About 71 households in eight villages under the dungkhag have planted at least five saplings of passion fruit each in June this year. Initiated by Druk Satair private limited in Samdrupjongkhar, the saplings were brought in from Bhur in Gelephu to be grown in their dumpyard, located about four kilometres from the border gate towards Nganglam.

Of the 15,000 saplings they brought in, the company, through the renewal natural resource centre, distributed about 1,500 saplings to the villagers. Company’s administrative officer, Sidhart Chhetri, said passion fruit was being planted, since the 4.5-acre dumping yard will remain idle for about five years.

“We did a market research and found that the demand for passion fruit is quite high from agro industry in Bhutan and from companies in India,” he said. “Even if our company can’t continue in future, at least villagers will benefit.”

It was found that Nganglam, being sub-tropical, was best suited to grow the fruit.  Each sapling had to be planted two metres away from the other. Agriculture extension officer, Karma, said the fruit could grow where ever its seeds were thrown.  But that fruit is good enough only for self consumption, unlike the saplings that bore better fruits.

“The saplings, prepared from stems, needs an extra care though,” he said, adding they were guiding the villagers. If everything goes well, the farmers will see two harvests in a year.  The first harvest is expected to be in June next year.

One of the villagers from Alabari, Tshering, said their expectations had been raised, and that they plan on transplanting the fruit to a bigger land if it works well. “It is an opportunity for us to generate some income,” he said.

For now, the only income source for the villagers was oranges.  A kilogram of passion fruit today fetches about Nu 20 to Nu 25 in the local market. Once cultivated, Druk Satair is also expected to help farmers market the fruit.

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Move over Subway, Pita Pit has burst onto the fresh fast-food menu board without spokesman Jared Fogel, aka The Subway Guy, and his discarded, oversized jeans. The Canadian franchise has crept across the border and spread across the United States. Downtown Harrisburg got its first taste of Pita Pit in September when it opened at the former Spot site.

Clean and spacious, the large room (curiously resembling Subway) has exposed workspace with an open grill and toppings area. Customers pay first, then move to the end of the counter to pick out steamed white or wheat pitas, sauce and fresh ingredients. These diverse fillers and flavorful sauces make the pitas. The selection of freshly chopped toppings and savory, innovative sauces (horseradish Dijon, Anco chipotle, jalapeno ranch) surpassed mediocre flavor of salty falafels and processed, greasy-grilled sausage and precooked chicken strips.
    
Breakfast pitas ($5.79-$5.99) come with a base of eggs, hash browns, grilled green peppers, onions and cheese. Add salsa or chipotle barbecue sauce and cheese. The varieties include Morning Glory, made with avocado and tomato, and Awakin’ With Bacon.
    
I couldn’t finish the Sausage Scramble. Crumbles of grilled and greasy Italian sausage masked any other morsels of breakfast fare in this stuffed-full pita. The meat was under a handful of tasteless hash brown pieces and spongy egg blobs. Grated cheddar cheese retained its stiff-stick form without melting because it was the finishing touch.
    
Several folks ordered The Local while we were in line. The Buffalo Chicken and Bacon is a favorite here, too. Despite being precooked and then filled with grilled strips of chicken, this sandwich was tasty. The bulging pita pocket was loaded with fresh tomatoes, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, roasted red pepper, fresh spinach leaves and chopped onions and topped with just enough jalapeno ranch dressing. Hot sauce-doused chicken strips gave the pocket of ingredients its heated kick.
    
On its website, www.pitapitusa.com, Pita Pit has a “Resolution Solution” list of healthful low-calorie pitas and a calorie count of all pitas served at franchises. In keeping with the “fresh thinking, healthy eating” motto, pitas are comparable to, if not lower in fat and calories, than Subway.
    
The fresh Garden Pita, consisting of romaine lettuce, mushrooms, black olives, green peppers, cucumber slices, tomatoes and tzatziki (sumptuous sour cream, garlic and cucumber sauce that traditionally accompanies gyro or chicken souvlaki pitas), has 280 calories.
    
Light Mediterranean (340 calories) fills hungry bellies with pockets stuffed with baba ganoush (eggplant and oil), black olives, onions, fresh spinach, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce. And the lighter version of Buffalo Chicken has 365 calories. Customers could “lose those big buns” as the menu suggests.
    
