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Now available on iPhones in Japan: American Meat Recipe 100
U.S. Meat Export Federation
A new, free iPhone application entitled American Meat Recipe 100 offered through Apple's Japanese language App Store gives consumers in Japan 60 American beef and 40 American pork recipes, covering everything from dinner parties to lunch boxes. Developed by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) with support from the USDA Market Access Program, the iPhone application include crystal-clear photos, detailed cooking methods and a "Today's Recommendation" page that provides consumers with a guide to healthy, delicious dishes featuring U.S. beef and pork. Users may also search for new recipes according to cooking method, such as stewing, grilling or stir-fry.

To increase awareness of the promotion, USMEF is wrapping some Tokyo buses in advertising. Consumers who spot the buses featuring the U.S. beef advertising can instantly qualify for U.S. beef prize drawings by sending a photo of the bus through their mobile phone, conveying a message through Twitter or featuring an article on their personal blog. A total of 100 winners will be selected. The campaign featuring distribution of the iPhone application will run through the end of January.

"This is a great new way of connecting with busy consumers on the go, to increase their awareness of American beef and pork," said Takemichi Yamashoji, USMEF senior marketing manager in Japan. "We see this as a communication tool that will help consumers with every aspect of the dining experience - from planning to shopping to meal preparation. It's truly exciting to put this much valuable information at our customers' fingertips."

Photo credit: Photo courtesy the U.S. Meat Export Federation shows a Tokyo bus carrying the message of U.S. beef.

Chow Line: Potatoes: You say waxy, I say mealy
By MARTHA FILIPIC
What kinds of potatoes are best for boiling, mashing, frying and baking? Potatoes are versatile creatures, aren't they? They can be cooked just about any way you can think of, and they complement almost any meal. There are more than 200 kinds of potatoes. Although you won't find all of those varieties at your supermarket, it's easy to get confused about the different sorts of potatoes that are available.

In his classic "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen," Harold McGee explains that potatoes may fall into one of two categories, "waxy" or "mealy" -- or somewhere in between. Those terms hardly make the mouth water, but they do offer a good way to discern which potatoes are best for different uses.

"Mealy" potatoes, McGee explains, have more dry starch within their cells, which tend to puff up and separate from each other when cooked. That makes the potato fluffier when cooked -- a good thing for baking and mashing. It also makes the potato drier, which is OK, because you generally moisten baked and mashed potatoes with butter, milk or other moisteners. This type is also good for frying potatoes -- think of the fluffy interior of a thick-cut french fry. The Russet potato, the most popular potato by far in the U.S., is the classic "mealy" potato.

Instead of separating when cooked, the cells in "waxy" potatoes, McGee explains, stick together. That's good news when you want a potato to hold its shape after cooking, as you would want for potato salads, boiled potatoes or scalloped potatoes. New potatoes (which are really just young potatoes of any variety), red-skinned potatoes and fingerlings are common varieties of waxy potatoes.

Still other potatoes fall in between mealy and waxy. These all-purpose potatoes have a medium starch content and can be used for, well, just about all purposes. Round and long white-skinned potatoes are usually classified as "all purpose."

Potatoes, particularly those that aren't fried or laden with high-fat trimmings, can be a nutritious component of the diet. They are high in vitamin C and a good source of potassium and vitamin B6. But be careful -- they're so well-loved that it's easy to go overboard on them. A small- to medium-sized baked potato, about 5.25 ounces, is plenty for one serving.

On the Net:
** U.S. Potato Board: http://www.healthypotato.com
** Potato Association of America: http://potatoassociation.org/
** Idaho Potato Commission: http://www.idahopotato.com/

Related AgEdNet.com Resources:
** CS118 Potatoes
** FM175 Cost of Producing Potatoes
** 11/30/05 -- Potatoes Provide Potassium and More

Much work done, much remains to remove dead trees
By MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press
FOXPARK, Wyo. (AP) -- Beetle-killed timber has been moving out of Wyoming and Colorado national forests by the truckload, the result of tens of millions of dollars in funding and a focused effort to keep three forests safe and open for recreation. Contractors have removed beetle-killed trees from alongside more than 420 miles of roads and trails in the forests this year, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

They've also cleared dead pine trees from more than 20 square miles of forest near homes and buildings, and out of 357 campgrounds and other recreation sites. The goal is to lessen the danger of falling trees while making it easier for firefighters to protect structures during wildfires.

