Did You Know......?

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…the United States Government is required to “prefer U.S.-made products in its purchases?”

 

"The Buy American Act (BAA - 41 U.S.C. §§ 10a–10d) passed in 1933 by Congress and signed by President Hoover on his last full day in office, required the United States government to prefer U.S.-made products in its purchases. Other pieces of Federal legislation extend similar requirements to third-party purchases that utilize Federal funds, such as highway and transit programs.[1]  It requires that a product be manufactured in the U.S. of more than 50 percent U.S. parts to be considered Made in USA for government procurement purposes."[2]

The exception to the U.S. Government's preference and purchase of U.S.-made products is when a less expensive product can be outsourced.

[1] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_American_Act#cite_note-1  
[2] Source: http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus03-complying-made-usa-standard


Karina

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Did you know.....?

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…Texas is the leading cotton-producing state in the United States?

Cotton is grown in 17 southern states with about 48% percent of it being exported.  Click here if you are interested in finding out more information.  You may also be able to plan some summer field trips.

Karina

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Keep The Vampires....and Doctor Away

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I'm talking about garlic.  I enjoy cooking with garlic.  I always figure I can't go wrong with it, unless I burn it and that's for a completely different post.  Garlic, to me, represents the start to me cooking.  When I first met my husband, I knew how to make scrambled eggs, french toast and follow a recipe like it's no one's business.  Not much has changed since then.  I do, however, feel a little more comfortable playing around with how much of an ingredient I use in a recipe.

While grating garlic for yet another recipe, I wondered about garlic and where it comes from.  Here I am sharing some quick information that I learned about my beloved ingredient friend.

• There are claims that garlic helps prevent heart disease, including atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and also cancer.
• Garlic also allegedly controls blood sugar levels.
• Garlic is grown in every state except Alaska.
• Gilroy, CA is best known as the "Garlic Capital of the World," and home of the annual Garlic Festival in July.  {Road trip!}
  
• The United States produces 1.4% of the world's garlic {6th place}, with China in first place, growing 77% or 23 billion pounds of garlic per year.
• "The sticky juice within the bulb cloves is used as an adhesive in mending glass and porcelain in China."
  Source of information

I hope this gives you a new appreciation of another kitchen utensil.  Speaking of which, here is a garlic press that I found that is made in the USA.
 

Karina

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Fun Facts For Thanksgiving

Photo from FreeDigitalPhotos.net by Tom Curtis

For those of you who like this sort of thing, here are some fun facts related to all things Thanksgiving.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service's (NASS) Census of Agriculture and the U.S. Census Bureau, this Thanksgiving farmers will raise and harvest:

• 254 million turkeys
• 768 million pounds of cranberries
• 47 billion pounds of potatoes
• 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins
• 1.9 billion pounds of green beans
• 2.7 billions pounds of sweet potatoes (NC leads the production.)
• 73.1 million pounds of cherries (if you prefer cherry pie to pumpkin pie)
• 2.27 billion bushels of wheat (the essential ingredient of bread, rolls and pie crust
  

4 - Number of places named after our beloved "Turkey"

• Turkey Creek, LA
• Turkey, TX
• Turkey, NC
• Turkey Creek, AZ

9 - Number of places named after our crimson delight, "Cranberry" including

• Cranbury, NJ
• Cranberry Township (Butler County), PA
• Cranberry Township (Venango County), PA

37 - Number of places and townships named Plymouth, as in Plymouth Rock, the landing site of the first Pilgrims.

• Plymouth, MN
• Plymouth, MA
• Pilgrim (only township in the US named Pilgrim) Dade County, MO
• Mayflower, AR
• Mayflower Village, CA

The following are America's top turkey producing states.

Turkeys: Number Raised 2009-2010*

State	2009	2010	% of 2009
Minnesota	45.0	47.0	104
North Carolina	35.5	30.0	84
Arkansas	29.0	28.0	96
Missouri	18.5	18.0	97
Virginia	17.0	17.0	100
Indiana	15.0	16.0	106
California	15.0	15.2	101
South Carolina	11.9	11.9	100
Pennsylvania	9.0	7.4	82
Ohio	5.2	4.6	88
Other States	46.3	49.1	106
US Total	247.4	244.2	98

*Numbers raised in millions





For those of you looking for alternatives to turkey, here's a link to some vegan choices.  I have not tried any of the choices listed, so I cannot speak to their authenticity or flavor.  If any of you have had them, please leave a comment so we can help someone else who may be looking for an alternative to turkey.  Thank you.

Karina
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