2013 Hop Industry Figures & 2014 Food Trends

2013 Hop Industry Figures & 2014 Food Trends

2013 Hop Industry Figures & 2014 Food Trends plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

The Northwest hop industry saw a considerable increase this last year. Ann George, executive director of the Washington Hop Commission say there was an overall increase of about 13%.

GEORGE: One of the problems we've had the last few years is that our production of alpha worldwide has exceeded the demand and we're back to where we were just about in alignment again. But the interesting thing is Germany has more acreage than we have but with the drought that they had throughout Europe this past year and Germany also had some problems with hail, their yields were down substantially this year.

Acreage of hops also increased in all three States as well.

According to self-proclaimed Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert - protein is a focus among 2014 food trends. Lempert has released his Top 10 food trend predictions for the year and protein plays a role in several of the trends he says are coming for U.S. consumers. He sees more brands offering protein-rich breakfast options - based on several consumer surveys that show more than three-quarters of Americans now recognize that eating breakfast at home is an important way to start the day.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

On that rare occasion there are times I wish I was a school kid again. This particularly happens when I read about such things as the National Ag Day essay contest. There was always something exciting about submitting an original word essay along with hundreds of other students in hopes of winning that grand prize. This year the theme for the Agriculture Council of America's Ag Day essay contest is "Agriculture: 365 Sunrises, and 7 Billion Mouths To Feed". High School students can submit either a 450 word essay or a two minute video essay about the significant role agriculture plays in everyday life. The national written essay winner receives a $1,000 prize plus a round trip ticket to Washington, D.C for recognition during the Celebration of Ag Dinner on March 25, where they will have the opportunity to read their essay for those attending the ag celebration. The video essay winner will also receive a $1,000 cash prize and their video will be featured at the Celebration of Ag dinner. Better hurry, applications are due January 31, 2014. Good luck to all of you young aspiring writers, video artists, and next generation ag producers.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.

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