Category: Food Safety

food on dining room table

Rudolph’s Guide to Holiday Grocery Savings


December 1, 2025

  If you find yourself saying, “Oh deer!” (pun intended) while trying to plan a holiday meal that’s crowd-pleasing, delicious, healthy, and budget-friendly, you’re not alone. At UF/IFAS Extension Family and Consumer Sciences, ... READ MORE

Category: Food Safety, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Relationships & Family, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Work & Life
Tags: Anikolai, Healthy Meals, Holiday, Holiday Meal, Holidays, Meal, Polk County, Polk County FL, Saving_money, UF/IFAS Polk County

Annual Peanut Butter Challenge: A Birthday Wish to End Hunger


November 5, 2025

From Presents to Peanut Butter, A Gift That Gives Back In a world where small acts of kindness can ripple into big changes, one young girl in Polk County is proving that age is no barrier to making a meaningful impact. Meet London Brandt, ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Clubs & Volunteers, Community Volunteers, Crops, Events, Farm Management, Food Safety, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Relationships & Family, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research, Work & Life
Tags: Charity, Donate, Featured, Featured Hot Topic, Florida Peanut Federation, Florida Peanut Producers Association, Food Banks, Food Pantries, PBChallenge, Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Challenge, Polk County, PolkExtension, PolkPBChallenge, Spread The Love, Spread The Peanut Butter

Annual Peanut Butter Challenge: 2024 Wrap Up


December 23, 2024

Thank You, Polk County! The 2024 Peanut Butter Challenge, organized by UF/IFAS Extension and Florida A&M University (FAMU) Cooperative Extension, was a smooth success. This annual peanut butter jar collection brings communities together ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Crops, Food Safety, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Anikolai, Charity, Donate, Education, Florida Peanut Federation, Florida Peanut Producers Association, Food Banks, Food Pantries, Hot Topic, Nutrition, PBChallenge, Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Challenge, Polk County, PolkExtension, PolkPBChallenge, Spread The Love, Spread The Peanut Butter
buckets filled with jaars of peanut butter

Annual Peanut Butter Challenge: How One Girl is Giving Back


December 9, 2024

Meet the Young Girl Inspiring Our Community with Her Peanut Butter Donation At just nine years old, London Brandt, is already making a difference in her community. Inspired by the kindness she sees around her and her desire to help those ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Community Volunteers, Crops, Events, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Food Safety, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Relationships & Family, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Work & Life
Tags: Charity, Donate, Florida Peanut Federation, Florida Peanut Producers Association, Food Banks, Food Pantries, PBChallenge, Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Challenge, Polk County, PolkExtension, PolkPBChallenge, Spread The Love, Spread The Peanut Butter
fridge shelf with sausage, garlic, and strawberries

Keeping it Fresh: How long is food still good after a power outage?


August 28, 2023

Keeping it Fresh: How long is food still good after a power outage? Whether a rat knocked out your freezer plug (that was actually the subject of the last phone call I received at my job), or the wrath of a hurricane leaves you powerless, situations ... READ MORE

Category: Disaster Preparation, Food Safety, Health & Nutrition, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Anikolai, Food Safety, Foodsafety, Hurricane, Hurricane Preparedness, UF/IFAS Polk County
Top part of a roasted turkey ready to be cut

Turkey Express: Instant pot? Temperature? Thawing? Your Questions Answered


October 28, 2022

Turkey Express: Your Questions Answered Turkey time is right around the corner. Don’t wing it! Here are some questions and answers to get you warmed up for the season. Can you make a turkey in an air fryer? Yes, as long as it fits. ... READ MORE

Category: Food Safety, Health & Nutrition, Home Management, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension,
Tags: Anikolai, Cooking, Foodsafety, Healthy Meals, Holidays, Polk County, Thanksgiving, Turkey, UF/IFAS
Purple Lightning

Hurricane Prep – Sources of Water for Your Family


September 26, 2022

Para acceder a esta comunicación en español, por favor utilice este enlace Water is an essential consideration during a natural disaster such as a Hurricane or Tropical Storm. If you're reading this while a storm is in the forecast for ... READ MORE

Category: Disaster Preparation, Food Safety, Work & Life
Tags: Beth Robertson, Disaster, Hurricane, Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Prep, Hurricane Preparation, Hurricane Preparedness, Polk County, Preparedness, Shannon Carnevale, Storms, Water Storage
Palm trees blowing in the wind

Storm Recovery Updates for UF/IFAS Extension Polk County (Sept. 2022)

Avatar photo
September 23, 2022

As our community recovers from Hurricane Ian, see the following storm-related updates from our office. You'll find extension program and event updates, storm prep and recovery resources, and local resources here. Stay tuned to your local ... READ MORE

Category: Disaster Preparation, Food Safety, Work & Life
Tags: Disaster, Disaster Preparation, Disaster Recovery, Food Safety, Hurricane, Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Prep, Hurricane Preparation, Hurricane Preparedness, Polk County FL, Preparedness, Safety, Storms

Florida Farm Pests: Fruit Flies (Drosophila ssp.)


July 1, 2022

If you have seen flies flying around your ripe fruits, it is probably a fruit fly.  Drosophila (a genus of flies that includes the family Drosophilidae), also known as small fruit flies, are a common pest in Florida all-year-round.  Especially ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Food Safety, Fruits & Vegetables, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Farm_management, Florida_Pests, Food Safety, Fruit_Fly, IPM, Polk County FL, Polk Small Farms, UF/IFAS

Plagas de Las Fincas de Florida: Mosca de la fruta (Drosophila ssp.)


July 1, 2022

Si ha visto moscas volando alrededor de sus frutas maduras, probablemente sea una mosca de la fruta. Drosophila (un género de moscas que incluye a la familia Drosophilidae), también conocidas como pequeñas moscas de la fruta, son una plaga ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Farm Management, Food Safety, Fruits & Vegetables, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: En Espanol, Espanol, Farm_management, Florida_Pests, Food Safety, Fruit_Fly, IPM, Polk County FL, Polk_Small_Farms, UF/IFAS

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