The Fruit Company

Once again our fair hamlet has made a national magazine’s top list of the best places to live in the United States. The September issue of National Geographic Adventure touts Hood River as one of the best towns in the West to live and play. While I could go on longer about how wonderful our town is (especially as they failed to mention the plethora of fruit and fresh goods made here, but hey, that’s not the magazine’s focus. We understand.), I’ll let the magazine summarize their impression of our hometown.

5. Hood River, Oregon
A River Town’s Next Wave
The steady westerlies churning the mighty Columbia nearby have been drawing windsurfers and kiteboarders to Hood River for years. But lately an almost equal number of mountain bikers, powderhounds, and whitewater paddlers have started calling it home as well. Judging by the signs above all the new restaurants, the recent arrivals are partial to sushi joints, wine bars, and bistros with hard-to-pronounce European names. But this recreational boomtown hasn’t abandoned its roots—the focus here is still centered squarely on the action outside. Tucked between the looming basalt cliffs of the Columbia River Gorge, an hour east of Portland, Hood River is cementing its multisport identity with a new riverside park. Plans call for a long public green, a swimming beach, and, naturally, kiteboarding and windsurfing put-ins. Kayakers dip into the placid Klickitat River, where local outfitters hold beginner lessons on the gorge’s Washington side, or navigate the gauntlet of Class IIIs and IVs on the aspen-flanked White Salmon. Landlubbers get their fat-tire fix at Post Canyon, where freeriders have been adding jumps, bridges, and seesaws. And half an hour south of town, the lifts on Mount Hood’s Palmer Glacier stay open straight on through summer, giving snowboarders and skiers access to 1,524 feet of vertical corn nearly year-round.
Population: 6,710
Median home price: $369,300

We couldn’t agree more. Almost everyone here at The Fruit Company is involved in one outdoor sport or another, all of which take place almost literally in our backyards. Between all of us you have a fair number of people who go mountain biking, hiking, camping, mountain climbing, skiing, snowboarding, whitewater rafting and backpacking. We’re an active bunch!

One thing we wonder about though: what local bistros have hard-to-pronounce European names? We can’t think of a single one.

Japan is well known for their love affair with exotic and expensive high-end fruits. They often serve as cherished gifts for sick loved ones in the hospital, for holidays or are given merely as a sweet and pricey “thank you”. Nothing shows you care quite like spending $400 on a melon!

1. Musk Melon

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This Japanese Melon is certainly a luxury at $100-$400 apiece. In Tokyo, exotic fruit growing is a delicate process, complete with special greenhouses with precise temperatures for optimal melon harvesting. Melon farmers trim other melons off of the vine, leaving no more than three so that those remaining can receive the finest nutrients. Finally, the largest of the three remaining becomes the chosen melon, while the other two get lopped off so that the last melon may thrive on its own. The taste, smell, color is far superior to other melons, as it has been provided with greater amounts of nutrients throughout its growth process. It is musky scented, hence the name, and the flavor is sweet and the flesh is juicy.

2. Japanese Grapes

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At a Japanese auction, a solitary bunch of grapes went for the equivalent of $1,000 USD. This variety of grape, called Japanese Ruby Roman, is said to be both sweet and incredibly fresh tasting. Along with Japanese melon, these grapes are a popular luxury gift item often given to business partners for luck. This coveted fruit is valued most when purchased early in the season.

3. Densuke Watermelon

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This black skinned watermelon is truly a rare find. A similar watermelon was sold for an incredible $6,100 at a Japanese auction. The flesh of such fruit is hard and the sweetness is said to be unlike anything you have ever tasted in a melon. Densuke watermelon is grown exclusively on the island of Hokkaido. These watermelons are recommended for kidney ailments, teething babies and luminous skin and require a long cultivating season using fertilizer rich with mushrooms, with growth complete in 100-150 days.

4. Rambutan

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Rambutan is a fuzzy Asian fruit that carries a white, fleshy fruit in the center. Planting the seeds in a grafted region proves to be the most beneficial. Typically, a rambutan takes 90 days to become ripe and edible. It is loaded with vitamin C, potassium and calcium. Not ridiculously expensive like the others, Rambutan go for around $6 per pound.

