Food Facts

Garlic—it’s one of the most common food seasoning and condiment globally, and even though we know it is good for us, many have shunned it for creating stinky breath after consumption. Whether you love garlic or avoid it like the plague, it is the heart of many cuisines all over the world. In addition to its unique taste, garlic has amazing medicinal qualities that support your health… (more…)

Spanish conquistadors had their own historian, Oviedo, who reported positively about avocados discovered in Mexico around 1519. But this interesting fruit has graced Central and South America for perhaps 10,000 years, according to the avocado-inspired drawings and artifacts found in early Aztec settlements.

A judge from Santa Barbara took the first Mexican avocado trees to California in 1871. California now grows 90% of the U.S. avocado crop in more than 6,000 groves…

If you ever see a salad green referred to as “rocket,” it’s simply another name for arugula, or roquette in French. Yet another brassicaceae along with kale and cauliflower, its delightfully pungent leaves have been cultivated in the Mediterranean since time was recorded. As such, arugula is a perennial favorite in Italian cooking.

Rather nondescript in appearance, arugula is often added to mesclun mixes…

A member of the sunflower family of vegetables, the artichoke is actually a perennial thistle. First cultivated in the Mediterranean region, artichokes became scarce after the fall of the Roman Empire. They made a comeback in Italy in the 1500s, and then appeared in the Americas after introduction by French and Spanish gardeners.

Today, California provides virtually all of the artichokes in the U.S. If left to grow wild, artichokes blossom into large purple flowers…

Ripe and golden with a luscious flavor and velvety surface – or a more intense shade when dried – apricots are closely related to peaches, plums, and nectarines. Grown on deciduous trees, they’re actually a drupe, with the seed central to the surrounding fruit and each having a fairly uniform size. They’re sometimes overlooked as a fruit, perhaps because there are so many fruits to choose from in today’s markets.

Already well-known in Greece in 60 BC, apricots were transported to Europe by Greeks who called…

Delicious, crunchy, juicy, and sweet are all adjectives used to describe apples. They travel well, making them a popular lunchbox food and snack. Apples are extremely versatile. Although they are often thought of as distinctly American, they actually originated in Mesopotamia. Around 2,500 apple varieties are grown in the U.S., and 7,500 grown worldwide…