Aaaand we're back!!

We're a little late on this one since we took a bit of a break. Listen to the Michael Pollan's response to the appointment of Tom Vilsack as secretary of agriculture on NPR.

Click here to go to NPR!

Happy Holidays!

We're taking a little blogging break for the Holidays. See you in a few days.

Co-op Holiday Hours
Christmas Eve:
7am - 8pm
Christmas Day:
Closed
New Year's Eve:
7am - 8pm
New Year's Day:
7am-10pm

Happy Holidays!

The New Secretary of Agriculture

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has been appointed by President-elect Obama to head up the USDA. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has a lot to say about this appointment. They say "his overall record is one of aiding and abetting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or factory farms and promoting genetically engineered crops and animal cloning." Tom Vilsack is also a strong supporter of ethanol as an alternative fuel. If you agree with the OCA, you can join their petition to oppose the appointment of Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack here.

Happy Wednesday!

Its Grocery Store Wars!!! Complete with Cuke Skywalker, Ham Solo, and Chew Broccoli! I love this video, its a little silly but fun, would be great and informative for kids.

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In other news, I did rush right home after work and and cook the kasha recipe in the post below. Two words or one repeated twice... Yum, yum! So hearty and delicious! I'm always looking to add more delicious whole grains to my diet but never knew how to cook Kasha and the only recipes I had encountered were kasha varnishkes which doesn't really appeal to me. The finished recipe totally reminds me of a side dish I've had a couple of times at a Georgian restaurant in San Diego. Anyway, I served it up topped with a fried egg along with sunchoke puree and steamed brussel sprouts, all from the co-op, even my carnivore boyfriend was full and happy. Success! I'm definitely going to be trying out more recipes from cookusinterruptus.com.

Happy Tuesday and the winner of the $100 Holiday Gift Card Drawing

Hi Everyone,
Happy Tuesday! Today is the big day when we're announcing the winner of the $100 Store gift card.

And the winner is (drum roll please...) Sarah Spitz!!

Congratulations to Sarah!

Please contact mia@coopportunity.com to claim your gift card!

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In other news, we came across this website that has fun and informative short cooking instruction videos that we just love. It's called www.CookusInterruptus.com and its all about "how to cook fresh, organic, whole foods despite life's little interruptions!" The host is Cynthia Lair, the author of the cookbook, Feeding the Whole Family, she provides full meal menus on the website, with both meat and vegetarian options. Hope you enjoy the below video, how to cook Kasha with Potatoes, the recipe looks so delicious I can't wait to go home and try it myself! Check out their website for more!

Happy Friday - Holiday ideas in the LA Times

I found two really cool articles in the LA Times recently that have great ideas for gifts for the holidays.

The first is about places where you can buy local food items for gifts:
www.latimes.com

And the second is 50 ideas for homemade (how local is that!) gift ideas!!
www.latimes.com

Hope you enjoy!

Also don't forget, post a comment below before December 15th and be entered into our Holiday Giveaway for a chance to win a co-op gift card for $100!

The Winner will be announced on this blog on December 16th so be sure to check back to see if you won!

Bill Moyers sits down with Michael Pollan

Check out this November 28th interview with Michael Pollan. In this interview, they touch on the steps our government needs to take to reform food policies, the political obstacles to doing so, food safety and more. Very interesting. This below link will take you to the PBS website. Click on "watch video" to check it out, or you can read the transcript.
www.pbs.org

Also don't forget, post a comment below before December 15th and be entered into our Holiday Giveaway for a chance to win a co-op gift card for $100!

The Winner will be announced on this blog on December 16th so be sure to check back to see if you won!

the Ethicurean

Hi! Have you every stopped by the ethicurean.com? If you haven't I recommend taking a look. What is an Ethicurean you might ask? According to their definition - eth-i-cu-re-an n. (also adj.) Someone who seeks out tasty things that are also sustainable, organic, local, and/or ethical - SOLE food, for short.

Their latest post is about reforming the Child nutrition act, check it our here!

Also don't forget, post a comment below before December 15th and be entered into our Holiday Giveaway for a chance to win a co-op gift card for $100!

The Winner will be announced on this blog on December 16th so be sure to check back to see if you won!

Slow Food

Every heard of Slow Food USA? From their website: "Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment." They also have a blog and on their blog today they are urging their readers to speak and let President Elect Obama know who they think the future Secretary of Agriculture should be. Read their post & speak up too here!

Also don't forget, post a comment below before December 15th and be entered into our Holiday Giveaway for a chance to win a co-op gift card for $100!

The Winner will be announced on this blog on December 16th so be sure to check back to see if you won!

For Three Years, Every Bite Organic

The New York Times has a short little read on Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician and author, who for the past three years has eaten all organic food. He mentioned in the article that he found it to be particularity challenging, much more so than he had originally thought.

Check out the article here.

I know a lot of our customers follow an all organic diet or at least do their best to have much of their food be organic. This article left me wondering, what obstacles do you face trying to eat an all organic diet? Do you have any tips or tricks to share that our other customers might benefit from? How has eating organically affected your life?