5. Mangosteen, Queen of Tropical Fruit

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This deep purple, tomato sized fruit boasts a white segmented flesh inside. It has been extremely difficult to get this fruit in the United States until around three years ago due to the possibility of foreign pests hiding within the fruit’s rind. The mangosteen is typically shipped from Malaysia and Indonesia to major US cities such as Los Angeles and New York. According to a New York Times article on mangosteen, they grow on trees in humid, tropical climates not able to be duplicated in the US. A mangosteen takes a painstaking 8-10 years to bear fruit, and even after that they continue to be a high-maintenance fruit to grow. It was also reported that the rind of a mangosteen has long been used as a medicine in Southeast Asia for treating fungi, bacteria and cancer.

6. Jackfruit

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A jackfruit is a large fruit found in Southeast Asia and is the largest tree fruit, often reaching up to 80 lbs and 36″ in length. The flesh of the jackfruit is yellow, and is compared to banana flavor, but like the durian previously mentioned, carries a sulfurous stench when unopened. Cultivation tips reveal that a jackfruit tree must be cared for in a sunny, warm climate and needs lots of water. Jackfruits take 3-8 months to become ripe enough to eat. They cost up to $5 per pound or more.

7. Noina or Custard Apple

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This heart-shaped Thai fruit has green, bumpy skin and its creamy flesh inside tastes similar to vanilla ice cream and can be eaten with a spoon. According to a health article on the fruit, Noina has excellent nutritional value, rich in phosphorous, iron, calcium and riboflavin. Their peak season is from June through September. The trees need wide areas to flourish (thereby taking up a large expanse of valuable land) and and are very labor intensive as they are extremely prone to disease.

8. Sapodilla

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This Yucatan egg-shaped fruit can be compared in texture to a pear with the flavor of brown sugar. The sapodilla can easily withstand high heat and strong winds and thrives in dry weather. The fruit is known to be ripe when the skin is rough and scruffy and the stem separates from the brown skin without excreting sticky latex. Sapodilla is sold for around $7 per pound, and treelings are sold for $20 - $35 per gallon and two-gallon size, respectively.

From children’s chewables to silver seniors we love to take our vitamins. One-a-day, multi-, iron-free, packed with iron, we pop ‘em in. My mother was always hassling me to take my Flintstone Vitamins with my lunch in grade school, right alongside my pb&j, apple or banana, and fruit juice. But here’s the question, with the piece of fruit, the jelly, and fruit juice in my lunch, did I really need to be putting the man-made chemicals in my body before recess? According to Drugs.com,

“Many multivitamin products also contain minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. Minerals (especially taken in large doses) can cause side effects such as tooth staining, increased urination, stomach bleeding, uneven heart rate, confusion, and muscle weakness or limp feeling.

Certain minerals contained in a multivitamin may also cause serious overdose symptoms if you take too much. Overdose symptoms may include stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, hair loss, peeling skin, tingly feeling in or around your mouth, changes in menstrual periods, weight loss, severe headache, muscle or joint pain, severe back pain, blood in your urine, pale skin, and easy bruising or bleeding.”

None of this sounds like too much fun. If these extreme side effects are possible from taking a bit too much, I am not so sure that I would want to take any of it. During this era of organic food, healthy choices, and a disdain for fast food, why should I still be getting my daily vitamin in pill form? After all, I’m not George Jetson, and furthermore I don’t want my hair to fall out before its good and ready. And if I don’t want the chicken or beef I eat packed full of chemicals and hormones, then why do I have a different standard for myself when it comes to vitamins?

So here’s the conundrum; chemical vitamins vs. natural vitamins.

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Taste vs. No Taste

When I start my day I like to peel a nice ripe banana or bite into a fresh granny smith apple for breakfast. Typically I pack my lunch for work at the same time I’m dressing, eating breakfast, making coffee, and finishing any last minute work I avoided during re-runs of Arrested Development. The piece of fruit I eat for breakfast is quick, delicious, and very nutritious (rhyme not intended), and here’s the best part: they taste great. And really what’s the point of eating well if the flavor isn’t a factor also? I don’t suggest biting into a daily vitamin for the flavor, because the nutrition may be present, but the taste is sorely lacking. It’s a Fact:

• The average banana contains high amounts of potassium, sodium, phosphorus, chlorine, magnesium, sulphur, silicon and calcium, as well as vitamin A, B1, B2, B5, and C.

