We’ve been enjoying a harvest of one of our favorite novelty squashes of the tropics. Known as musk cucumber in English, its common name here is Cohombro (Sicana odorifera). This is one of the most unusual plants in the tropics.
NUTRITION IN THE NEWS: The family’s vegetable intake can be nearly doubled by the surreptitious addition of grated and pureed vegetables to everyday dishes.
Consumption of vegetables grown north of Cartago province do not pose any risk to humans despite their exposure to ashes from the Turrialba Volcano, the Costa Rican government says.
"Honey is thought of as more natural whereas white sugar and high fructose corn syrup are processed from the cane or the beet or the corn," said Raatz, whose paper appears in the Journal of Nutrition. "We wanted to find out if they were different. But chemically, they are very, very similar, and that's what it seems to break down to."
Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Promotion Office, or PROCOMER, is eyeing a recent U.S. Agriculture Department report that noted the United States will spend an additional $8 billion this year on food, compared to last year's figures. PROCOMER says the increase could benefit Tico exporters, particularly producers of fruits and vegetables.
