Watermelon Summer Slush

Watermelon is both of my kid's favorite summer fruit.  I'm a huge fan as well.  There is almost nothing better than biting in to a cold, juicy slice of the sweet fruit.  Watermelon is 90% water and is a great source of hydration as well.  So very thirst quenching!

August 3rd is National Watermelon Day and to help us all celebrate, I wanted to share this lucious looking recipe for Pomegranate Watermelon Summer Slush sent to me by Sparkling Ice.

above photo courtesy Sparkling Ice

But first, here are some fun watermelon facts that I learned about at a farm tour at a Monsanto farm I attended.

• Over 1,200 varieties of watermelon are grown worldwide
• Every part of a watermelon is edible—even the seeds and rinds
• Watermelon is a fruit and a vegetable—related to cucumbers, pumpkin and squash
• Some watermelons are yellow, and have a sweeter, more honey-like flavor than the pink-fleshed kind 

Pomegranate Watermelon Summer Slush

Ingredients:
1/2 Personal-size seedless watermelon, chilled, cut & cubed (about 5 cups)
1/3 Cup Sparkling Ice Pomegranate Blueberry or Sparkling Ice Strawberry Watermelon
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 to 2 Cups ice
Small watermelon wedge, spear of blueberries a few pomegranate seeds (optional for garnishes)

Directions:
In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Garnish as desired and serve in a hollowed-out watermelon shell for a fun "fish bowl" inspired drink.

Cherry Ginger Watermelon Mocktail

Ingredients:
Black Cherry Sparkling Ice
Watermelon
Fresh Ginger

Directions:
Cut the watermelon and scoop out the flesh. Peel and cut a small portion of the ginger. Mix both ingredients in a blender, strain for any seeds. Add into highball glass and top with Black Cherry Sparkling Ice. For a fun twist, add a watermelon wedge as a garnish.

above photo courtesy Sparkling Ice

And now for the "adult" recipe......

Sparkling Watermelon Vodka Lemonade

Ingredients:
3 Cups seedless watermelon pieces
3 Lemons, juiced
1/2 Cup Vodka
1/4 Cup Fresh Mint
2 Cups Lemon Lime Sparkling Ice

Directions:
In a blender, puree the watermelon and lemon juice, strain through a sieve into a drink pitcher. Add mint, vodka and Lemon Lime Sparkling Ice, then stir. Serve over ice and garnish with fresh mint.

above photo courtesy Sparkling Ice

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GMO Food vs. Organic Food

All this talk about GMO’s, I’m still trying to understand the entire picture. Are you?

In a short version, this is what I’ve come to understand:

GMO; Genetically Modified Organism, is an organism whose been altered using genetic engineering techniques. So, basically changing the DNA of an organism.

Small scale experimental plantings of GM plants began in Canada and the U.S. in the late 1980s. The first approvals for large scale, cultivations came in the mid 1990s. Since then, the adoption of GM plants by farmers has increased annually.

Probably the most controversial but also the most widely used application of GMO technology is patent-protected food crops largely owned by Monsanto, which are resistant to commercial herbicides or are able to produce pesticidal proteins from within the plant, in turn growing a stronger, larger crop.

Photo by Google Image

My understanding of why Organic Farmers might be against GMOs, I think is, organic farmers are not allowed to use GMO seed but most conventional corn in the U.S. is genetically modified and probably one of the easiest crops for cross pollination to occur, its genes can travel into organic fields via wind blown pollen that could land on the tassels of organic corn. Possible and probable cross pollination occuring.

If this happens on a large scale, the organic farmer may be worried  the consumer will stop buying organic produce and/or organic meat, and buy conventional instead.
According to Pamela Ronald, a plant biologist at UC Davis says, those consumers are losing track of what’s most important. Pamela Ronald works with genetically engineered plants in the laboratory, and she's married to a longtime organic farmer. She and her husband together wrote the book "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food".

"What really is important is, can we reduce the use of insecticides? Can we foster soil fertility? Can we feed the poor and malnourished?" she says. Those should be the goals of organic farming, she says, and they should be the goals of non-organic farming, too. According to Ronald, they're much more significant than avoiding laboratory-spliced genes.

To read more about GMOs and to view Pamela Ronald’s quote, go to the article, “How to Define ‘Organic’ Food.


So GMOs are plants that are stronger, more resistant to things. Is that a bad thing? Will GMO crops help to reduce world starvation?


Do you consider eating non-GMO food as something important to you?

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