• The baobab fruit contains six times the Vitamin C as an orange and twice the calcium of milk.

• Apples, quinces, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries are all part of the rose family.

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Snack Attack

It seems most Americans these days are trying to not only watch what they eat, in the sense of avoiding calories and fat content, but also attempting to eat what is the most healthy. This can get difficult for me because it often leaves me feeling pretty hungry, but instead of reaching for a candy bar or potato chips to fill that snacking void I’ve been reaching for pears, mangoes, or pomegranates. What’s great about this is that not only am I doing something positive and healthy for my diet, but also I’m filling up until my next meal. If I take a multi-vitamin it simply scratches my throat on the way down, leaving me no more satisfied than before I forced it down. It’s a Fact:

• Mangoes are rich in Vitamin A, C, E and Iron and provide an excellent source of Beta-carotene.

• An apple is more efficient at waking a person up than a cup of coffee.

• Tomatoes, which are technically a fruit, deliver a great source of Vitamins A, C, and K, contain high levels of lycopene, and have been shown to help fight numerous diseases including cancer.

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Absorption

Vitamins are important to any healthy diet, and that is what makes multi-vitamins so appealing. In a sense it means that a person can eat almost anything, and as long as a multi-vitamin is taken all the important things are taken care of. They allow us to be lazier in our eating choices. The absorption rate of multi-vitamins is something that needs to be considered, look at the back of a bottle of vitamins and the numbers are impressive, but are they accurate? In a way they are. The numbers represent the percentage absorbed by chemicals in a laboratory environment. But this is not the case in our own bodies. In fact the amount of vitamins our bodies absorb by eating a piece of fruit can often be much higher than the amount of vitamins absorbed from that chemical thing choked down during a meal. The reason a multi-vitamin is to be taken while eating is an attempt to fool the body into absorbing more of what it needs, as our bodies absorb fibrous or watery items (such as fruit) with much more ease and intensity than a solid chemical product. But do we really need to be fooling our bodies when it comes to the building blocks of a healthy, nutritional diet? It’s a Fact:

• Figs are a great source of potassium, iron, calcium, and magnesium as well as Vitamins A, B1, and B2 and have a mineral content similar to that of human milk.

• 155 billion pounds of bananas were consumed by the world in 2004.

• Pomegranates are a great source of Vitamins B, C, and E, Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, and Folic Acid, and according to Greek mythology the eating of pomegranate seeds is the reason that winter exists.

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Natural or Chemical

In a world that is striving to choose function or fashion, natural vs. manmade it’s quite obvious that one should avoid chemicals, even those that mean well. When faced with the choice between something made in a laboratory or that which nature has perfected, that which delivers vitamins, healthy fibrous materials, a nutritious snack, an ingredient for meals or deserts, and frankly something that tastes great, the choice is clear, do your self a favor and push past the plastic vitamin container and pick up the all natural goodness that is fruit.

by Julie, Customer Service Representative

Not being a world traveler myself there are many fruits that are “out of the ordinary” for me, most of them from the world’s tropical regions. I know that even some of these fruits are considered ordinary for some. Here I submit my list of the top 6 most bizarre fruits and would be happy to hear your experiences with these or if you know of one even more bizarre!

Black Sapote (Chocolate Pudding Fruit)
How strange is this one? The fruit’s dark brown flesh might remind you of food gone bad, but it’s perfectly fresh and if you like chocolate you’ll love the Black Sapote! It is often referred to as the “Chocolate Pudding Fruit” because it tastes almost exactly like chocolate. A member of the persimmon family, this fruit has the consistency of chocolate pudding with rich luscious deep brown flesh and is a chocolate lover’s dream come true. Not only is it low in fat, it can fool the most ardent chocolate connoisseurs when it is used as a chocolate substitute in cakes and milkshakes. Whip with yogurt or thickened cream to make an instant chocolate mousse.

Buddha’s Hand
This odd-looking fruit is actually one of the oldest members of the citrus family, and is an addition to this list both for its appearance and the fact that it’s used mainly for its peel rather than the flesh.The Buddha’s Hand is a fragrant citrus fruit that is segmented into finger-like sections. It has a thick peel and a small amount of acidic flesh that is seedless and juiceless. It is used predominantly by the Chinese and Japanese for perfuming rooms and personal items, such as clothing. The peel of the fruit can be candied, but in Western cooking the Buddha’s Hand is often used for its zest.

