In 2000, there was an annual average of 38,000 certified organic cows in the U.S., but by 2005 that number rose to 86,000.

But having an organic dairy farm isn’t easy, and it doesn’t come cheap.

Taking a regular dairy and turning it into an organic farm is a lot work, involving improved land and crop management, animal care, and lots of certification paperwork.

But the biggest challenge to small organic dairies could be pressure from larger companies. Most organic dairy farms have fewer than 50 cows, while big organic dairies have over 200 cows, and dominate the market.

So organic dairy farming may be pressured into getting larger and larger, like traditional milk production, which could be Pandora’s box waiting to happen.

Via AgWeb.com.

Image credit: rawmilktruth.com

If you enjoy ethnic food, you’re no stranger to cilantro.

From Thai (Thai Roasted Squash Soup) and Indian (Indian Chickpea Dip, Madras Curry Dip for Fish/Seafood) cuisine to Mexican (Golden Guacamole, Harvest Stuffed Squash, Granny Smith Guacamole) and Middle Eastern (Middle Eastern Meatballs) dishes, this fragrant herb is a seasoning staple.

Also called Chinese or Mexican parsley, cilantro is the leafy part of the coriander plant. In folk and holistic medicine, it has been used to settle the stomach, relieve anxiety, lower cholesterol levels, help control diabetes, reduce inflammation and treat infections.

Modern medical research has confirmed the herb’s healing powers. In the August issue of Environmental Nutrition, registered dietitian Sharon Palmer cites cilantro’s antioxidant properties, which “may be due to their rich phytonutrients profile that scientists are beginning to identify.”

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, also discovered that dodecenal—an antibacterial compound found in cilantro—can help kill Salmonella in foods. This finding led them to explore its use as a natural food additive. The researchers found cilantro to be a “potent antibiotic” and encouraged consumers to eat more fresh salsa. That said, they remind us that it’s no substitute for proper food handling.

Tune in tomorrow for our weekend recipe for Chiles Rellenos, which features a healthy dose of cilantro. 

Holiday Gift Books 

• Cilantro Secrets
• How to Grow and Harvest Cilantro
• Super Cilantro Girl (for children)

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I’m serving a special five-course meal to the intellectually challenged members of Congress who support Big Agribusiness and predatory insurance companies over the health and safety of the American people. 

Let’s review the menu: 

First Course: Double Cheeseburger

 Sourced from: San Diego Meat Co. On Oct. 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared a Class I recall on 925 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli.

As a refresher, dear legislators, a Class I recall is defined as “a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.” 

Cases of ground beef patties and bulk ground beef were shipped to restaurants and caterers in San Diego. Fly to SoCal, and eat up, guys! You can barf later on Shamu. 

Second Course: Beef Tongue

Sourced from: Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., Milwaukee. The affected 5,522 pounds, recalled Oct. 17, may include tonsils, which means the company failed to comply with USDA regulations. Tongue tissue may be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad-cow disease). 

No worries, guys. It’s a Class II recall, which means there’s a “remote probability of adverse consequences.” You like to gamble with people’s lives, so dig in! 

Third Course: Chicken & Apple Sausage 

Sourced from: Vatran’s Fine Foods, Inc., Tracy, Calif.  Approximately 11,500 pounds of assorted meat and poultry products were recalled on Oct. 16 because they were produced without the benefit of federal inspection. It’s another high-risk Class I recall, affecting pork, chicken, turkey and lamb sausages, as well as veal frankfurters and other products. Chow down, wieners! 

Fourth Course: Beef Butt Steak

Sourced from: Crocetti’s Oakdale Packing Co. (doing business as South Shore Meats, Inc.), Brockton, MA. Some 1,039 pounds of fresh ground beef patties derived from bench trim, as well as mechanically tenderized beef cuts, may be contaminated with E. coli. The USDA declared a Class I recall on Oct. 26. Hope that nice slab of butt is extra juicy! 

Fifth Course: Meatballs 

Sourced from: Fairbank Farms, Ashville, NY. This is a biggie: a Class I recall Oct. 31 of 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef products. This one aggravates me even more because it includes Trader Joe’s Butcher Shop Fine Quality Meats and the Wild Harvest Natural brand. So far, 28 people have been sickened, and at least one person has died. 

Diner Rules 

You’re expected to clean your plates. Luckily, you have great health insurance—you know, the kind of coverage you refuse to provide to your constituents.

As the recession reduces the demand for organic ingredients, the total supply of available organic products falls back in line with the total demand.

This means premium pricing will start to tail off, and experts claim it should start as soon as fall 2009, i.e. right now!

So says the Organic Monitor, which keeps tabs on the international organic industry.

In short, there’s enough organic stuff to satisfy people’s needs, so sellers can’t keep gouging consumers.

