Food For Thought: Avocado Shrimp Tostada Recipe

Food for Thought…

Avocado Shrimp TostadaServes 4 Ingredients

1½ POUNDS medium size Texas Wild Caught Shrimp, peeled and deveined 3 CLOVES fresh garlic, peeled and minced 2 TABLESPOONS olive oil 1 TEASPOON ground cumin ½ TEASPOON crushed red pepper 2 TEASPOON kosher salt ½ TEASPOON black pepper 3 small avocados 1 TABLESPOON olive oil 2 TEASPOON lime juice 1 TEASPOON kosher salt 8 crispy 6-inch round tostadas Garnishes: sliced jalapenos, sliced radish, roasted corn kernels, shredded red cabbage, pico de gallo, crumbled queso fresco and lime wedges

Preparation

• In a medium size bowl, toss the shrimp with the garlic, olive oil, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Allow the shrimp to sit for ten minutes for the flavors to develop. • Heat a charbroil grill to medium high heat. • Brush the grill grates with a little oil to keep the shrimp from sticking. Place the shrimp in a single layer on the grill and cook for three to four minutes on each side until the shrimp begin to curl and turn pink and the center of the shrimp is no longer translucent. Remove the shrimp from the grill and keep warm. • Cut the avocados in half and then remove the pits and scoop the flesh from the skin, placing the avocado pulp in a small bowl. Using a fork, mash the avocado with one tablespoon of olive oil, the lime juice and one teaspoon salt. Continue to mash the avocado until fairly smooth. • Divide the avocado pulp evenly between the eight tostada shells and spread across the surface of each tostada. • Top each tostada with three or four shrimp each and then add a topping of the wide range of garnishes as desired. Serve immediately.

Higher food prices reflect variety of factors

AgriLife Extension economists provide ‘bigger picture’ on some agricultural product increases

Factors contributing to some higher prices at the local grocery store are the result of a perfect storm of short- and long-term retractions, disruptions, disasters and wide fluctuations in supply and demand, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economists. And that’s just the short list.

“We are already seeing consumers paying more for many grocery items, including beef, poultry and fish, as well as dairy items and a number of other household staples,” said David Anderson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Bryan-College Station.

With the pandemic, along with ice storm and drought, fuel increases and supply disruptions, slowdowns in shipping and a head-snapping return in demand, there are more than a few reasons consumers are seeing increased food prices.

Increased cost to feed poultry and livestock

The factors affecting food prices at grocery stores are varied and many. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo collage)

Anderson said one significant factor in the rising cost of meat items is the increased cost of feed for poultry and livestock, which is made up primarily of corn and soybean meal.

“Cows, chickens, goats, sheep and other farm animals have diets that are highly dependent on feed made from these commodities,” Anderson said. “Increased costs for these commodities, along with increases in fuel and transportation costs, energy costs and the costs of agricultural inputs, such as fertilizer, eventually get passed along to the consumer.” He said many problems with agricultural supply chain disruptions and production retractions that occurred during the pandemic will take time to rectify.

“Increased fuel costs, disturbances in the reliability of transportation and labor, and a general trend toward inflation have also been factors in food price increases,” he said. Along with supply problems, he said, many agricultural operations have had to spend more on pandemic-related safety training and protocols and are passing along some of those costs.

“There also have been weather anomalies that have had an impact on agriculture, such as the winter storm and then drought affecting producers in Texas,” Anderson said. “In all, agricultural production and the effects of input costs, the push and pull of supply and demand, and other variables is a pretty complex and often unpredictable situation.”

Pipeline hack no major agriculture setback

While the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline caused sudden and serious disruption of the primary fuel supply to eastern states, it likely did not cause any serious longer-term impact on agriculture, Anderson said.

“The fuel supply problem was exacerbated by panic buying that made the shortages even worse and left a number of areas entirely without fuel,” he said. “There was some cause for alarm among consumers, but that overreaction only served to prolong the situation.”

Anderson said agricultural producers in the region may have experienced some short-term issues with the pipeline interruption, such as temporary shortage of diesel fuel for farm equipment or temporary setbacks in transporting goods and supplies. However, the event likely did not produce much of impact on agriculture as a whole and really had very minimal impact on agricultural production in states like Texas and California.

