LocalHarvest Newsletter - one of Farmgirl's Favorites!

LocalHarvest Newsletter
September 30, 2007

Time conscious readers will notice that although the calendar already has a toehold on October, we're only now sending out the September newsletter. Why? In a word, the boss-man has been out of town. Backside glued to a motorcycle seat for over two weeks, truth be told, and having the time of his life. Guillermo Payet, LocalHarvest's founder and chief brain, writes a little about his farm-hoppin' adventures in the article below, but who can stuff so much fun into 500 words? If you want to get the true flavor of his trip, you'll have to check out our blog, where the best stories of the trip are told, and some great photos tell the rest.

Bike2Barn 2007 Farm Tour
On September 13, my sweetheart Amber and I left Santa Cruz, CA for a two week long trip across the southwestern United States. We nicknamed the trip "Bike2Barn 2007", since we traveled on a motorcycle, stopping to visit Localharvest member farms along the way. We had many reasons for taking this trip, including the desire to take an adventurous vacation, visit farms, make new friends, learn about the land, and eat good food.

Read on...

>From the LocalHarvest Catalog
Our Thanksgiving turkeys are quickly finding good homes with family-farming fans all across the country. Ready to reserve yours? You can try to find a local turkey in our directory or through our catalog, which includes birds available for local pickup and those available by mail-order. Hurry, they won't last long!

If watching this month's video makes you as hungry for artisan cheeses as it made us, you'll be happy to know about our fine selection of handcrafted cheeses - cow, sheep, goat, we have them all.

And please do visit our catalog for more goodies!


Quote of the Month, from Sandor Katz
From an interview with Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, published in "Grist".

All the problems of globalized commodity agriculture and foods traveling thousands of miles from farm to the plate, those are the result of people sort of thinking bigger and bigger, and I think the solutions come from people thinking smaller. And that's why community gardens and community-supported agriculture and community kitchens and things like that are all part of the solution, because they enable people to focus on their needs and their community's needs and satisfying those needs. I really think we need to just focus on small things within our realm that we can actually do."


Video: On Dairies Worth Supporting - and Avoiding
Ever fighting the good fight, the staff at the Cornucopia Institute has been working long and hard to force the giants of the organic dairy industry to comply with the USDA organic rules. Thanks to their advocacy, the USDA recently found Aurora Organic Dairy to be in "willful violation" of the organic standards. Among other things, Aurora was cited for illegally confining cattle, and knowingly selling non-organic milk as organic. Aurora is the nation's largest private label dairy operation; its milk is sold under store brands for Trader Joe's, Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Wild Oats, and Safeway and other supermarket chains.

Obviously, this bad behavior has the potential to erode consumers' trust in the organic label. We still believe strongly in organic dairy ... but we're being more careful about where we get it. As if we needed it, this is just one more reason to support small, locally run dairy operations. Want to see the real thing? The good folks over at Farmers Almanac TV have produced a number of great videos, including this one featuring our friends at Strauss Family Creamery.

Watch the Video

Nancy's Nutrition Corner: Alluring Apricots
Historically, many recipes and love potions included the essence of apricot for its aphrodisiac qualities. Today, most people enjoy apricots for their incredibly pleasing taste and bountiful amount of carotenoids like beta-carotene and lycopene.

Read on...

Recipe Corner: Apricots - By Lorna Sass
My favorite apricot memory goes back about five summers, when I had the good fortune to "house sit" for two weeks in Sante Fe. The house was large and comfortable, but the great cause for celebration was the enormous apricot tree in the side yard.

Read on...

As always, thanks for your interest in and support of LocalHarvest.org! See you next month, and until then, take good care and eat well!



Contact Information
email: newsletter@localharvest.org
web: http://www.localharvest.org