And the good news is the Organic Monitor believes the price drop will continue for a couple of years. Plus the lower prices will help improve sales for low-cost organic retailers, and private labels.

For example, the leading organic brand in the United States is a Safeway store brand. Go figure.

Although, the Organic Monitor does warn that the recession will effect the growth of the organic market. It won’t halt it, but will slow it down a bit.

Via Food Navigator.

Image credit: rc!

The Saudi Organic Farming Association (SOFA) is working in connection to create a state-of-the-art organic sector, better market place for organic goods, and close adherence to worldwide food safety standards.

GTZ will also set up the SOFA’s organizational framework, and share expertise with the government.

While SOFA will monitor organic production, protect farmers, promote consumer awareness, and keep with food quality policies of many European countries.

Saudi Arabia is a major importer of agricultural goods, with figures expected to grow 25%. So successful organic farming would keep more food raised in house.

As an, at times, ethnocentric American, it surprises me to see non-Western nations taking interest into issues like this. I seem to think a country like Saudi Arabia has more pressing matters at hand than organic farming.

But it’s cool to see though!

Via Arab News.

Image credit: Pure Travel.

Many of our nation’s neighborhoods simply don’t have access to supermarkets, let alone fresh organic fruits and veggies. Chips, soda and other packaged, chemical-filled, unhealthy ‘convenience foods’ are cheap and readily available at the corner store…a far cry from the nourishment our body naturally craves, and a key contributor to the obesity epidemic.

The term for geographic food inequity is ‘food desert,’ and it’s defined as a district with little or no access to foods needed to maintain a healthy diet…but often served by plenty of fast food restaurants.  It was coined by Mari Gallagher, a researcher who has delved deep into the topic and found that food deserts exist in every type of community across the U.S — urban, rural and suburban.

I was moved by a profile on Chicago-based Graffiti and Grub and its founder, La Donna Redmond, on CNN last week. Her community garden and store focuses on supplying several low-income Chicago communities with sustainable, organic and locally-grown food. This quote says it all…

“You could find drugs in my community, you could find a gun in my community, but you couldn’t find a tomato.”
-LaDonna Redmond

One of the critical areas of good eating habits is education – ideally from an early age as so brilliantly executed in Alice Waters’ inspirational Edible Schoolyard project. In a similar vein, Graffiti and Grub is focused on ‘providing the hip hop generation with the tools needed for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.’

Kudos to those hard-working advocates committed to changing the food desert into an organic food oasis.

Are you familiar with ‘food deserts’? I’m curious to know whether there is awareness of this issue. Let me know!

You’ll make the most nutritious—and delicious—produce choices when you buy locally grown organic fruits and vegetables that are in season. It’s also the most economical way to shop the produce aisle.

Mushrooms and oranges join this month’s peak-season list, while eggplant moves off.

Here are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s top peak-season choices:

• Apples
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Bell peppers
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Grapes
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Oranges
• Pears
• Sweet potatoes

Click here to find a farmer’s market near you.

10 Recipes to Inspire You

1. Florida Orange and Sweet Oso Onion Salad
2. Grilled Flatbread with Olive, Orange and Fennel Relish
3. Orange and Radish Salad with Cinnamon Vinaigrette
4. Blood Orange Marga-Tea-Tas
5. Sautéed Mushroom Salad
6. Moist & Savory Stuffing
7. Mushroom Sauté with Toasted Walnuts
8. Broiled Italian-Style Portobello Mushrooms
9. Brussels Sprouts with Mushrooms
10. Pugliese Mushroom Scafata with Green Olive Crostini

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Hope you had a safe, happy Halloween. Here are the answers to yesterday’s pumpkin-themed quiz.

Answers

1. D. Approximately 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins were grown last year in the top U.S. pumpkin-producing states.
2. B. Illinois led the country by producing 496 million pounds of pumpkin. California, Pennsylvania and New York each produced at least 100 million pounds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
3. C. Carotenoids (lutein, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene) are antioxidants that account for the orange color of pumpkins, carrots, sweet potatoes and winter squash. Converted to vitamin A in the body, carotenoids have cancer-fighting properties. See Think Orange! for more details.
4. A. A pumpkin is a fruit. It’s a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes fruits and vegetables like melons, squashes, cucumbers and gourds.
5. D. The Spooktacular is a standard orange pumpkin, weighing in at 2 to 5 pounds. The Baby Boo and Sweetie Pie are miniature pumpkins. Jack Skellington, however, was Johnny Depp’s character in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
6. B. Tim Roth, now starring in the Fox Network drama Lie to Me, played Pumpkin (Ringo) in Pulp Fiction.
7. D. Toasted pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of protein, fiber, magnesium and phosphorus. Click here for the basic recipe, and check out Sweet-Hot Pumpkin Seeds with Autumn Spices.
8. D. A pumpkin is 90% water, which explains why there are only 49 calories in a 1-cup serving of cooked pumpkin.
9. B. While many bisques do contain dairy products, meat or seafood, the term “bisque” denotes a thick soup. It may derive its creaminess from pureed vegetables in lieu of dairy.
10. A. Pepitas are the green pumpkin seeds encased in a white hull (husk). When you extract seeds from a fresh pumpkin, you’ll toast the white unhulled seeds. You may also buy the hulled green seeds, which are popular in Mexican cuisine. Try Pepita-Crusted Halibut with Blood Orange-Jicama Chutney.