The work will continue until there's too much snow on the ground, although some snow can help shield forest undergrowth during operations, said Larry Sandoval, a district ranger in Medicine Bow National forest in southern Wyoming. "The intent is to keep the national forest open for business to the public," Sandoval said. "The quicker we get it done, the more quickly the roads and trails are going to be safe." Sandoval said he would like to finish the project in three to five years.

A beetle epidemic has killed 5,550 square miles of lodgepole pine and spruce forest across the region since the late 1990s. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack allocated $35 million for tree removal work last year in three areas: Arapaho-Roosevelt and White River national forests in Colorado and Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in Colorado and Wyoming. Together, the forests cover a big chunk of the Rockies, from Aspen in central Colorado almost to Casper in central Wyoming.

Senators from Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota and Nebraska asked Vilsack in a letter Oct. 1 to spend another $49 million in the year ahead. They praised last year's allocation and called the beetle epidemic a "national emergency." The Forest Service is treating the epidemic like an emergency by having a regional incident commander oversee tree removal. Usually such a leader oversees a forest fire or some other urgent situation.

"This one is really unique in that it's not a fast-moving, dire emergency. You don't see the flames just over the hill coming at you," the incident commander, Cal Wettstein, said on Tuesday. Forest officials have become more efficient planning and awarding contracts to remove beetle-killed trees since the work began eight years ago, he said. "There's a lot more work to do," Wettstein said. "But we continue to ramp up."

Beetles have killed up to 90 percent of the trees in some areas. Along with making roads and trails impassable and campgrounds dangerous, deadfall can get in the way when firefighters are trying to prevent forest fires from reaching homes. Falling trees also can cause blackouts, something power companies are trying to prevent by clearing dead trees away from power lines, Sandoval said.

While the timber industry can use some of the beetle-killed timber, some companies are stockpiling the timber amid a weak lumber market, he said. Forest officials predict beetles will continue killing trees until there are essentially no more older and vulnerable trees left to infest. "They will eat themselves out of house and home, is kind of the bottom line," Sandoval said.

NJ farm invites pepper picking people
By GENE RACZ
EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- In a far corner of Giamarese Farm, about 21 Rutgers University students and alumni filled basket after wooden basket with red and green peppers. They picked them from an ample plot that had been set aside by owner Jim Giamarese for the time-honored tradition of gleaning -- a practice where farmers leave a portion of their crops in the field for the poor and hungry.

The produce gathered was then promptly driven to Elijah's Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick and the Franklin Food Bank for distribution to the needy. Rutgers Against Hunger and Farmers Against Hunger sponsored the event.

"This is a good experience," said Andrei Oilfer, a Rutgers senior from Ukraine who took part in the gleaning with about 10 classmates taking a sustainable agriculture course. "We're learning how to collect and harvest so there is no waste and you can get the fullest out of the harvest."

Professor Jack Rabin, associate director for Farm Programs at New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, who teaches the sustainability course, also gleaned peppers in the field. "This is a great experience to put the production side of our class together with the (concept) of farming being a part of a community -- and how you share back and forth both ways," Rabin said.

Rutgers senior Marina Kviker, a member of Alpha Zeta, Cook College's honors/service organization, said she enjoyed gleaning for a good cause. Working alongside her, Rutgers alumna Kristen Tangel said she has wanted to participate in gleanings during her senior year, but her classes conflicted with the events. "Agriculture is in my blood," said Tangel who added that Jim Giamarese knew her grandparents who had a farm in East Brunswick, near corner of Cranbury Road and Ryders Lane. Most of that farm is now preserved as open space.

Rutgers Against Hunger was launched just prior to Thanksgiving 2008 as a university-wide effort involving food drives, educational programs and cooperative programs with farmers and gardeners to supply much-needed food to affiliates of the New Jersey Federation of Food Banks. Farmers Against Hunger gathers donated produce from a network of more than 60 farms stretching from Warren to Cape May counties throughout the year. It then distributes the produce at centralized locations to charity organizations.

"Farmers got together about 20 years ago, knew there was a need. They had extra and they knew that a lot of stuff was going to waste," said Giamarese, a founding member of Farmers Against Hunger. "Farmers, being the frugal people that they are, just felt it would be useful to gather it and give it to those in need. We're getting them the good stuff -- fresh fruits and vegetables."

** Information from: Home News Tribune, http://www.mycentraljersey.com

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