MAX FACTS
growing tips, news and trivia
Magnificent Micro-organisms
A micro-organism or microbe is an organism that is microscopic—too small to be seen by the
human eye. The study of micro-organisms is called microbiology. Micro-organisms include bacteria,
fungi, archaea and protists, but not viruses and prions, which are generally classified as non-living.
Most micro-organisms are single-celled, or unicellular, and these organisms live almost everywhere on
Earth where there is liquid water, including hot springs, on the ocean floor and deep inside rocks within
the Earth’s crust. Micro-organisms are critical to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers
and because some micro-organisms can also fix nitrogen, they are an important part of the nitrogen cycle.
(Source: sciencedaily.com)
MAXFACTS
Growing tips, news and trivia
Learning the Alphabet the Healthy Way
The goal of R obert Orchanian’s VEDGE Kids Project, which stands for Vigorous, Educated and
Good Eaters, is to instil healthy eating habits in children between the ages of two and five.
His book, The ABCs of Nutrition: Learning the Alphabet the Healthy Way encourages healthy
habits while teaching children the alphabet. Robert, a father of five, explains that kids younger
than five years old are in a highly formative state, essentially metabolically programmed to
eat the food they will crave for the rest of their lives. “We felt we needed a different approach
to get kids to eat healthy, so we went for something that’s fun and entertaining, as opposed
to something that’s fact based,” he says. The ABCs of Nutrition introduces each letter of the
alphabet with a VEDGE Kid and a colourful illustration of a fruit or vegetable.
(Source: freshplaza.com)
Bananas are Best
Some horticulturists suspect that the banana was the
Earth’s first fruit. One of the first records of bananas
dates back to Alexander the Great’s conquest of India
where he first discovered them in 327 BC. The average
American consumes more than 28 lbs. of bananas
each year. Three medium-sized bananas weigh
approximately 1 lb. A cluster of bananas is called a
hand and consists of 10 to 20 bananas, which are
known as fingers. Bananas are a good source of
vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber and are ranked
America’s No. 1 fruit. They are available year-round and
are harvested every day of the year. Finally, bananas
contain no fat, cholesterol or sodium. They are good
for you as long as you don’t slip on a discarded peel.
(Source: bananasaver.com)
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Maximum Yield USA | January 2014