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ONLINE@SusQ.reg
April 11, 2001
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THE GRAPE VINE
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2001 CHANNEL MARKERS
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OCT 14-16 Outreach Scholarship 2001 "Learning, Discovery & Engagement"
The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, State College, PA

OCT 16-18 Ag & Natural Resources Statewide In-Service
The Penn Stater, University Park, PA

OCT 25-26 Staff Assistant Statewide Conference — Watch for Details!
The Penn Stater, University Park, PA

OCT 27 PCCEA Tailgate Party - PSU vs. Ohio State Football

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PENN COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS
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RD SIGNALS
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1) Foot-and-Mouth Disease: What we need to know and do (Vet Science fact sheet); 2) Foot-and-Mouth Disease: Frequently asked questions (Vet Science reprint of fact sheet from National Cattlemen’s Beef Association).

Educator's Name, (Last, First, and Middle Initial)

Social Security Number (required so PDE can track the educator)

School Address (Street, City, State, Zip)

School District Name and Address

Staff also will need to provide the Course Title, Course Abbreviation, Instructor Name, when the course was taught, Credit/Non-Credit (if credit, how many credits).

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FROM THE CREW
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In this edition, Linda Yungwirth, Family Living Agent in Tioga County, shares her experiences after doing 5 presentations on the topic, "What’s New in Fruits and Vegetables?" at Tioga County Senior Centers.

During the month of February 2001, Linda presented a food safety and nutrition consumer educational program entitled "What’s New in Fruits and Vegetable?" to 5 senior centers to a total of 94 seniors.

Today’s senior citizens are a unique population posing a challenge for extension educators. Some groups are "card playing" disgruntled individuals who dislike any educational programs during their recreational and meal times at the centers. Others are very receptive of anyone who takes the time to conduct a program. So, the challenge is to make the educational program as exciting and appealing as possible to get everyone’s attention.

As an introduction to this presentation, she showed samples of some unique fruits now appearing in some local and specialty grocery stores within a 50-mile radius of Tioga County. Examples included a mango, a starfruit, some kumquats, a papaya, and a horned melon! These are fruits coming into our country from South America in particular. The seniors enjoyed trying to guess what fruits were being shown to them. She stressed the importance of washing all fruits and vegetables (produce) before eating to clean off surface dirt and pesticide residue, plus the chance of any bacteria present. Cold running water from their home faucets would be adequate in accomplishing this task. From the consumer standpoint she displayed the fruit and vegetable spray "FIT" which is now appearing in the local grocery stores. She discussed how to use this new product but also emphasized that this expensive spray was not necessary to clean produce properly. Cold running water would do the cleaning just as well. My emphasis was on getting the food safety message of washing fruits and vegetable to these citizens, but also becoming informed consumers of new products dealing with produce. Linda also distributed the Penn State Cooperative Extension pamphlet entitled "Proper Care and Handling of Fruits and Vegetables From Purchase to Preparation" for them to look over and read more on this subject at home on their own time.

Leading into the next segment of her presentation, she asked the participants what the month of February was known for "Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Ground Hog Day, etc. They were eager to provide the answers. She added that February was also National Potato Lover’s Month which led her to a discussion on potatoes- the history, the varieties, including yellow, red, and blue skinned potatoes (of which she displayed some real samples), storage, cooking preparations, and of course nutritive value. She stressed that the potato was an excellent source of Vitamin C, potassium, and fiber, and that the skins contained even more nutrients. They should be scrubbed with a vegetable brush and water and peeled lightly before preparation to cook. Instead of doing all the talking (lecturing) Linda asked the seniors for their own experiential knowledge on all of the above. She added some interesting knowledge to her own background from their keen insights and expertise! Did you know that eating a raw potato would prevent seasickness (as told to Linda by an old navy veteran)?

In the 20 minutes, which is the usual time allotted to these programs, she enjoyed doing a lively hands-on presentation to an enthusiastic and involved audience. Her hope is that they become more aware of the importance of washing fruits and vegetables, able to recognize new consumer products in the market, and knowledgeable about the nutritional value of potatoes!

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REFLECTIONS
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COMMENTS: If you have comments about this issue, or suggestions for future issues, please contact Shirley Bixby at SBixby@psu.edu or Gloria Hackenburg at gloriah@psu.edu. Also, please feel free to forward any personal items that you would like to share with your friends and co-workers in the region to Shirley or Gloria using the e-mail addresses noted.

If you are receiving duplicate copies of this transmission, please let us know so we can review the distribution list and make appropriate changes.

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