Entry bubble Buying Organic

By: Colleen | June 17, 2009 | Category: Money

Personally, I don't give a hoot if my food is organic or not.

I know not caring makes me completely un-trendy and quite possibly just plain stupid, but I can list all 50 states alphabetically and recite all the books of the Bible IN ORDER (this makes me an instant hit at cocktail parties). What more do you want from me?

For those of you who are overall healthier and smarter than me, here are some tips to use when purchasing your organic foods. Keep in mind, in 2002 the USDA implemented uniform organic standards for American farmers- organic foods much be produced without chemical pesticides or fertilizers and in livestock, without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones.

  • The demand for organic products has grown tremendously in the past few years (making it a $28 billion industry in 2008). Because of this, you no longer need to shop at speciality (and expensive!) organic stores. Many grocery chains offer their own cheaper organic lines- but the best place to go is still a local farmer's stand or market.
  • Integrate your most heavily used foods as organic first. For most people these are items like milk and eggs. When buying organic fruits and vegetables, focus on items that traditionally carry more pesticides: peaches, apples, bell peppers, and celery.
  • Buy your produce in season and locally since out of area produce uses more fossil fuel to ship. Also check country-of-origin stickers.
  • Don't fret over fish. Right now there are no government standards for what makes seafood and shellfish organic.

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Entry bubble The Case of the Missing Tomatoes

By: Ginger | May 01, 2009 | Category: General

Woman shopping at a farmers' marketIt’s almost summer.  The talented green thumbs among us will plant and eventually harvest the fruits of their labors.  Not so much for me.   Oh, I have tried my hand at gardening several times.  I planted tomatoes one year and I must admit they did well in my backyard. My tomato plants were loaded with lovely green orbs on their way to ripening.  They whispered a promise of fresh tomatoes for salads, sauces, and the delectable BLT with its crispy bacony goodness.  Then I noticed that my lovely green tomato orbs began disappearing.

It remained a mystery until one day while sitting on the deck chatting with a friend I noticed a green object up in one of our oaks.  I turned to my friend and said, “You will think I am nuts, but is that an apple in my live oak tree?"  After she stopped laughing, she volunteered that she thought it was a tennis ball.  We were both wrong, it was one of my unripe tomatoes.   Shortly after that, we observed a sneaky squirrel approaching my tomato plants. AHA!

I eventually solved the squirrel problem.  The following summer I tried again and actually started getting lovely ripe tomatoes.  However, I was confounded by another problem.  I kept finding half eaten tomatoes hanging from the plants.  I had netting to keep the squirrels and birds off of them, so what was eating my tomatoes?  One evening, I approached my plants and saw an undulating brown mass on one of my tomatoes.  I couldn’t make out what it was and went to get a flashlight.  Upon inspection, I discovered the tomato covered with very large palmetto bugs.  The discovery that my lovely tomatoes were being ravaged by mutant cockroaches gave me the "willies."  I admitted defeat and gave up on the idea of glorious fresh tomatoes until my friend took me to the downtown farmers market.

Wow, it was great!  All of the goodness of all kinds of fresh produce and more!  If you too seek the joys of fresh produce, but have less than stellar results growing them yourself, try looking around for local farmers markets.  Here are some resources to get you on your way to wonderful fresh produce.

For those of you who have that magical green thumb and want to get involved in selling or organizing a local farmers market, try these resources:

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: farmer   farmers'_market   ginger   market   produce