Last weekend I had the pleasure of being a part of Extension’s Ag Day — a free event focused on educating the public on local agriculture. This event has been in the works since January. The Ag Day committee has spent countless hours contacting vendors, educators, and sponsors to help make this our best event yet. I think it is safe to say it was! We had hundreds of attendees who learned from beekeepers, farmers, Extension Master Gardeners, and several other professionals. With around 45 different stations, visitors stayed busy learning, tasting, observing, and even petting for most of the afternoon.
Our Family Consumer Science committee had two different stations. Inside the Extension office, Lethia Lee was busy demonstrating a healthy stir fry recipe from the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). Lethia is the EFNEP program assistant for Sampson County Cooperative Extension. She said everyone really loved the stir fry. The other FCS station was a Germbuster smoothie booth directly outside of the building. I was tending to this station where we were blending up a healthy treat for everyone to try. We had around 250 to 300 customers stop by the booth. After each customer tried the smoothie, I asked them to rate it based on if they “Loved it”, “Liked it”, or “Tried it, but it’s not for me.” I am happy to say the “Loved it” column was the fullest out of the three. We only had around twenty customers who were not crazy about the smoothie, mostly because they were not a fan of the pineapple or the lime that was in it.
Here is the Germbuster smoothie recipe in case you missed it:
2 cups of pineapple, frozen
½ cup of Lime Sherbet
1 tablespoon of lime juice
(makes 2 servings)
The Germbuster smoothie was derived from an EFNEP recipe for youth. The original recipe calls for honeydew melon, but in expecting hundreds of attendees, I chose to substitute pineapple for easier preparation. It is called a “Germbuster” smoothie because it is very high in Vitamin C. In just one serving, you’re able to get more than your daily intake of the vitamin (75mg for women, 90mg for men). This makes it a great smoothie to boost your immune system and help fight off those germs that can make you sick. The Germbuster smoothie is also low in fat. Turn this into ice cream by adding a little ice, and you have a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream. You can also use a variety of fruits like strawberries, mangos, or kiwi, or try another flavor of fat free sherbet like orange!
On behalf of the Sampson County Extension Center, a tremendous thank you to all who were able to come out last Saturday. Also a huge thanks to our vendors and sponsors who helped make this event so great. We hope everyone enjoyed Ag Day as much as we enjoyed hosting it!