Culinary Art

Laura McNamara

International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New YorkYou can’t argue with appreciating the art of cooking. The International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York is sponsoring Photography for Philanthropy, a culinary art auction to benefit City Harvest.

A group of renowned celebrity chefs have prepared exquisite culinary dishes that have been captured through the lens of famed photographer Diana DeLucia, publisher of New York Restaurant Insider. This prestigious group of chefs includes: Lidia Bastianich, Daniel Boulud, Tom Colicchio, Larry Forgione, Johnny Iuzzini, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Francois Payard, Eric Ripert and Laurent Tourondel.

City HarvestThe photographs have been framed by preservation experts to help protect the image from long term degradation. The acid free matting is personally autographed by each chef, making this limited edition series authentic and original.

The online auction opened on Thursday, January 24th and closes at 11:00 pm on Sunday, February 24th. Opening bids begin at $250, with a second option to buy outright for $950. To bid on the artwork and to learn more about the collection, visit www.internationalrestaurantny.com/photoauction.

In addition to the online auction, the entire collection of autographed photographs will be on display in a special exhibit on the Show floor of the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York, March 9-11, 2008 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. On Monday, March 10th at 11:00 a.m. a check from the auction proceeds will be presented to City Harvest.

Farming, Food

Juice Up with the Berenstain Bears

Laura McNamara

bbears.jpgKids love juice boxes and they love Berenstain Bears. That’s reason enough for The Berenstain Bears and Sensible Slippers Organic Juice Boxes to team up to promote healthy drink options for kids.

R.W. Knudsen Family(R) is partnering with The Berenstain Bears(TM) for the launch of Sensible Sippers(TM) Organic Juice Boxes, available nationwide this Fall. Sensible Sippers are 100 percent certified organic, and they come in convenient and appealing packaging that features classic Berenstain Bears characters, such as Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Brother Bear and Sister Bear.

True to their name, Sensible Sippers are 50 percent juice and 50 percent water, reducing the amount of sugar intake in each serving without compromising on taste. Kids will enjoy the fun new flavors, including Fruit Punch, Banana, Apple and Mixed Berry, and parents will relish the fact that these juices contain 40 percent fewer calories than regular boxed juices. Furthermore, Sensible Sippers do not have any added sugar, artificial flavors or preservatives, and they are 100 percent certified organic by Quality Assurance International and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Sensible Sippers Organic Juice Boxes are available nationwide at Whole Foods Market. An eight-pack of juice boxes should cost between $3.99-$4.49.

Advertising, Food

Tickle Your Loved Ones with TickleMe Plants

Laura McNamara

TickleMe Plant CompanzRemember that post about TickleMe Plants around Christmas. Well, the TickleMe Plant Company says the gift that gives giggles is also a great idea for gifts this Valentine’s Day.

Oddly enough, I’ve been tickling my own plants here in SE Asia. There’s a small fern that’s native to the area and when you “tickle” it, the leaves close up. I wonder if it’s in the same plant family as the Brazilian TickleMe Plant…

The National Gardening Association, will feature two new and exciting educational products from the TickleMe Plant Company. TickleMe Plants(TM) move their branches down and close their leaves when tickled. TickleMe Plant seeds and grow kits are available now from NGA, at www.Kidsgardeningstore.com

What is a TickleMe Plant?

Native to Brazil, they can be found there, growing in the wild. The scientific name for the TickleMe Plant is Mimosa pudica.

“You simply plant the seeds in one of our growing kits or a flower pot with soil, water it and the plants will sprout in days,” says Larry Chipkin. Two weeks later, you can tickle this very sensitive plant and watch in amazement as the plant closes its leaves and lowers its branches. Then, usually, within 15 minutes, it lifts its fernlike branches and re-opens its leaves.

The TickleMe Plant company says its fern can even open up into pink, fluffy blooms.

Seed

Honoring Paul Hitch

Chuck Zimmerman

Paul HitchThe beef industry honored Paul Hitch today at the general session. His family joined him on stage and he was presented with a plaque and accolades for all the work he’s done on behalf of the industry over the years. Paul’s a producer from Oklahoma.

Paul was to be the next President of NCBA until illness struck which has prevented him from realizing that dream.

It was a very emotional moment as Paul made his way on stage and made a few comments in his booming voice.

You can listen to Paul’s comments here preceded by some from Terry Stokes, CEO of NCBA: cic-08-hitch.mp3

2008 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Audio

Peter Shinn Questions The Secretary

Chuck Zimmerman

Sec. Schafer Press ConferenceThe press got to meet with our new Ag Secretary, Ed Schafer, after his speech today.

Just so you can see what that’s like I shot a short video clip of a question asked by Brownfield’s Peter Shinn. He asks the secretary under what circumstances would he release some acres from CRP?

2008 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Media

A Couple of Johnsons

Chuck Zimmerman

Diane and ToddThe ever lovely Executive Director of the Livestock Publications Council, Diane Johnson, has been here at the Cattle Industry Convention interacting with her peeps.

I caught her outside the convention center at the end of the day with Todd Johnson, Executive Director of the Kansas Beef Council. No, they’re not related.