Winter storm, prolonged drought in Texas

Welch said although some grain production in Texas was affected by Winter Storm Uri, producers are making good progress on corn and grain sorghum crops that needed to be replanted after the freeze.

“On the other hand, this year’s wheat production in West Texas has been affected by a different weather condition, a prolonged drought, which has been bad for those producers,” he said. “There are a number of factors at play in agricultural production, and it’s often a combination of factors and not one factor alone causing supply issues and price increases.” He said yield losses from weather, as well as additional unexpected increases in labor and energy costs and increases in the cost of various agricultural inputs, have combined to create an escalating effect.

“There are so many variables, it’s difficult to pinpoint prices,” he said. “But it’s apparent that prices will continue to go up, at least in the short term.”

However, both Welch and Ribera noted grain prices in general are at a high level, presenting producers with an opportunity to make up for some of the losses they might have incurred from bad weather or other disruptions.

Ribera also noted the Texas citrus industry is still trying to recover from at least $230 million in losses from last year’s and this year’s crops.

The Texas grapefruit crop took a profound beating from Winter Storm Uri. Overall Texas citrus losses from last year and this one will exceed $230 million. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

“The effects of the storm likely will impact grapefruit availability and prices, but probably won’t have a significant impact on orange prices due to other large supplies available from Florida and California,” Ribera said. “But there are still likely to be increases in citrus prices due to increased costs of labor and transportation, as well as from general overall inflation.”

Many cattle ranchers across the state are also trying to recover from losses due to the winter storm while also dealing with this year’ extended drought, said Justin Benavidez, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension economist, Amarillo. Long-term livestock losses from the winter storm have been estimated at upwards of $300 million.

“Beef cattle producers are still working to replace the livestock they lost,” he said. “That takes a lot of time and is very costly. And the extended drought this year has had a further negative economic impact on them.”

Texas landowners deserve fair, transparent eminent domain process

he president of the state’s largest general farm organization urged Texas House lawmakers today to give landowners an eminent domain process where they can legitimately negotiate a fair deal. Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) President Rus sell Boening of Wilson County testified in T Austin in support of the committee substitute for HB 901 (CSHB 901) at a public hearing of the House Committee on Land and Resource Management. The legislation by State Rep. DeWayne Burns of Cleburne includes language agreed to by TFB in 2019 to ensure landowners get a fair bona fide offer and required easement terms with the initial offer.

“Over the past four years of working for meaningful eminent domain reform, Texas Farm Bureau’s goal has been simple— give the landowner a process where they can legitimately negotiate a fair deal. A fair deal that gives them the compensation they have a right to under the Takings clause of the Constitution. A fair deal that results in an easement agreement that protects their property and other rights,” Boening said to the committee. “And, hopefully, make this possible without having to hire a lawyer, appraiser or other professionals whose costs the landowner cannot recover. The landowner has no right under the Takings clause to be reimbursed for those costs.”

Boening noted the goal of meaningful eminent domain reform and the legislation is not to stop or create unreasonable delays for infrastructure projects. When a private company armed with lawyers and other professionals has the authority to take private property, there has to be a process that protects the landowner’s interest, he said. Under CSHB 901, a private entity with eminent domain authority has made a bona fide offer only if the initial offer includes the complete written report of the property’s value and the private entity’s basis for initial offer, including any damages to the remaining property. The value or estimate price must be determined by one of the following prepared by an appraiser or real estate broker—property appraisal, comparative market analysis, broker price opinion or market study.

The bona fide offer under CSHB 901 must also include the Landowner Bill of Rights and a conveyance document with the required minimum easement terms. Features of minimum easement terms include required terms for pipeline and transmission line easements; the required terms are negotiable after the initial offer; and the easement document must be filed with condemnation petition.

“Current law does not give the landowner a legitimate opportunity to get a fair deal without hiring a lawyer or other professionals. If you look at Section 21.0113 of the Property Code, you can see it. Under the bona fide offer, it requires a landowner to receive an initial offer in writing. That’s it,” Boening told to the committee. “So, a landowner gets an initial offer in writing and then has to try and negotiate a fair deal without any information on what the offer was based upon. And the landowner is given an easement document where the landowner has to negotiate technical legal terms to protect themselves, not knowing if what they are given is what most landowners receive.” Following the conclusion of testimony, the committee withdrew CSHB 901 from consideration and left HB 901 pending.

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