The restaurant stays open until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. When asked if the late-night weekend hours were busy, the response was “once the bars let out, we are swamped.”Pita Pit is well-staffed by friendly, competent servers. Lines tend to move quickly.
    
For folks watching their waistline or not, Pita Pit offers fresh fixings (in pita pockets or as salad toppings), vanilla yogurt, thick smoothies and soft chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin or white chocolate macadamia nut cookies (Otis Spunkmeyer). 

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Chillicothe, Ill. —The name for Stan Taylor’s signature item on his menu came by accident. His wife, Debbra, was talking on the phone to her sister about six months ago. “The kids are coming over to have a STAN-wich,” she told her. Her sister asked her if she realized what she had just said. She didn’t, until she repeated it.

“Well, when I said it, we had talked for days trying to get a catchy name,” Debbra said, and it stuck. Her slip of the lip is now the couple’s gain as Soup & STAN-wich Inc. opened Nov. 16. The STAN-wich is an item Taylor concocted and made at his home, originally. His brother-in-law told him he needed to sell the signature sandwich.

He grinds chicken breast and then makes it into a burger. The bun receives special treatment as he toasts it with a garlic-infused olive oil. Add to that some extra spices and citrus. Between the chicken burger and the bun are a couple key pieces: dill pickle relish, real bacon crumbles and Stan’s special sauce. His sauce is so special, he is not giving up the recipe to anyone — even his own employees.

The food business is new to Taylor, but not the making of food. “I’ve been cooking since I was in grade school,” said Taylor, using his siblings as guinea pigs. He will readily admit that some things he has tried turned out great, and others were flops.

A Princeton native, he has lived in Chillicothe for 32 years. He retired from Peoria Charter and worked at Caterpillar too. Debbra is from Decatur originally and works at Mediacom. He is funding the new venture through his retirement money.

Each day the soups change, but chicken noodle and B.A.’s Chili is offered every day. B.A.’s Chili is named after his brother-in-law who gave him the chili recipe, which is one of the few items he doesn’t make from scratch. Other soups that have been on the menu board include tomato, mushroom, French onion, and a customer request: broccoli cheese. He encourages residents to suggest soups they would like to see.

“My big thing is to make everything as fresh as I can make it,” said Taylor, including his own stocks for the soups. Ask him why and he gives a simple answer: “It tastes better.”Originally he was only going to offer chicken burgers, but he was talked into beef burgers, including one-third pound hamburgers and cheeseburgers. He also offers regular and jumbo hot dogs, cheese dogs, chili dogs and chili cheese dogs.

Also on the menu are brats, grilled cheese and peanut butter sandwiches, as well as fresh cut French fries and combinations of cheese and chili fries. “It’s a good place to start,” said Taylor of his business location, the former spot where Wendy’s Hot Dog business was located, 320 Cedar St.

“It’s fun. When it ceases to be fun, I’ll put someone else in charge,” said Taylor with a chuckle, who employs five people. He plans to start making his own bread soon, as well as some desserts. Some names of items may even reflect from whom the idea came.

While he says the food is quick, that does not mean it is fast food. He normally gets to the business before 7 a.m. to prep the food. He plans to keep experimenting with food for menu items.

“I’m researching all the time,” said Taylor, who easily chats with customers while they are eating or picking up food. He encourages residents to call ahead at 603-9000 for quick pick up as he has limited seating. Hours are 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays and is closed Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

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The enhanced and refined meals you consume nowadays don’t have any the fundamental nutritional values you need to maintain healthy. Diet programs that happen to be high in fat are generally making it a whole lot worse and it is getting its toll on your own health and wellbeing together emotionally and also physically. The diet of white bread, hamburgers and drinks laced with glucose are generally a lot of for the technique to be able to handle.

To be able to deal with both stress and pressure you need to first eat healthy. Fresh fruit and vegetables, many fruits and meats that are lean in fat are selections that can help. Anxiety may bring on nervousness, despression symptoms, agitation, chest discomfort and nausea or vomiting. That is when over eating starts and you cannot get to sleep and then tension sets in, will be results in being on major aggresive circle.

The cycle must be broken and the supply of your stress has to be identified. Is it your lifestyle, diet or one more problem that is influencing your feelings? A proven way to loss yourself of plenty of stress is to workout and be in shape using a healthy body being significant for a healthy mind.