Dragon Fruit
Honestly, I didn’t know this was a real fruit! I had just assumed it was an invented name for a beverage I enjoy. Dragon Fruit, despite their funky, prickly appearance, have a creamy pulp and a delicate aroma. The flesh, which is eaten raw, is mildly sweet and low in calories (always a plus!). Eating the dragon fruit is similar to that of kiwi due to a prevalence of sesame seed-sized black crunchy seeds in the flesh of both fruits. The skin is not eaten. The dragon fruit is best eaten by cutting the fruit in half and scooping the flesh out. The flavor is very refreshing and sweet. Dragon fruits are delicious chilled and can be served in fruit juices and fruit salads or made into jam. They can also be juiced and added to alcohol to make a very delicious drink.

Miracle Fruit
Although not sweet itself, when a single Miracle Fruit is eaten an extraordinary effect occurs: one can eat a slice of lemon or lime without wincing. The marvelous aroma and inherent sweetness of the citrus remains but the sourness is almost completely covered. Diabetics and dieters in Asia often consume the Miracle Fruit via a tablet that quickly dissolves on the tongue to eliminate the need for sweetening a dish with sugar. The effect remains for some 30 minutes or more, I think that qualifies as rather bizarre.

Salak (Snake Fruit)
The Snake Fruit’s dark brown, reptilian-like skin (tough but surprisingly thin and easy to peel), encloses a delicious crunchy fruit. The flesh is divided into 3 or more lobes that remind me of garlic cloves. While Salaks are not juicy and have been compared to a carrot in firmness, its flavor is like a cross between a sweet apple and a pineapple. Though the name of this fruit and the fact that it might remind you of a snake shedding its skin might creep some of you out, I definitely think it’s worth a try.

Durian
This is my choice for being the most bizarre fruit. It’s large, thorny, and smelly. The strange Durian has attracted cult-like followings of both lovers and haters. In Southeast Asia it’s considered “the King of Fruits”, is roughly the size of a cantaloupe and has a mild onion or almond taste. That is not the only way it has been described though.
Food and travel writer Richard Sterling says of the Durian: “… its odor is best described as pig s***, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock.” Another food and travel celebrity, Anthony Bourdain, actually loves the Durian but says “your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother.”
The Durian is so controversial (and stinky) that some public areas like hotels and airports in Southeast Asia have banned the fruit.

Everyone has received or given a gift basket at least once in their life, but have you ever given a $75,000 dollar little basket of goodies? We were interested in the over the top gift baskets out there and we compiled a list of what we thought were the most interesting.

Japanese Fruit Baskets- $100+

In Japan, the act of fruit giving is an important tradition practiced between families, businesses and communities. The fruits given as gifts can’t be any ordinary fruit—they . Gifted fruits are usually grown in closely monitored green houses, and only beautiful, blemish-free and uniformly sized specimens are wrapped as gifts. In Japan, a single flawless cantaloupe decorated with a ribbon and placed in a wicker basket sells for anywhere between $100 and $250 dollars—it’s hard to imagine how much a large fruit basket goes for!

Marks and Spencer Christmas Gift Basket- $1,500

For the 2007 Christmas season, the British department store Marks and Spencer put out one of the most expensive Christmas gift baskets in history. The basket contained three bottles of champagne, six bottles of wine and an expansivelarge variety of gourmet snacks. Although it was called a “gift basket”, the items were so numerous they had to be delivered in a leather trunk.

The Chocolate Picnic Steamer Trunk- $15,000

Marie Belle New York makes some of the finest chocolates in the world. With the cost of two chocolates at $7.50, it’s not hard to believe that a chest full of the stuff goes for $15,000. This gift “basket” comes with 500 pieces of Marie Belle chocolate ganache, five pounds of dark and milk chocolate bark and croquettes, four 20-ounce tins of Aztec hot chocolate, one 20-ounce tin of Aztec Iced Chocolate, eight Aztec Hot Chocolate Bars, one Freiling stainless steel teapot with tea infuser, two elegant Rosenthal china tea cups, one leather bound journal, and a collection of books on chocolate and style.

