Uvalde, Texas
December 30, 2005
While black-eyed peas get most of
the attention in the southern U.S. as a New Year's Day's "good
luck" food, another lucky food, cabbage, plays a more dominant
role in Texas agriculture, said a Texas Cooperative Extension
economist.
"Texas is the third-largest cabbage producing state, behind
California and New York," said
Jose Peña, Extension economist at the
Texas A&M University System
Agricultural Research and Extension Center here. "The state
produces 320 million to 350 million pounds of cabbage annually."
Peña estimates cabbage will generate more than $200 million in
economic impact for the state this year.
Along with black-eyed peas, rice, ham and collard greens and
other legumes, cabbage is one of the traditional New Year's luck
foods, which are supposed to bring good fortune for the coming
year.
The tradition of eating cabbage for good luck comes from the
association of cabbage with prosperity, according to TOPICS
online magazine.
While Irish tradition emphasizes eating of cabbage and other
traditional foods on St. Patrick's Day, German, Dutch and other
European cultures emphasize eating sauerkraut (literally: "sour
cabbage"), usually with pork, on New Year's Day.
Even the word "cabbage" is used in the U.S. as slang for money,
especially paper money.
"Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable and has been cultivated for
more than 2,500 years,"said Ray Clark, executive director of the
Leafy Greens Council in St. Paul, Minn. "It is a real food
tradition in Western culture. The Romans ate it, and it has been
a food mainstay for the Irish and Germans for many hundreds of
years."
Cabbage is low in cholesterol and saturated fat, and is a good
source of fiber and vitamin C, plus vittamin A in some
varieties, said Jacqueline Replogle, Extension nutrition
assistant in College Station.
"There has been research to suggest that cabbage may also reduce
the risk for certain types of cancer, including colon, rectal
and prostate cancer," she added. "It's a very healthy food."
Cabbage is grown on about 9,000 acres in Texas, with about 2,000
of those acres in Uvalde County. Green and red cabbage comprise
the main cabbage crops for the state.
"When people talk about cabbage production in the Winter Garden
area of Texas, they're basically talking about the production in
Uvalde County,"
said Kenneth White, Extension agent for agriculture here.
"Almost half of the vegetable production in the county is from
cabbage, and here we grow and harvest cabbage crops almost
throughout the year."
Many producers avoid harvesting cabbage during the summer months
because the crop must be harvested manually and the Texas heat
makes that difficult, White added.
Where does all this cabbage go?
"I'd estimate that 60 percent to 70 percent of all cabbage
produced in Texas goes into the making of cole slaw," Peña said.
"Much of that cole slaw goes to large restaurant chains across
the country. Only a small portion of cabbage production goes
toward other uses, such as in retail sales and the making of
other consumer products, like sauerkraut."
Cabbage is such a large crop in Central and South Texas that
Cabbage Inc., one of the nation's largest cabbage
shipper-growers, has a facility, Cabbage Texas, in La Pryor.
Cabbage Texas harvests and ships cabbage to processing plants
throughout the U.S.
"Recent weather conditions have been perfect for growing
cabbage," said Dr. Larry Stein, Extension horticulturist at the
Uvalde center. "The weather has been dry and cool, and while the
cabbage crop has required some irrigation, we're not having
problems with insects or diseases commonly associated with
excess moisture."
There were, however, insects and disease problems with the
cabbage crop earlier in the year, noted Stein.
"For a while, there was too much moisture and we had a problem
with whiteflies," he said. "But we're past that now. In all, it
has been a very good year for cabbage."
While other "good luck" vegetables are grown in Central and
South Texas, cabbage producers have been have been particularly
lucky with this crop during the year, he said. |