This was a busy year, not just for me, but for the watermelon industry as well. So busy, in fact, that I’ve decided to recap the watermelon stories of 2010 here on What About Watermelon. If I’m missing any watermelon-related news that you feel should be on this list, let me know!
Contents
After posting an inspirational “Watermelon Credo” on this website, world-famous cookie maker and watermelon fan Wally Amos (of Famous Amos cookies fame) decided to write a book by the same name. Each letter in the word watermelon is a chapter dedicated to inspiring and motivating everyone who reads it.
4. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY WATERMELON STUDY
We’ve known that eating watermelon can be healthy. A Florida State University study published in October showed that eating watermelon can have an impact on blood pressure. This is the first study to document an effect on aortic hemodynamics in pre hypertensive, but otherwise healthy middle-aged men and women consuming watermelon. Feel free to check out the FSU study here. The link will open in a new window to a website separate from WhatAboutWatermelon.com. It’s one more reason to eat watermelon!
As reported here on What About Watermelon (and many other websites), the nation that loves watermelon almost as much as America does invented a wheeled contraption that allows watermelon fans to keep them fresh and cool while on the go. At $230 per device, however, it might take a little time for the ingenious apparatus to catch on here in the U.S.
2. GRAND CHAMPION WATERMELON BREAKS AUCTION RECORDS
Each year at the Luling Watermelon Thump – home of the world’s premier seed-spitting event – local watermelon farmers auction off champion watermelons with a portion of the proceeds going to a local high school scholarship fund. The bidding on one grand champion watermelon this year reached $20,250 – doubling the previous auction record!
1. AMAZING RACE CONTESTANT GETS A TASTE OF WATERMELON… THE HARD WAY
The year’s top watermelon story isn’t about how great watermelon tastes or how good it is for you, it’s about what happens when a slingshot misfires a small watermelon directly into the face of a reality TV contestant. That’s exactly what happened when a contestant on the Emmy-winning show Amazing Race attempted to fire a watermelon at a target as part of her team’s challenge in England. I can try to explain it here, but I’ll let the video do that for me. By the way, other than being a bit dazed and embarrassed, the contestant was okay!