Van’s Gift Cadeau Collection Gift Basket- $75,000

This gift basket is perfect for someone with a sophisticated palate. Contained within the beautiful leather trunk is a magnum bottle of 1996 Dom Perignon Rose, 1996 Krug Clos de Mesnil, gold-plated Armand de Brignac Brut Champagne, 2001 Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes, 2001 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, 2004 Opus One, 2005 Caymus Special Select Cabernet Sauvignon, a year long supply of Godiva chocolates, gourmet coffee, a Francis! Francis! X1 Trio Espresso Machine, and luxury stationary and pens. Just in case you run out of anything, the gift comes with a monthly delivery of additional chocolates, cookies, coffees, teas, sweets and nuts, for a year. Additionally, since food and wine is never as good as in its natural setting, the gift comes with two first-class tickets to Paris, France and Napa Valley, first class accommodations in both locations, private tours, champagne tasting, and a special banquet.

2006 Golden Globe Gift Basket- $40,000компютри

Since the late 1990’s, all of Hollywood’s award shows have been increasing the swag as. Each year Golden Globe hosts, and presenters are given bigger and better gift baskets. In 2006 the bags were valued at $40,000 and included a $2,000 gym membership, a $1,200 diamond pendant, a $475 camera phone, several handbags, an MP3 player and various gift certificates. Unfortunately for future globe presenters (and those of 2006), 2006 was the last year these gift bags were given out due to the fact that the IRS began to tax the recipients.

2007 Grammy Awards Gift Basket- $53,000

Unlike the Golden Globes, the Grammys are still giving away lavish gift baskets to their presenters and performers. Some of the items that might actually fit into a basket (albeit a big basket) are body butter, designer eyewear from Solstice Sunglass Boutique, jean jackets from joluka, nail care products, and a Gibson guitar. Baskets also come with a year-long membership to The Sports Club/LA, a six-month online membership to Netflix, and two deluxe getaways to Morongo Casino Resort Spa in Cabazon, California, and the Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa in Canada. Due to recent IRS regulations, the presenters and performers must sign an agreement to pay taxes on the value of the basket before they receive the gift.

2006 Oscar Gift Basket- $100,000+

The 2006 Academy Award Ceremony reached the peak of Hollywood swag. The gift baskets given out to the host, presenters and winners were valued at over $100,000. A few of the things including in the basket were cashmere PJs, expensive cosmetics and mink eyelashes, expensive cooking oils and spices, a Krups kitchen set, an iPod, a vintage Kay Unger silk kimono, a two-night stay at The Carlyle hotel in New York ($2,300), a three-night stay at Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina ($3,600), a three-night stay for two (plus a “personal surf-butler”) at St. Regis Monarch Beach & Spa in Dana Point, California ($5,900), an unlimited day of services at Cornelia Day Resort in New York ($3,500), and a three-night stay at San Ysido Ranch in Montecito, California ($3,000). After facing scrutiny from the IRS and a New York Magazine interview where Edward Norton called the 2006 Oscar gift bags “disgusting and shameful” and called for their demise, the Academy decided to put an axe to the tradition. Like the 2006 Golden Globe gift basket recipients, those who were given 2006 Oscar gift baskets were taxed on their full value.

One of my favorite times of the year is nearly here… the flowering trees growing at the lower elevation along the Columbia River have already begun blooming, and the trees up the valley where our facility is located are about to burst into bloom. We’re talking acres upon acres upon acres of white and pink blossoms from the valley’s pear, apple, cherry, and peach trees. Absolutely stunning. With the forecast for phenomenal weather this weekend (77 degrees and sunny!), those remaining buds will pop open at just the right time.

Naturally we celebrate this gorgeous time of year with the Hood River Valley Blossom Festival, taking place this year on April 19th and 20th. Thousands of people from around the world come to our charming hamlet to view the cheerful blooms set against the looming snow-capped peaks of the Cascade mountains and relish the opening weekend for many of our local fruit, food and craft stands located all along the Fruit Loop.

Here at The Fruit Company we’re cleaning up the store for its one-day-only debut, to happen on Saturday the 19th, before closing again until Memorial Weekend. We fully encourage anyone who is taking the weekend to visit the Hood River Valley to stop by that day, say hi, and snag up any of the delicious gourmet goodies we’ll have on hand. We look forward to seeing you!

