and

and a New Year of Health and Happiness!



Thank you for supporting a better way to produce healthy and wholesome food.

Twin Oaks Farm
USDA Certified Organic
Bonifay FL 32425
www.twinoaksfarm.net

Running out of great gifts ideas for your favorite people ???

We have it ....

 Still looking for stocking stuffers ??

We have it ....

You want to create the perfect holiday gift basket ?

We have it ...

Searching for a unique  hostess gift ???

We have it ...

and they are all just a click away ...

Order by Monday and it will ship right on time ....

Visit our store :

http://www.twinoaksfarm.net/store/69

Special Holidays Shipping Rate :

$ 5 flat rate for order up to $50

Free shipping for order $50 and up  ....

coupon code FREESHIP

Twin Oaks Farm Preserves are the perfect choice.

All our preserves are produced right here at the farm the old fashion way : just fresh fruits, that we either grow or pick from small local growers, and certified organic evaporated cane juice and all organic ingredients.

No pectin, No citric acid, No ascorbic acid

or any other colorants/fillers or chemicals.

Fig Preserve

Peach Preserve

Blueberry Preserve

3 Agrumes

Pear - Calamondine

Golden Plum

Red Plum

Fig - Cranberry Chutney

Cranberry Sauce

Caramelized Onions Compote

Spiced Eggplants Chutney

Sweet Pepper in Hot Vinegar

Organic Grey Sea Salt and Herbs Rub

Hot Chocolate Mix

We know how hard it is to pick and choose

 so we thought we would help you in creating ready to go :

Bag of Goodies

From sweet to salty and from breakfeast to aperitif

You can order them online and we will ship them all wrapped up.

The Breakfast Bag

2 jars of Preserves 

and 1 bag of Organic Chocolate Mix

The Kitchen Essentials Bag

1 Jar of Lemony Sage Mustard

1 Jar of Cranberry Mustard

1 Bag of Grey Sea Salt and Thyme

The Apperitif Bag

1 Jar of the Caramelized Onion Compote

1 Jar of Red Wine Pear Compote

1 Jar of Spicy Eggplant Chutney

 We are at the Seaside Farmers Market

every Saturday from 9am to 1pm all year around.

Please Forward this email to your email list and help us spread the word about Real Food.

Thank you for supporting a better way to produce healthy and wholesome food.

Twin Oaks Farm

USDA Certified Organic
Bonifay FL 32425
www.twinoaksfarm.net

 so we thought we would help you in creating ready to go :

Bag of Goodies

From sweet to salty and from breakfeast to aperitif

You can order them online and we will ship them all wrapped up.

The Breakfeast Bag

2 jars of Preserves 

and 1 bag of Organic Chocolate Mix

The Kitchen Essentials Bag

1 Jar of Lemony Sage Mustard

1 Jar of Cranberry Mustard

1 Bag of Grey Sea Salt and Thyme

The Apperitif Bag

1 Jar of the Caramelized Onion Compote

1 Jar of Red Wine Pear Compote

1 Jar of Spicy Eggplant Chutney

To place your order go to :

http://www.twinoaksfarm.net/store/69

Twin Oaks Farm Preserves are the perfect choice.

All our preserves are produced right here at the farm the old fashion way : just fresh fruits, that we either grow or pick from small local growers, and certified organic evaporated cane juice.

No pectin, No citric acid, No ascorbic acid or any other colorants/fillers or chemicals found in a jar in today's world.

Special Holidays Shipping Rate :

$ 5 flat rate for order up to $50

Free shipping for order $50 and up  ....

coupon code FREESHIP

We are at the Seaside Farmers Market

every Saturday from 9am to 1pm all year around.

Please Forward this email to your email list and help us spread the word about Real Food.

Thank you for supporting a better way to produce healthy and wholesome food.

Twin Oaks Farm

USDA Certified Organic
Bonifay FL 32425
www.twinoaksfarm.net

You want to create the perfect holiday gift basket ?

Twin Oaks Farm Preserves are the perfect choice.

All our preserves are produced right here at the farm the old fashion way : just fresh fruits, that we either grow or pick from small local growers, and certified organic evaporated cane juice.

No pectin, No citric acid, No ascorbic acid or any other colorants/fillers or chemicals found in a jar in today's world.

Special Holidays Shipping Rate :

$ 5 flat rate for order up to $50

Free shipping for order $50 and up  ....

coupon code FREESHIP

Check out our brand new e-commerce 

http://www.twinoaksfarm.net/store/69

and find out about :

Fig Preserve

Peach Preserve

Blueberry Preserve

3 Agrumes

Pear - Calamondine

Golden Plum

Red Plum

Fig - Cranberry Chutney

Cranberry Sauce

Caramelized Onions Compote

Spiced Eggplants Chutney

Sweet Pepper in Hot Vinegar

Organic Grey Sea Salt and Herbs Rub

Hot Chocolate Mix

We are at the Seaside Farmers Market

every Saturday from 9am to 1pm all year around.

Please Forward this email to your email list and help us spread the word about Real Food.

Thank you for supporting a better way to produce healthy and wholesome food.

Twin Oaks Farm

USDA Certified Organic
Bonifay FL 32425
www.twinoaksfarm.net

Our farm is 100% soy-free and we feed our chickens

a soy-free mix of grains.

 Soy dangers summarized :

• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
• Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
• Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Vitamin B₁₂ analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B₁₂.
• Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D.
• Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
• Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.
• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys. 

Myths & Truths About Soy

Myth: Use of soy as a food dates back many thousands of years.

Truth: Soy was first used as a food during the late Chou dynasty (1134-246 BC), only after the Chinese learned to ferment soy beans to make foods like tempeh, natto and tamari.