Another fantastic technique is to use rest strategies. This can be just taking pleasure in something you really like carrying out just like playing music or reading a book. Deep breathing is effective as a tool that can help you to unwind. You’ll find a CD that is about meditation and focus on it in order to relax you. Alternative activities that are very useful contain massages, acupuncture and Yoga.

Pressure may be peaceful by taken herbs similar to St. John’s Wart or maybe gotu kola. Throughout the difficult and gloomy a few months of wintertime there are actually exclusive light boxes that imitate the sun shining. Their light rays are generally much like the ones from the sun’s rays and by making use of them first thing each day it aids you to life your state of mind and reset the inner clock everybody offers.

Go outside and take pleasure in your garden or invest in a walk in the park. Pets really are a great help any time seeking to sooth ones psychological views and so they make great companions. Finding a pet if you don’t have one is seen as a great alternative.

Hobbies and interests help to clear the mind of unfavorable imagination or traumatic feelings. You can connect with new friends and have a new pastime. Help anyone out and offer a hand to a neighbor and them give yourself the credit for all you have over the course of the day.

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Lower temperatures, full-on festivities and an abundance of fresh produce make winter the unambiguous foodie season. Here’s what you mustn’t miss.

Spices
Most Indian cuisines require the use of spices, but now is the time to find creative uses for cinnamon, cardamom, clove, ginger, cumin and turmeric. Try cinnamon and clove in hot drinks, and roasted and powdered cumin in Middle-Eastern dishes.

Beetroot
More common as a cooked vegetable in South Indian kitchens, try it in a simple thoran (stir-fry) or a pachadi (with dahi). Tastes good if it is boiled or steamed, and served in roundels as a salad with orange slices and feta, or as a borscht.

Meats
With red meat labelled food enemy No. 1, it features rarely in urban menus. If not completely off limits, the robust flavours of mutton, pork, beef, duck and even game are best savoured in winter. Cook it the desi way, with ghee and masalas. Or throw marinated pieces over an open grill.

Oranges
Like biryani, oranges divide food purists. Some swear by the small, sweet, tight-skinned Darjeeling, others vouch for the fleshy Nagpur variety. The North-Eastern breeds too have their support bases. Candy the peel for Christmas cakes, cook up a komlalebur payesh, or use it in a salad or even a pasta sauce.

Notun gurer shondesh
This delicacy of chhana and gur needs to be sourced from Bengal; sweetmakers elsewhere don’t even come close to balancing the grainy milkiness of chhana and the earthy sweetness of fresh gur.  Chefs experiment with notun gurer ice-cream and the like, but they aren’t a patch on the shondesh.

Mince pies
Now, this is a contentious one. Some mince pies actually contain mutton keema, but the real thing comes in flaky pastry cases stuffed with chopped fruit, sugar, spices and brandy and coats the palate in warm butteriness. Nahoum’s, the famed Jewish baker in Kolkata’s New Market, still makes the best ones.

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The flower induction technology developed by a noted Filipino plant scientist continues to revolutionize the Philippine and the world’s – mango industry.

The technology was crafted by Dr. Ramon C. Barba who, although now retired as professor and scientist of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), has continued to devote his life to scientific activities to this day.

Through the research breakthrough, which is considered worldwide as the most important discovery in mango, a mango tree can be induced to flower and bear fruits any time of the year by spraying it with one percent potassium nitrate. Since the technology was developed by Dr. Barba in 1974, it has been widely adopted in the Philippines, as well as in Asia and Latin America.

It has earned for him numerous awards, the latest being the 2011 Dioscero L. Umali Achievement Award for Agricultural Development in Southeast Asia. The prestigious award was named in honor of Dr. Umali, a National Scientist, dean of the UPLB College of Agriculture, founding director of the UPLB-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and assistant director general for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations-Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO).

Dr. Barba recalled that before 1974, mango was commercially neglected and remained a minor fruit that generated little revenue because of its seasonal, biennial (once in two years), and erratic fruiting cycle. Smudging (smoking) trees to force flowering was costly and unreliable.

He started explo-ratory experiments in late December 1969 at the Quimara Farm in San Jose del Monte (Bulacan) of a friend, Jose Quimson. The farm had 500 trees that were already 10 years old but had not yet borne fruits.