Oh dear blog, how we’ve neglected thee. In the midst of brewing up healthy recipes, mountain bike riding, running, sampling our amazing grapefruit and kiwis, spring skiing, walking with our teammates through nearby orchards, oh, and Easter, we’ve been busy. We’re still rocking the Live Healthy America competition. In fact Team Oregon Booty De-Lite was ranked #1 in Oregon last week and this we’re #2. We had a tug-of-war on Friday as our friendly, halfway-mark, in-office activity (literally, in-office!).

We’re also happy to announce our Flickr photostream. There you’ll find photos of our favorite fruit and gifts taken in-house, photo shoot outtakes, exclusive behind-the-scenes information and captions, breathtaking shots of the Hood River Valley, and even a few faces of us, friends, and family. Consider it another way you can get to know the people behind those lush, fabulous gifts that arrive at doorsteps around the nation. Please, feel free to click here and see more!

by Stephanie, Graphic Designer - Brand Manager

We’re making this a quick weigh-in results entry seeing as we were late on the last post and am only just now reporting Friday’s numbers. This last week saw a drastic improvement with many of our participants. Everyone either lost weight or maintained their weight. I know for myself that while my numbers didn’t change, I did finally measure myself and found I’ve lost 10 inches! That definitely made a -0 a little less depressing.

Brett is one of the biggest losers thus far with Team Oregon Booty De-Lite. He and his wife are in this together and he had this to say about their efforts to live healthier:
“I am doing the elliptical almost every night. I started with 20 minutes and am now up to 40 minutes per session. I track calories daily (no more than 1700 calories per day) and try to stay away from too much fat and sugar. The single most helpful thing is my wife is involved as well. She’s a really good cook and it is hard to resist seconds. Since we are both in the competition, we have been eating a much healthier diet and watching our portions.”

And now… the results!
Team Terminal Ice
Janelle, -1 (5 week total: -10); Scott, -4 (5 week total: -7); Rhonda, -1 (5 week total: -9); Katelyn, -0 (5 week total: -4); Aaron, -1 (5 week total: -8); Pepe, -0 (4 week total: -9).

Team Oregon Booty De-Lite
Ryan, -2 (5 week total: -6); Machel, -2 (5 week total: -14); Marcela, -2 (5 week total: -8); Brett, -2 (5 week total: -11); Becky E., -0 (5 week total: -5); Steph, -0 (5 week total: -9); Belen, -0 (4 week total: -6).

Keep it up!

by Stephanie, Graphic Designer - Brand Manager

Oh, the trials and errors of losing weight. This past week’s weigh in definitely proves that this change is no walk in the park (maybe a light jog?). Some people have slowed down in their weight-loss process, a few gained weight back.

The key thing to remember right now is that while the numbers on the scale might not be what we want, the last thing we can do is give up. One of the biggest difficulties with weight loss is setting realistic goals and realizing that it’s not all going to happen right away. Sure, after the first week we all had a gleam in our eye that hey, maybe we can even double what our 100-day loss would be. But that’s not how our bodies work and we have to keep coming up with new ways to become healthier. Run an extra 5 minutes on the treadmill. Have a larger portion of vegetables and a smaller portion of carbohydrates. Find a new, fun physical activity that will challenge your body more than it’s used to.

Above all, being realistic about your weight loss goals and being determined to continue on your path to overall fitness is the key to your success.

With that being said, here are today’s weigh-in results!
Team Terminal Ice
Janelle, -2 (4 week total: -9); Scott, +5 (4 week total: -3); Rhonda, -1 (4 week total: -8); Katelyn, +3 (4 week total: -4); Aaron, -1 (4 week total: -7); Pepe, -2 (3 week total: -9).

Team Oregon Booty De-Lite
Ryan, +3 (4 week total: -4); Machel, -0 (4 week total: -12); Brett, -0 (4 week total: -9); Becky E., -0 (4 week total: -5); Steph, -1 (4 week total: -9); Belen, -2 (3 week total: -6).

Also, THANK YOU to Troy W. Vincent, the Director of Live Healthy America, who commented on our previous entry! We’re thrilled and flattered that our little account of our company’s healthy living goals have garnered a bit of attention.