Diane does a lot more than just run LPC. She’s very actively involved in the Ag Media Summit and the IFAJ Congress that will be taking place in Ft. Worth next year.

2008 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, LPC

Secretary Ed Schafer and Me

Chuck Zimmerman

Me and Sec. EdOur Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, made his first major public policy speech today at the Cattle Industry Convention. Thanks to Andy Vance, Buckeye Ag Network, for snapping a picture for me. It was a pleasure for the ag media to get to meet Schafer. For many of us, it’s our first opportunity and I’m sure not our last.

I’m going to post his speech at this morning’s opening general session as well as his press conference. You can download and/or listen in.

I don’t think he made any major announcements. He made it very clear that he’s a “free trade guy” and fully supports the President on the farm bill that’s in conference. I was happy to hear him address renewable fuels and the RFS head on with this group. Basically, he said that with the growth of cellulosic ethanol production there should be an easing of feed price pressure within a short time as the technology and non-food stocks form of ethanol production continues to rapidly develop.

Sec. SchaferHe did talk about the Humane Society mess over their video of animal handling atrocities at the Hallmark Meat Packing Co. I think USDA has handled this quite well and the plant was shut down. What I thought was interesting was the Secretary in the press conference making a very good point about how this whacko (my word) organization withheld the video for months so they could release it to the media in a sensational way instead of bringing it immediately to the proper legal authorities so that the situation could have been halted immediately. In effect, the Humane Society prolonged animal suffering and I think the people who support them ought to know that they really don’t care about animals, only their political agenda and raising money.

You can listen to Secretary Schafer’s speech here: cic-08-schafer-stage.mp3

Or you can download the speech by using this direct link to the mp3 file: Listen to MP3 Secretary Schafer Speech (24 min)

You can listen to Secretary Schafer’s press conference here: cic-08-schafer-press.mp3

Or you can download the press conference by using this direct link to the mp3 file: Listen to MP3 Secretary Schafer Press Conference (33 min)

My online photo album is up to 179 photos and counting. Feel free to visit and use them if you’d like. There’s quite a few from this morning’s session including the awards as well as the Secretary.

2008 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, USDA

Passionate About Beef

Chuck Zimmerman

Jennifer RasslerThe Beef Ambassadors sure do a good job of getting out and promoting beef. I know passion about the product is necessary to be chosen and Jennifer Rassler, Kempton, PA is one of them.

She decided to get involved since there are so many people in her area who are not educated about where their food comes from. She says they’ve already been on the road at several meetings interacting with consumers.

She says that the program is coordinated by the American National Cattle Women and funded by the Beef Checkoff. She wants consumers to know that the beef industry is here for them and that they’re here to provide a safe and nutritious product for their family to eat.

You can listen to a short interview I did with Jennifer here: cic-08-rassler.mp3

2008 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Audio, Beef

Guess Whose Boots

Chuck Zimmerman

Whose Boots?It’s time once again for a Guess Who’s Boots post.

So here’s how it works. The first person to correctly identify Whose Boots these are and post it in a comment here will win a ZimmComm Logo speaker for their iPod.

Go ahead and give it a try. If needed I can post clues.

Let’s see how you do first though.

2008 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Fresno Center for International Trade Development’s 2008 World Ag Expo symposium “Doing Business in Global Markets” focuses on five of the hottest topics in agriculture today: The World of Biofuels; U.S. Free Trade Agreements; China’s Food Quality; Global Competition to U.S. Growers; and The California-Brazil Connection: Ethanol, Biodiesel, Electricity and Beyond. Each topic will feature opinions, panel discussions or lectures from some of the top national and international experts.
    Date: Feb. 12, 2008
    Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
    Location: Expo Seminar Center
    Cost: Free with paid admission!.
  • TyraTech, the pioneer of safer, effective and natural pesticide products, announced the appointment of William L. Baxter as director of sales and marketing with immediate effect. In his new role at TyraTech, Baxter will help guide marketing strategy and the execution of sales for TyraTech’s new class of highly effective, non-toxic insecticides and anti-parasitics. Baxter brings 21 years’ experience of working in agricultural crop protection and specialty pesticide markets. Prior to joining the company, Baxter was business manager of the BASF Professional Pest Control Group where he was responsible for leading the North American business and substantially increasing its revenue.
  • Monsanto Company announced that it has received final regulatory approval in Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan for its second-generation soybean technology, Roundup Ready 2 Yield™. These approvals represent significant progress toward the commercialization of this new higher-yielding soybean technology. Monsanto is planning a controlled commercial release of Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans on 1 to 2 million acres in 2009.
  • Ron Prestage has been named the recipient of the 2008 Workhorse of the Year Award given by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. After receiving his doctorate of veterinary medicine from Auburn University, Prestage began his career as an equine practitioner. Ron Prestage has been a member of the USPOULTRY board since January 1997, has served as board chairman, and as chairman of the presidential search committee. He is currently the president of Prestage Farms of South Carolina. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and a graduate of North Carolina State University, where he received his bachelor of science degree in animal science.
Zimfo Bytes