In 1970, he sprayed a batch of 100 trees with potassium nitrate. He noted bud break after seven days, followed by flower emergence on the 14th day. Eventually the fruits developed and were harvested four months from spraying.

Another set of 100 trees were sprayed in December 1970 to verify results and to extend field application. “The results were similar,” Dr. Barba reported.

In sum, he reckoned, 12 years were spent for studying, planning, and conceptualizing the technology since his college years in the late 1950s before the chance to experiment in December 1969. Unraveling the technology took only four months.

Through it, the Philippines has become the world’s second top mango exporter, shipping one million tons a year valued at $60 million, or 7.8 percent of the world share. The local mango industry now contributes P41.6 billion to the national economy and supports 2.5 million farmers.

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SALAD days could be here to stay after the Mayor of London showed his support for Enfield Council’s plans to grow fruit and veg crops for the capital. Part of Boris Johnson’s £70million regeneration fund could be used to create 500 jobs with market gardens springing up in the borough to help supply London with home-grown, healthy produce.

Mr Johnson has thrown his weight behind the scheme and is hoping work will start on the project as soon as possible. “Enfield’s plans to lead the charge on a market garden renaissance in London are superb, it is exactly the sort of project we would like to fund and I hope it gets the local backing it needs to be realised,” he said.

The regeneration fund was established in the wake of the riots which tore through London in August and the council hopes the initiative will give a much-needed boost to the area. Del Goddard, the council’s cabinet member for business and regeneration, said: “This project will give the Enfield economy a huge boost and provide jobs and training for hundreds of people in our borough.”

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There are few food terms as unimpeachable as “extra virgin.” The label, as applied to olive oil, stands for purity, for goodness, for healthfulness, even – for a natural product so fresh and so guileless that it’s not merely virginal, but doubly so. Or that’s what you’d think.

In the summer of 2007, Tom Mueller, an American journalist living in Italy, published an article in The New Yorker that showed how the world’s most ubiquitous luxury food didn’t only fail to meet the “extra virgin” standard, but in many cases wasn’t made from olives at all. Rogue chemists had learned to disguise tanker ships full of low-grade soybean oil and even lamp fuel so that it could pass for the highest grade of olive oil, Mr. Mueller revealed. Even such multinationals as Unilever, Nestlé and Bertolli sold “extra virgin” olive oil that was anything but.

Mr. Mueller’s follow-up, called Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, was released this week. The book is part history (olive oil fraud goes back at least as far as the ancient Romans, although they had stronger regulations than exist today), part indictment (much of the framework surrounding Italy’s olive oil industry makes it nearly impossible for quality producers to compete) and part travelogue (Australia and California have begun producing some of the world’s best oils). Thankfully, it’s also a consumer guide of sorts, a handbook to buying great oil without getting ripped off – something that is surprisingly easier in Canada, Mr. Mueller says, than most other places on earth. The Globe and Mail reached him at his home in Genoa, Italy, this week.

It’s feels like on every 10th page of the book you’re taking a swig of olive oil – chugging it straight out of the bottle or slugging it out of a shot glass. Is the stuff you’re trying in Italy that much better than what we can get over here?

The short answer is yes. Part of it is thinking of olive oil as a fresh-squeezed fruit juice. It’s fresh produce: You squish the olive, you extract the juice and you use it quickly. This is fundamentally different from the average North American view of olive oil, where it’s just another long-shelf-life industrial fat that’s dumped into the bottom of a frying pan. It does seem a bit odd at first to sip olive oil, and it’s not the most natural way to use it. But it’s very good if it’s fresh: It’s got a lot of character.

You write that the best-before dates on olive oil are typically two years from bottling, but that mass-market oil will often sit around in storage before the clock even starts ticking. What does “fresh” mean to you?

Every day that goes by, olive oil decomposes. It loses not only its flavour characteristics, but also its healthful properties. Certain oils hold up better than others, just like certain wines age better than others. But basically you should try to eat it within the same 12-month period that it was picked and pressed. And you need a harvest date on the bottle to know when that is.

Should we be concerned about the quality of extra virgin oil at the grocery store?