Let us know how you scored!

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To celebrate Halloween, I’m posting a multiple-choice quiz that tests your pumpkin acumen. I’ll post the answers tomorrow, so be sure to tune in.

1. How many pounds of pumpkins were grown last year in the top U.S. pumpkin-producing states?

A. 100 million

B. 300 million

C. 700 million

D. 1.1 billion

2. Which U.S. state produced the most pumpkins last year?

A. California

B. Illinois

C. Pennsylvania

D. New York

3. A pumpkin’s bright orange color reflects a high level of which nutrient?

A. Magnesium

B. Vitamin C

C. Carotenoids

D. Zinc

 4. A pumpkin is a:

A. Fruit

B. Vegetable

C. Neither

5. Which of the following is not a variety of pumpkin?

A. Spooktacular

B. Baby Boo

C. Sweetie Pie

D. Jack Skellington

6. “Pumpkin” was a character in which acclaimed movie?

A. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

B. Pulp Fiction

C. Rosemary’s Baby

D. The Godfather

7. Toasted pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of:

A. Protein

B. Fiber

C. Magnesium

D. All of the above

8. What percentage of a pumpkin is water?

A. 20%

B.  50%

C. 70%

D. 90%

9. We have published organic recipes for Roasted Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Bisque. What distinguishes a bisque from other soups?

A. A milk or cream base

B.  Thicker than standard soups

C. Contains meat or seafood

D. All of the above

10. Pepitas are:

A. Hulled pumpkin seeds

B. Whole pumpkin seeds

When we started our blog in November 2005, my very first post examined a new trend in organic food: flavored milk. Dietitian Julie H. Burns, a nutrition consultant for Horizon Organic, noted:

Moms will love these new products because they’re organic, nutritious and convenient for a lunchbox or backpack. Kids will love them because they’re delicious and easy to drink on the go. Families can help reduce their kids’ exposure to added chemicals in food by incorporating organic products into their diets. An easy way to do that is by providing great-tasting organic foods in your child’s lunchbox.

A day later, we published Organic Flavored Milk: Pros and Cons, in which Chef Ann Cooper, the “Renegade Lunch Lady,” told us:

They’re really no better than soda—except for the calcium. Many have a sugar and calorie content that equals or exceeds that of soda, and they become just another way that we’re teaching our children to drink sweets.

Now, the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), creators of the got milk? advertising campaign, are promoting chocolate milk as the “Official Drink of Halloween.” The newest print ad, which debuted in the Oct. 16 issue of People magazine, features actress Angie Harmon (Law & Order, Women’s Murder Club) and her daughters, all sporting milk mustaches.

“At Halloween and throughout the year, my girls love the flavor of chocolate milk, and I love knowing it contains the same essential nutrients as white milk like calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients kids need to build strong bones,” Harmon states in a MilkPEP press release. “As a mom, it’s important to me that my kids learn healthy habits early—and drinking three glasses of low-fat or fat-free milk each day is one of the best habits I can pass on to them.”

Pediatrician Tanya Remer Altmann, MD, is also supporting MilkPEP’s efforts.

“With Halloween snacks all around, low-fat chocolate milk is something moms can feel good about sharing with their kids,” says the author of Mommy Calls: Dr. Tanya Answers Parents’ Top 101 Questions about Babies and Toddlers.

“Here’s a spooky fact: Two out of three kids fail to get enough calcium, which is critical to build healthy skeletons,” Dr. Altmann adds. “And studies show that kids who drink chocolate and other flavored milks have higher calcium intakes than those who don’t drink milk. Milk drinkers also tend to drink fewer sugary sodas and fruit drinks and are more likely to be at a healthy weight compared to kids who drink little or no milk.

“Encouraging kids to drink more low-fat milk is a great way to steer them from the nutrient-void temptations at Halloween and beyond,” she concludes. “Chocolate milk and white milk contain nine essential nutrients and are a key component in building strong bones during childhood. Moms can benefit from the calcium and vitamin D in chocolate milk, too.”

How do you feel about flavored milks, including the organic kind? Please share your thoughts.

Photos: Horizon Organic, MilkPEP