This week on social media, we found cool robots, a foodservice winner, tips to keep figs fresh, job advice and an orange cake that makes our childhood selves give a wide, sticky grin.
We passed over many drool-worthy photos of superfine figgy recipes, and instead opted for this simple, practical post by California Figs, the advisory board for this specific industry.
If you can’t keep your figs fresh, then you won’t be able to make any of the fig-laden deliciousness anyway.
Using social media for posting helpful tips on using your product can’t be overstated.
Now, to make that fig smoothie…
Find them on Twitter at @CAfigs.
Is it ironic that in a social media column, we want to feature a post that promotes NOT looking at your phone? Eh. *shrug*
Terry Rice, a business development consultant, reposts this funny-but-true meme comparing how Europeans and Americans handle vacation time.
Let’s stop glamorizing workaholism, people. We know running a produce business can be 24/7 even more than other jobs, but you’ll be more productive when you take a break — a real break. It sounds counterintuitive, but that’s what the research shows.
After Rice throws down some sobering stats, he gives us advice, like the coach that he is: “When you’re in the office, be in the office. When you’re at the beach, be at the beach.”
[Cue sound effects: ring of laptop shutting down, slamming screen door, ocean waves, seagulls]
Find him on LinkedIn by searching for “Terry Rice.”
Ramiro Ruiz Jr., a “wrench turner and advocate for ag in the Salinas Valley and Yuma, AZ,” posts stunning shots of the fields.
But it was his video of his new robotic strawberry picker that really got our attention.
Is this a response to the labor shortage? How do those mechanical arms not smush the precious strawberries? We have so many questions.
Bottom line, this mechanical strawberry harvester sure is cool to look at.
Find him on Instagram at @ran628.
Amid all the challenges our industry faces today, we like using social media to celebrate your wins.
Produce Alliance does just that with this post about its president, Melissa Melshenker Ackerman, winning Entrepreneur of the Year, 2021 Midwest.
This produce management services group specializes in the procurement and distribution of fresh produce to the food service industry. Members purchase more than 25 million packages of fresh produce each year, creating a volume with buying power for better prices, according to the Facebook profile page.
Congrats, Melissa, especially as we know this past year has been … a challenge.
Find them on Facebook at @ProduceAllliance.
TikTok
And now for some recipe action.
Always ready to deliver on that delicious front, Adriana Adarme is a recipe developer, blogger and author of “The Year of Cozy: 125 Recipes, Crafts, and Other Homemade Adventures, published by Rodale Books.”
Many of her comforting recipes are inspired by her Colombian and Peruvian parents, and many are cakes, pies, pastries and breakfast items.
Case in point: This adorable, delicious-looking creamsicle cake.
Using three navel oranges plus their zest, Adarme creates a cake that’s reminiscent of childhood summer days, when some of us would save our allowance (50 cents for sweeping the front porch and watering the plants!) in order to spend it all recklessly for an orange popsicle with cream inside at the ice cream truck of dubious origin.
Those were the days.
But now, the day is today — and in CAKE form. Fresh produce makes magic, doesn’t it?
Find her on TikTok at @acozykitchen.
