$550,000 in meth seized in strawberry load

Brisbane has fabulous produce, befitting the sub-tropical climate.

pick-your-own-strawberriesStrawberries were going for $0.50 a pint this week, and excellent quality.

Officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations at the Pharr International Bridge seized an estimated $550,000 worth of alleged methamphetamine hidden a commercial load of fresh strawberries.

On Feb. 27, CBP officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility encountered a 39-year-old man from Reynosa, Mexico, driving a tractor/trailer carrying a commercial shipment of fresh strawberries, according to a Customs and Border Protection news release.

After referring the truck for secondary inspection, officers discovered and seized two packages of alleged methamphetamine weighing about 28 pounds and seized the Freightliner tractor as well, the release said.

Still awaiting lifetime supply of limes: produce is ripe for foodies, target bloggers

In the 2001 film K-Pax, the would-be alien played by Kevin Spacey comments to psychiatrist Dr. Mark Powell (no relation) played by Jeff Bridges, the bestest greatest actor in the world, “Your produce alone has been worth the trip.”

(For a while I thought maybe I had some mysterious role in the film or book’s creation, being a Dr. Powell, and the tragic set-up for the plot occurring in Guelph, Texas, but then Amy reminded me that not every movie is about me, or us).

The Packer reports that a recent Big Apple conference was told to go to where the food bloggers, recipe writers, cookbook authors and cooking school teachers are and wow them with a product and message. It turns into fodder for blogging, tweeting, experimenting and developing.

Conference organizers incorporated New York’s publishing offerings into the program by scheduling media tours, one to the test kitchens of Meredith Corp., which publishes Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal and Every Day With Rachael Ray magazines. With the magazine food editors present for the tour, Rodger Helwig, marketing specialist with California Vegetable Specialties, Rio Vista, Calif., found the opportunity to inform them of endive, getting agreement from each editor to receive a box to experiment with — something he was unable to accomplish by phone, he said.

The Australian limes are outstanding this time of year, and I incorporate them into every meal. Still waiting in Brisbane.