March: National Nutrition Month and National Ag Day

By Shelly Detwiler, berry farmer and dietician

As March blows in for 2023, it’s time to celebrate 50 years of both National Nutrition Month and National Ag Day. The message is primarily the same year after year, just with a different twist and trendy words. Climate, environment, tomorrow and future are key words this year. 

In the Detwiler house, the hijacked words of climate, sustainability and environmental are like playing a game of Taboo. We believe that farmers have strived for this from the beginning of time. The importance of buying foods in season, minimal packaging and growing gardens is reinforcing what we have been doing for generations. Nutrition Month and Ag Day give us a stage to promote our authentic messages of food and farming. 

I have a love hate relationship with social media. I love it because it allows me to share my passion of agriculture, food, and my business. I hate it because, well I am getting old for this. Creating exciting reels, videos, posts with all the hashtags, and figuring out the changing algorithms make me crazier than a cuckoo nest. Let’s talk hashtags. I’m not going to lie, I don’t get them. I make them up, find ones with high numbers, pick ones that in my mind make sense to target and then hope they do their job, whatever that is. Tik Tok is the new homecoming queen with its viral videos that take crazy to a new level! Facebook and Instagram are my focus because that’s all that I can handle. No matter your platform, food influence is huge! If you don’t know what to make for dinner, take a peek on social. A fabulous meal is at your fingertips. Scroll over the outrageous diets telling what you can and can’t eat, but halt at mouthwatering recipes such as Taco slaw, Asian Chicken Cranberry Salad, and Loaded Cauliflower Steaks. My current obsession is with a Butter Candle I happened upon when I was wasting some time I did not have. I Amazoned the edible wick and it’s in my cart. All I need is some butter, herbs, good bread and of course a red Solo cup. The funniest thing is that the Detwilers don’t eat much butter. We are NOT anti-butter because we know that butter is a delicious food that God helped create for our enjoyment. We are just trying to savor it to save a few inches on the hips. Little secret, we WILL be having a butter candle if you’d like to come over.

The top ten 2022 Google recipe searches are Sugo, Cincinnati Chili, Marry Me Chicken, Quick Pancake, Mango Pie, Green Goddess Salad, Jennifer Aniston Salad, Grinder Sandwich, The Bear Spaghetti and Bella Hada Sandwich. My first thought is the list came from the island of misfit toys. Tik Tok videos, TV shows and pop culture bond this list of zany recipes. Since I am all for a great romance, Marry Me Chicken tops the chart. The viral video story goes that whoever you cook this for, you will capture their heart! Look out farmer Paul! Coming in second is the Jennifer Anniston Salad kerfuffle. A trending salad recipe with over 101K likes is said to have been Jennifer’s favorite go to for 10 years on the Friends set. BHG.com tells the tale that Jennifer isn’t a big fan of chickpeas but states the salad in question does sound good. She went on to post her own salad hitting over 800k likes. 

My next favorite all starts with a sandwich. There once was a supermodel named Bella Hada who had a beach picnic with a friend, and they made a sandwich. Two more videos describing the sandwich making racked up over 9 million views and the Bella Hada sandwich was born.

Join me on a trend-setting recipe adventure, you are sure to be entertained by a witty story, video, and cuisine. I’ll be at the table relishing in my butter candle. Cheers to 50 more years of sharing the REAL story of food and farming. 

Eat well and Healthy,

Shelly

Marry Me Chicken (onceuponachef.com)

Bella Hada Sandwich according to 12tomatoes.com

Butter candle

Butter Candle 

1 pound butter, room temp

16 oz. plastic cup

Edible wick

1 Tbsp. seasoning

Savory seasonings of choice: rosemary, oregano, basil, tarragon

Sweet seasonings of choice: cinnamon sugar, maple syrup, honey

Baguette, Sourdough, or a variety of other crusty types of bread

 Poke a hole in the cup threading your wick through it. Tape about an inch of wick to the bottom of the outside of the cup.

 Mix the seasonings of your choice with your softened room temperature butter.

 Stuff the butter in the cup, leaving the base of the wick touching the top of the butter.

 Chill in the refrigerator or freezer until firm.

 Pop out of the cup and trim the wick.

 Cut out a round loaf a bread, insert the butter candle and light it up for a dramatic effect. Serve surrounded by a variety of well baked bread slices or veggies that go great with butter! Yummy!