Agriculture Exstravaganza

This past Saturday, June 28th, I worked with the Robeson Extension Office as they hosted an Agriculture Extravaganza at the Robeson County Farmer’s Market in Downtown Lumberton.

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The Farmer’s Market is open every Wednesday from 9am -Noon and Saturday from 7am-Noon during prime growing season (Spring, Summer, Early Fall). Over two dozen local farmers comprise the market.

Each year, near the beginning of the Summer and truly prime fruit and vegetable season, the Robeson Extension Office hosts the Agriculture Extravaganza in order to showcase farmer’s produce and provide local citizens with examples of fresh, nutritious recipes they could make at home. This year, over 180 pounds of local produce was donated by the farmers for this event. Extension agents involved with the event included Shae Ann Dejarnette, Casey Hancock, Mack Johnson, and Christy Strickland.  The agents organized and prepared over a dozen dishes and recipes for distribution.

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The following samples were provided along with recipe cards:

  • Cucumber Lemon Infused Water
  • Blackberry Mint Infused Water (I made some AWESOME infused H20)
  • Cucumbers and Cherry Tomatoes with Light Ranch Dip
  • Watermelon
  • Cantaloupe
  • Tortilla Chips with a choice of Peach Salsa, Tomato and Corn Salsa, or Cantaloupe Salsa.
  • Roasted Peanuts
  • Zucchini Muffins
  • Grilled Cabbage Steaks
  • Grilled Vegetable Medley
  • Grilled Pizzas
  • Eggplant Mozarella
  • Slider Hamburgers

Visitors began congregating around the booth at 9am and were eager to try the FREE samples. Each visitor signed in with their name, race, and gender for data collection.

I really enjoyed interacting with the booth visitors. It was great to watch them sample a recipe and then start talking about how they could cook some of their vegetables at home.  I was able to swap recipes with a few ladies on grilled vegetables.

Even though I was raised in Robeson County, I was caught off guard by the poverty and obesity present in the county. The Robeson Extension Agents are doing a great job with this event as they try to show local citizens that vegetables or fruits do not have to be fried, covered in butter, or stirred with sugar to be tasty. Education is the first step in meeting the challenges with local food production.