Also don't forget, post a comment below before December 15th and be entered into our Holiday Giveaway for a chance to win a co-op gift card for $100!

The Winner will be announced on this blog on December 16th so be sure to check back to see if you won!

Holiday Giveaway!!

Looking for a couple of extra dollars for the holidays? Post a comment below before December 15th and be entered into our Holiday Giveaway for a chance to win a co-op gift card for $100!

The Winner will be announced on this blog on December 16th so be sure to check back to see if you won!

Consumers and Farmers Join Together to Promote Organic Integrity

Read the latest article from the Cornucopia Institute on the proposed USDA changes to organic dairy farming rules. Check it out here...

F.D.A. Details Its Food Safety Campaign

Amid a lot of skepticism, the Food and Drug Administration has outlined its plan to combat the many recent food-born outbreaks and instances of tainted food. These plans include having more inspectors and having offices in places where food is being produced. Check out the New York Times article here.

Stand Up for Small Organic Farmers ... Contact USDA!

From the Cornucopia Institute:

Organic Stakeholders Demand Democracy from the USDA
Take Action: New Rules Could Force Organic Family Livestock Farmers Out of Business

After eight years of political debate, legal wrangling and protests within the organic community the USDA on October 23 finally published a draft rule intended to clamp down on giant factory farms milking thousands of cows that have been abusing the spirit and letter of federal organic law by primarily confining their cattle to feedlots.

The USDA could have made minor regulatory language changes to the current rule that would have clarified and forced the grazing of cattle. Instead, the USDA completely rewrote the complicated organic livestock standards without input from the organic community or the National Organic Standards Board. And they have given the organic community-farmers, consumers, retailers and processors-just 60 days to digest the sweeping changes and submit comments to government regulators.

Unfortunately, it has taken the groups that represent organic farmers over 30 days just to understand the true meaning of the complex USDA draft rule and to develop the many needed and major revisions. While the draft rule that the USDA presented would effectively clamp down on factory farm scofflaws, it would also probably put out of business the majority of all family-scale livestock farmers in the United States. This is unacceptable.

The groups Cornucopia has collaborated with will seek additional input and distribute a number of suggested changes to the entire organic community shortly. But with the election, the end of fall harvest, Thanksgiving, and the build-up to Christmas, all falling within the 60-day time window for public comment, we believe we simply need more time to share these changes with all organic stakeholders.

A high percentage of organic farmers in the country, maybe 30% (including Amish families), do not typically use e-mail. It is imperative that all stakeholders have a chance to have a voice.

Please send a message to USDA Secretary Ed Schafer (agsec@usda.gov) asking him to extend the public comment period by 30 days!

Your message does not have to be long or complicated. Merely saying that in order to protect the rights of all organic stakeholders we respectfully request a 30 day extension to the public comment period relating to organic livestock. In your message, be sure to note the docket number for this proposal: Docket No. AMS-TM-06-0198; TM-05-14.

The Cornucopia Institute will soon supply all of our members and others in the community with a full analysis and recommendations that will help stakeholders submit informed and focused comments in support of family farmers and organic integrity. We hope to send this out by early December-but the crush of holiday mail will slow the receipt of this critical information for many. The current deadline for comments is December 23. The recommended 30-day extension would move that date to January 23.

In the meantime, the following documents are available on the Cornucopia Institute's www.cornucopia.org at the USDA Pasture/Livestock Rulemaking link. On this page you will find:

1. A sample letter asking the USDA to extend of the public comment period from 60 to 90 days.

2. The official USDA announcement of rulemaking including analysis as printed in the Federal Register.

3. The proposed USDA draft pasture/livestock rule.

4. A preliminary draft of the recommended livestock rule language from a consortium of public interest groups representing organic farmers and consumers, including The Cornucopia Institute and FOOD Farmers (available within the next day).

In addition, there are four public listening sessions being sponsored by the USDA to gather input on the proposed new rule. They are scheduled for:

* Tuesday, December 2
1:30-4:30 p.m.
Organic Valley Family of Farms Headquarters
One Organic Way
LaFarge, WI 54639

* Thursday, December 4
1:30-4:30 p.m.
California State University - Chico
University Farm Pavillion
311 Nicholas C. Schouten Lane
Chico, CA 95928

* Monday, December 8
1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Extension Research Facility, 6500 Amarillo Boulevard West
Amarillo, TX

* Thursday Dec. 11
9:30AM - 12:30 PM
The Family Center of Gap
835 Houston Run Drive, Suite 200
Gap PA 17527

And the state of Montana is also holding a listening session. That will be held:

* Friday, December 5
6:30 PM.
Holiday Inn
5 E Baxter Ln
Bozeman, MT 59715

Please stay tuned for more information from us. It is incredibly important that we get this rule right as the future of so many ethical organic livestock producers, and access to legitimately produced organic food products, are at stake.