Seven Things That Made 2018 a Great Year for California Cantaloupe!
2018 was another busy year for California cantaloupes! As it comes to an end, the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board is looking back at the highlights of the past summer season. This year’s top 7 most-notable stories begin with California cantaloupe farmers being totally prepared to adopt sweeping new federal food safety regulations that went into place throughout the U.S. produce industry. The stories end with a group of adorable 4th graders from Massachusetts who created a tune that gives us all hope. Let’s take a look back.
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The California Cantaloupe Advisory Board continues its work to ensure consumers around the world safely enjoy their favorite fruit. The rest of the U.S. produce industry got its first look at requirements under the Produce Safety Rule, which are part of new federal food safety laws that went into effect in 2018. But for California cantaloupe farmers, it was business as usual. For the past six years, all California cantaloupe has been grown under a system of food safety practices that meet or exceed what is required under the new federal rules. California cantaloupe farmers continue their commitment to protecting consumers through a mandatory program that includes government audits to ensure proper food safety practices are in place throughout the cantaloupe supply chain.
As part of the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board’s extensive social media outreach program, we rounded up seven of the countless reasons to eat cantaloupe all Summer long and beyond! The reasons vary from this fruits’ unparralled sweetness to the benefits of soaking up all the vitamins they contain. And if that weren’t enough — Cantaloupe + Ice Cream. Need we say more?
When it comes to Cantaloupe recipes — we wrote the book. Literally. This season we brought fans everywhere the first ever California Cantaloupe Recipe eBook! Serving as a quick-and-easy guide to well-planned and last-minute entertaining alike, these delicious seasonal recipes send a message reminding you to slow down, be more intentional with your food, take notice of the process of preparing meals and enjoy the gathering of your friends and family around the bounty of food!
Our Meet a Farmer page continues our tradition of introducing cantaloupe lovers around the world to the people who grow their favorite fruit. This year, we featured Mr. Joe Del Bosque, more familiarly known to many as “The Westside Farmer” on Twitter. Joe continues to be a positive influence on the cantaloupe industry through his continuous communications with fans, consumers, elected officials and others via social media. You will not be sorry if you take the time to follow his daily farming adventures and see for yourself his passion for growing cantaloupe!
For the past several years, California cantaloupes have been rewarding our loyal friends and followers with contests and giveaways. In 2018, we pulled out all the stops. Three lucky winners got to choose from a wide range of amazing outings taking place in their own home towns. The prizes selected included a dinner party at a favorite restaurant, concert tickets and a fun sporting event. Although two of our winners are still awaiting their special Night on the Town, our first lucky winner Kris Otto (shown below) celebrated a lovely celebration dinner with her family. Maybe you’ll be one of our lucky winners next year? So, keep following us and stay tuned for announcements about next year’s contest.
This summer, the staff at California Cantaloupe got out from behind our computer screens and took a trip to the cantaloupe growing area near Firebaugh, CA. It was a great opportunity for us to capture on film the journey of California cantaloupes from seed, to planting, to growing, to harvest, packing and shipping! Amazingly, it takes just 90-days for a cantaloupe to go from seed to grocery store shelf. We showed our fans the entire process in a one minute video. If you haven’t had a chance yet — watch this video and, don’t forget to whisper a “thank you” to the farmers and farm workers who make this miracle happen each and every summer.
We end our highlights for the year with a story we had so much fun sharing with our fans — and, more importantly, with our farmers. These guys grow the most delicious California cantaloupe in the world. And we know that’s not always easy!! So, one more time we want to share this adorable (and inspirational) tune developed in response to an assignment for Ilene Altman’s 4th-grade class at Carlton Innovation School in Salem, MA. Her assignment was for students to create a jingle that could be used to sell common household goods, food or drink. Knowing their teacher’s love of cantaloupe, a few of the students selected our fruit as the subject of their jingle. If you haven’t already, give it a listen. As the holiday season approaches and we prepare for what next year will bring, always remember this . . . “Cantaloupe, it gives you hope.” Thanks, kids. We knew that.
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Please continue to follow along with California Cantaloupe on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and as always Dig Into the Sweet Stuff. We look forward to seeing what 2019 brings!
