Focus on Heart Health in February

Excerpt from an transcript of a news feature on KSFY TV, Sioux Falls South Dakota

As you head to your local grocery store next time, let your heart be your guide. There are lots of heart healthy choices you can make right in the aisles.

Jessica Waltner, Registered Dietician with HyVee says, "I think one of the big things for eating for heart health is watching what kinds of fats you eat. You really want to focus on those healthy fats.

There are three different kinds of fats: poly unsaturated, mono unsaturated and saturated fat."

The better fats are the first two, the unsaturated fats, and they're found in things like olive oil, canola oil, nuts, seeds and fish.

Another great source of those monounsaturated fats is the avocado, and now in addition to the regular kind, there's a new lower fat version called the Slimcado, but they're both great choices.