Myth: Asians consume large amounts of soy foods.

Truth: Average consumption of soy foods in Japan and China is 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) per day. Asians consume soy foods in small amounts as a condiment, and not as a replacement for animal foods.

Myth: Modern soy foods confer the same health benefits as traditionally fermented soy foods.

Truth: Most modern soy foods are not fermented to neutralize toxins in soybeans, and are processed in a way that denatures proteins and increases levels of carcinogens.

Myth: Soy foods provide complete protein.

Truth: Like all legumes, soy beans are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cystine. In addition, modern processing denatures fragile lysine.

Myth: Fermented soy foods can provide vitamin B₁₂ in vegetarian diets.

Truth: The compound that resembles vitamin B₁₂ in soy cannot be used by the human body; in fact, soy foods cause the body to require more B₁₂

Myth: Soy formula is safe for infants.

Truth: Soy foods contain trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and affect pancreatic function. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors led to stunted growth and pancreatic disorders. Soy foods increase the body's requirement for vitamin D, needed for strong bones and normal growth. Phytic acid in soy foods results in reduced bioavailabilty of iron and zinc which are required for the health and development of the brain and nervous system. Soy also lacks cholesterol, likewise essential for the development of the brain and nervous system. Megadoses of phytoestrogens in soy formula have been implicated in the current trend toward increasingly premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded sexual development in boys.

Myth: Soy foods can prevent osteoporosis.

Truth: Soy foods can cause deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D, both needed for healthy bones. Calcium from bone broths and vitamin D from seafood, lard and organ meats prevent osteoporosis in Asian countries—not soy foods.

Myth: Modern soy foods protect against many types of cancer.

Truth: A British government report concluded that there is little evidence that soy foods protect against breast cancer or any other forms of cancer. In fact, soy foods may result in an increased risk of cancer.

Myth: Soy foods protect against heart disease.

Truth: In some people, consumption of soy foods will lower cholesterol, but there is no evidence that lowering cholesterol with soy protein improves one's risk of having heart disease.

Myth: Soy estrogens (isoflavones) are good for you.

Truth: Soy isoflavones are phyto-endocrine disrupters. At dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation and stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Eating as little as 30 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of soy per day can result in hypothyroidism with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain and fatigue.

Myth: Soy foods are safe and beneficial for women to use in their postmenopausal years.

Truth: Soy foods can stimulate the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors and cause thyroid problems. Low thyroid function is associated with difficulties in menopause.

Myth: Phytoestrogens in soy foods can enhance mental ability.

Truth: A recent study found that women with the highest levels of estrogen in their blood had the lowest levels of cognitive function; In Japanese Americans tofu consumption in mid-life is associated with the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease in later life.

Myth: Soy isoflavones and soy protein isolate have GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status.

Truth: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) recently withdrew its application to the FDA for GRAS status for soy isoflavones following an outpouring of protest from the scientific community. The FDA never approved GRAS status for soy protein isolate because of concern regarding the presence of toxins and carcinogens in processed soy.

Myth: Soy foods are good for your sex life.

Truth: Numerous animal studies show that soy foods cause infertility in animals. Soy consumption enhances hair growth in middle-aged men, indicating lowered testosterone levels. Japanese housewives feed tofu to their husbands frequently when they want to reduce his virility.

Myth: Soy beans are good for the environment.

Truth: Most soy beans grown in the US are genetically engineered to allow farmers to use large amounts of herbicides.

Myth: Soy beans are good for developing nations.

Truth: In third world countries, soybeans replace traditional crops and transfer the value-added of processing from the local population to multinational corporations.

Get informed about soy and remember organic soy is still soy !!!!

For more information about soy visit :

www.westonaprice.org

http://www.cornucopia.org/2009/05/soy-report-and-scorecard/

by Ronnie Cummins

Director, Organic Consumers Association

More and more consumers and corporations are touting the benefits of "local" foods, often described as "sustainable," "healthy," or "natural." According to the trade publication, Sustainable Food News, local as a marketing claim has grown by 15 percent from 2009 to 2010, and it's likely that number will increase in the coming year.
But, beyond the greenwashing and co-opting of the term by Wal-Mart, what does "local" food and farming really mean? What is the impact of non-organic local food and farming on public health, nutrition, biodiversity, and climate?

Jessica Prentice coined the term locavore for World Environment Day in 2005 to promote local eating, and local consumption in general. Her goal was to challenge people to obtain as much food as possible from within a one hundred mile radius. Her success was more than she imagined. In 2007 the New Oxford American Dictionary selected "locavore" as its word of the year. Local had arrived!

Some chemical farmers claim that local is better than organic, because it stimulates the local economy and reduces the distance (food miles) that food travels between the farm or feedlot and your table. But does so-called local farming, utilizing toxic pesticides, GMO seeds and feed, chemical fertilizers, and animal drugs mean that the food is safe and sustainable? Obviously not.

We believe that there shouldn't have to be a choice between local and safe organic; but rather that consumers should look for food that is not only local or regionally produced, but food that is also organic and therefore safe and sustainable. Organic and local is the new gold standard!

The locavore phenomenon brings up several important concerns including: food miles, chemically grown food, greenhouse gas emissions, factory farming, genetically engineered animal feed, and the value of organic labeling. All of these crucial issues relate to the central question: what should be in your market basket?

Does Local Mean Safe?

Chemically grown foods produced locally may be cheaper than organic and may aid the local economy but they pollute the ground water, kill the soil food web, broadcast pesticides into the air, poison farmworkers, and incrementally poison consumers with toxic residues on their foods. "Local" pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and chemical fertilizers are just as poisonous as those used in California, