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North Georgia’s Agricultural Newspaper
Fr
ee
JULY 2012
SUMMER’S HERE!
Get outside, have fun, but be safe By Barbara Olejnik Georgia Ag News Staff bolejnik@poultrytimes.net
GAINESVILLE — Summer is in full swing and the Fourth of July is almost here. That means its time for picnics, barbecues, fireworks, dips in the pool and outings on Lake Lanier. But it also means its time to do a check on safety to ensure that all these activities will be fun and enjoyable.
Photo courtesy National Chicken Council
Grilling chicken: When enjoying summertime meals, like grilled chicken or burgers, be sure to follow safety steps when operating the grill, as well as cooking to the right temperature.
Food safety For picnics or for any food prepared and eaten outdoors, the USDA lists the four primary safety steps to be followed — Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill. Clean: First, start with clean surfaces and clean hands. Hands should be washed with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before and after handling food. Also make sure the surfaces that come in contact with raw and cooked foods are clean before starting to cook and are washed frequently.
Separate: Raw meats and poultry should be prepared separately from vegetables and cooked foods. Also use separate cutting boards form meats and veggies. Cook: Always use a food thermometer when cooking. Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness. Whole cuts of pork, lamb, veal, and beef should be cooked to 145 degrees F as measured by a food thermometer placed in the thickest part of the meat, followed by a three-minute rest time before carving or consuming. Hamburgers and other ground beef should reach 160 degrees F. All poultry should reach a minimum temperature of 165 degrees F. Fish should be cooked to 145 degrees F. Fully cooked meats like hot dogs should be grilled to 165 degrees F or until steaming hot. Chill: Perishable food should never sit out more than two hours. If the temperature is higher than 90 degrees, food should not sit out more than one hour.
See Safety, Page 12
Red, white and blueberries By David B. Strickland Georgia Ag News Staff
dstrickland@poultrytimes.net
GAINESVILLE — Some of the signs of summer include hot dogs on the grill, baseball, outdoor fun in the intense Georgia heat — and blueberries. Blueberry season is here and the time is right to enjoy these tasty and nutritious little treats. These “Little Blue Dynamos®,” as they are referred to by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, are packed with antioxidants like vitamin C, man-
ganese, vitamin K, vitamin B6, as well as dietary fiber. Georgia has two blueberry seasons every year. The first one is in approximately April, and another is in May/ June. These seasons are made up of the two main varieties of production blueberries in Georgia — Southern Highbush is the April/May harvest; and Rabbiteye has a May/July harvest, notes the Georgia Blueberry Commission. According to a report by the University of Georgia, both harvests this year
bloomed early. Scott NeSmith, a blueberry horticulturalist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the Griffin campus, noted that the state’s blueberries were, “historically early . . . off-the-charts early.” For the first harvest, this suffered a loss because of a late season freeze and migrating birds claiming a large piece Photo by David B. Strickland of the crop. But the second blueberry season is performing well, and the state Feeling blue?: Unlike broilers and peanuts, Georgia is on track to produce approximately may not be the number one producer of blueberries, but
See Berries, Page 12
they are certainly a very significant part of the state’s agricultural production.