Mango season is upon us!!!

I remember as a child being able to bite into a mango and enjoying the fruit as the sweet juices ran down my arms. At that time I was not concerned with being decorous, but only in how many of these succulent fruits I could get inside me before my mother curtailed my enjoyment. I remember eating the mango to the seed and stripping it down skin and pulp, leaving the hairs on the seed as close to bare as I could manage.

I don't know if its old age creeping in or paying too much attention to conventions, but nowadays I can only manage to eat that sunshine fruit using a knife as can't stand the hairs being caught in my teeth. Many of you may relate to the childhood days when you could roam and eat mangoes till your belly ready to burst, but for others this is just a pipe dream.

The Mango festival 2009 was officially launched on the 20th of May, 2009 by the ministry of Agriculture. New and old patrons can look forward to seeing more innovative ways of preparing the fruit and using it throughout the year instead of waiting to enjoy its benefits during the season. Mango drink, tea, chutney, stew and jam are all ways in which this fruit can be used apart from the traditional eating of the fruit.

The four year old festival is promising new activities being added to the mix which include display of the winning art by a schoolchild, different education themes, cultural activities and agro-processed products using mango and pineapple.

The Ministry of Agriculture is also working to promote the Antigua Black pineapple as a versatile fruit in agro-processing. A mini promotion will be held in June to showcase the advantages of growing and using pineapple.

To help promote the festival the committee promises to produce a brochure that will be distributed to its overseas offices and get its website updated with the latest information.

Chefs and professional bar tenders also get to show off their skills on August 8th 2009, as they concoct mouth watering dishes and drinks using the two fruits. This has become a highlight in the food industry as they compete to produce a main course, dessert, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages.

The next time you see me, I will be eating my mango and yes with my paring knife at ready to make the most of the mango season.

Media Covergae

I was fortunate to be part of a workshop organised by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, held from the 13th to the 14th of May. It emphasised the need for journalists to be factual and not sensationalise the news, but give the public the facts as they have them and the importance of interpreting data correctly.

CTO facilitator JohnRose Johnson encouraged local journalists to write for the people and not politicians or big businesses. He also encouraged participants to look at various angles and be impartial in their coverage of issues.On how to handle pressure from the editor or interest groups who want to dictate how to treat a story, Johnson reiterated the need for media personnel to publish facts. Johnson said media personnel have a duty to report what is actaully happening and not their perceptions.

The workshop was very informative and taught journalists the importance of using the latest technology and "citizen journalists", who are usually at the scene of a breaking story.