Happy New Year!
Looking down the road . . .
Out with the old and in with the new!
The end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 is being celebrated around the world.
It is a tradition.
Traditions are one of those things that connect us all . . . in our families, across our country, and around the world. These traditions almost always include food and resolutions.
Did your New Year’s food traditions include legumes?
This is a good thing. : - )
Eating legumes is nutritionally sound and can probably help with at least one of the most common resolutions around the world!
In the South we eat black-eyed peas for good luck.
In Japan, at the beginning of February (marking the end of winter and the beginning of the next season) they throw roasted soybeans, eat one for each year of their age, and eat one more for good luck. (Image Source: Bunkla Language School)
It is called Setsubun no Hi (節分の日) in Japan and China.
So, to cover my bases, I ate my southern black-eyed peas on January 1st and will have roasted soybeans ready to throw and eat on February 3rd!
As 2022 begins I say good-bye on January 31st to my 31-year career with the University of Arkansas; 21-years spent with the UA System Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service. I will forever treasure my time with the Extension Service and the incredible colleagues I worked with, respect greatly, and learned from.
I don’t have a resolution for 2022.
However, this is my field of dreams; using existing assets in the Delta for the creation of an expanded soy value chain, including partnerships for specialized variety production, product development, local processing and distribution.
It is a simple dream.
It’s all about the details.
Isn’t that true about everything?
How hard can it be? : - )
As we all begin 2022 together, I look forward to working with many of you to make this happen!
Don’t forget . . .
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
-C.S. Lewis
~Karen