It’s expensive to make really good olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil on the commodities market in Europe now, you can get it for 1.85 euros per litre. You cannot make real extra virgin olive oil for anything close to that price. And a producer of quality oil cannot begin to compete against that if consumers don’t know the difference. And yet if you walk into a store, you’re faced with a wall of labels, and they all say basically the same thing.

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HOT diggity dog! Sebastien Bouchard of inner-city eatery La Bouche Bistro (formerly fine-dining favourite Bouchard) is relishing a fresh and funky new direction centring on two much-loved fast-food staples – burgers and hotdogs.

Together with close buddy Shane Hogan, the 35-year-old laidback rock-pop musician and entrepreneur will next week open The Burgermeister on Hampden Road in Nedlands, across the road from his hip and bustling coffee haunt Boubar.

“I wanted a burger concept that was a little different so we’re not just doing wholesome and great-tasting burgers we’re making German sausage hotdogs too as well as fresh juices and milkshakes,” Bouchard told Guardian Express.

Based on a German renaissance theme, it features a striking central European sideboard as a front counter and several old church pews as seating. Adding a good dose of quirk, it also has a kitschy oriental wall (inspired by the eatery’s Japanese mayo used in the burgers) and an edgy mural created by Perth’s favourite urban artist (and close friend of Bouchard’s) Stormie Mills. In February, Bouchard will open a second Boubar on St Georges Terrace.

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Tomato farmers in the Upper East Region on Friday issued a threat that they would not vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party if the government fails to address their plight. The farmers, who issued the threat in a communiqué at a forum organized by Trade Aid in Bolgatanga, expressed dismay about the government’s inability to revamp the Northern Star Tomato Factory and to ensure a ready market for tomato producers.

This, they noted, posed a lot of frustrations as they went through a lot of drudgery to produce the vegetable without getting market for their produce. “Apart from that, most of us farmers lack the requisite knowledge in the application of chemicals and other farming practices and yet we are left on our own”.

Another major issue facing them they indicated was the poor state of the Vea Dam, which supply water for dry season irrigation farming and for the supply of portable water for the Bolgatanga Township and its environs.

“The Dam since its construction in the 1960s has never seen any major rehabilitation. All the canals are broken down hindering the effective supply of water to the farms. “Lack of viable seed for farmers to use of late has been another constraint. The seeds in the system are suspected to be imitations. This is because as soon as it germinates and is transplanted, the crop dies, thereby rendering the farmer impoverished”, the farmers said.

Another major threat, the farmers cited was lack of ready market as the tomatoes deteriorate on the farms because there are no buyers.

“Access road was another major problem confronting the farmers as we often find it very difficult to convey our produce to the marketing centres. Lack of assistance in the form of subsidized fertilizer and other farming inputs in substantial quantities by government is of great worry as well”.

The communiqué said: “We the tomato farmers in the Region would organize frequent demonstrations to drum home our message. We have also vowed to boycott any future elections should our concerns fail to be addressed”.

The farmers, therefore, stressed the need for government to as a matter of urgency make all effort to ensure that the Northern Star Tomato Factory is properly revamped to work effectively.
“Secondly, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture should embark on regular training of farmers on the correct and proper use of chemicals and other farm inputs”.

The farmers also reminded government that, the rehabilitation of the Vea Dam which was the first to be established in the 1960, needed urgent attention due to its faulty canals. Government, they noted should also construct and rehabilitate more small scale irrigation dams to ease the pressure on the Vea dam.

“There is also the need for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to ensure that there are improved and viable seeds in the system for the farmers to use rather than relying on imported seeds, which viability cannot be relied upon.

“To give a facelift to the entire production process, vegetable seed production should be incorporated into the seed grower system. There should be regulation on our borders to restrict tomato buyers from patronizing tomatoes from our neighbouring countries to the disadvantage to our local farmers”.
They called on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to sponsor soil research of the various farm lands so as to deal with diseases associated with the soil.

They said almost every farmer in the town and village were into dry season tomato farming and stressed that there was no doubt that if the tomato problem was addressed it would help reduce poverty level in the Region and also help curb rural urban migration in the area.

The Director of Trade Aid, Mr Nicholas Apokera, explained that the forum was part of Trade Aid’s yearly interaction with stakeholders of the tomatoes industry in the Region to jointly discuss the challenges of the sector and to explore ways of addressing them.

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