Dragon fruit is also known by several other names depending on where you encounter it. In much of the U.S. and Latin America it’s commonly called pitaya or pitahaya, terms you’ll often see used interchangeably with dragon fruit on market labels. Botanically, the fruit comes from a cactus sometimes referred to as night-blooming cereus, a nod to the plant’s dramatic flowers that open after dark. Older or poetic names like strawberry pear, belle of the night, or queen of the night still appear occasionally, though today dragon fruit and pitaya are the names most shoppers recognize.
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November in the Middle East offers a colorful spread of fruit and veg, including some heritage varieties.
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Infarm, a company that grows fresh produce inside supermarkets, has recently announced a $170 million USD funding round to help the company expand across Europe. Their environment-controlled and automated growing chambers grow food such as leafy greens inside the supermarket, so it's fresh, without your food accumulating food miles.
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A two-minute cruise by bike down the street from my parent’s house and I discover a very special social experiment.
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Dream of fresh organic food? Have little land in your town or city but plenty of patience? There is a new city gardening movement called aquaponics or AP. The movement is creating missionaries, new converts and maybe even some gurus, but there are also real people doing it in backyards, parks, basements or a garage near […]
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Telling Mediterraneans not to eat cucumbers is like taking baguettes away from Parisians. At least 10 people have died, and one thousand more expected to be ill from eating tainted organic cucumbers and other fresh produce consumed in Germany. Contaminated with a rare and deadly form of E.coli, a bacteria, the organic cucumbers are causing […]
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Farmigo aims to improve day-to-day operations for small organic farms. More and more Israelis are joining the worldwide move to buying their fresh produce from small, organic farms (and CSAs – see our list). But because they’re farmers, and not necessarily businessmen, most of these family-run businesses aren’t being run on the most optimal level. […]
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Negev farmer Doron Akiva, grows organic olives for Negev Nectars. His piece of land has reputedly been farmed since the time of David and Solomon. “A land flowing with milk and honey” – that’s one of the most well-known passages from Exodus describing the Land of Israel and one of the first biblical expressions to […]
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Tomatoes are still, mercifully, quite readily available. Though we hate to think about it, this won’t always be the case. In just a few short weeks, tomatoes—at least the good, locally grown varieties—will be gone on winter hiatus. It always seems to come too soon, and it always somehow seems to take us by surprise. […]
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I was so anxious on Monday as I awaited word of delivery of my very first Israeli community supported agriculture (CSA) delivery to its drop spot in Tel Aviv. I was nervous, not because I thought the vegetables wouldn’t be good or because I was unsure if I was getting a good deal (the veggies […]
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Why is it more expensive to buy ‘clean’ food than food containing additives and pesticide residues?Many people who would like to eat naturally, are forced to eat commercially-produced food containing pesticide residues and preservatives because natural food is beyond their budget. This seems counterintuitive. Every person regardless of income level should have the basic right […]
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