Organic Pick of the Week: Your Local Farmer

Here at OrganicNation.tv, we're always testing new organic products to review for our Organic Pick of the Week series. So it's become easy to choose organic food, beauty and clothing brands that have fancy labeling and a marketing budget to send out samples.

But I'd like to take this opportunity to feature what I consider to be the best organic product on the market: the one grown by your local farmer. In every region of the United States farmers are working hard to cultivate healthy and delicious crops with the simple goal of feeding you. Organic farmers have taken an extra step towards sustainability and invested a large chunk of money and time to grow food without harmful pesticides. That kind of dedication deserves our support.

So this week I urge you to visit your local farmer's market, join a CSA or ask for local and organic produce at your neighborhood grocery store. If you're not sure where to get organic food in your region, check out localharvest.org to search by your state or zipcode.

In the growing sustainable food movement, consumers have the power, so let's use it!

-Dorothée

Fundraiser for Chicago's Largest Community Vegetable Garden on August 5th!

Join The Peterson Garden Project on August 15th for an adventure in community gardening – retro style!

WHO: The Peterson Garden Project is an organic, community vegetable garden on the southwest corner of Peterson and Campbell in Chicago’s 40th Ward. The garden contains 157 raised-bed gardens, and is Chicago’s largest community garden devoted to growing edibles. The site was part of an original WW2 Victory Garden from 1942-1945, and was re-launched for Chicago residents who, like those gardeners almost 70 years ago, want to work with their neighbors to grow their own food. The project was founded by LaManda Joy, an award-winning gardener who blogs about urban gardening at The Yarden.

WHAT: A wine tasting fundraiser from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 5 to raise money for the garden and a documentary about the project entitled “Victory! The Home-grown Documentary". Tickets range from $40 to $85, and can be purchased here.

WHY: Local chefs Kathy Skutecki, Chris Stoye, The Scrumptious Pantry’s Lee Greene, Celeste Dolan and Tracy Kellner of Provenance Food & Wine will offer appetizers accompanied by an assortment of fine wines from Vinejoy. Folk musician Alison O’Konis will provide the evening’s music. Local jewelry studio gray workshop will show new jewelry designs, and proceeds from sales will benefit The Peterson Garden Project. 

Be sure to check out The Peterson Garden Project on Twitter and Facebook as well!

Dirty Dozen: Why to Always Buy Organic Potatoes

There are foods that I buy organic only occasionally, when I'm feeling flush, and then there are those, like potatoes, that I always make sure to buy organic. I think I got that from my mom, who was the first to tell me about how heavily conventional potatoes are sprayed with pesticides and herbicides. She always recommended that I either buy organic, or be sure to thoroughly peel conventional potatoes.

A list of "the seven foods experts won't eat" that's been making the rounds caught my eye this morning, particularly the potato entry, which offers some supporting evidence to my mom's claim. Because they're root vegetables they absorb just about anything that's in the soil, so any excess chemicals in the soil will likely make its way into the plant, according to the article. And to make matters worse, potatoes are among the most-sprayed vegetables.

Here are a few blurbs about pesticide and herbicide use among conventional potato growers.

Prevention:

"They're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting."

The New York Times:

"A 2006 U.S.D.A. test found 81 percent of potatoes tested still contained pesticides after being washed and peeled, and the potato has one of the the highest pesticide contents of 43 fruits and vegetables tested, according to the Environmental Working Group."

Michael Pollan's 'Botany of Desire':

"The typical potato grower stands in the middle of a bright green circle of plants that have been doused with so much pesticide that their leaves wear a dull white chemical bloom and the soil they're rooted in is a lifeless gray powder."

Another good reason to eschew conventional spuds is that organic potatoes aren't much more expensive.

-Mark

Video: Sweet Sunday at the Farmer's Market

Yesterday, film director Joe Kamimura decided to document a trip to San Diego's best farmer's market with his brother, sister and mother. It's a beautiful depiction of how sweet a Sunday with fresh organic produce and a gathering of the community can be. Enjoy!

-Dorothee

New Video: Can Organics Stop Climate Change?

While at Organic Valley headquarters in Wisconsin, I got a chance to speak with Tim LaSalle, CEO of the Rodale Institute about the way organic farming can help mitigate global climate change.

Rodale Institute research shows that organically managed soils can store (sequester) more than 1,000 pounds of carbon per acre, while non-organic systems can cause carbon loss. For consumers, this means that the simple act of buying organic products can help to reduce global climate change.

For more information about organic production and carbon sequestration, visit: www.rodaleinstitute.org/global_warming

-Dorothee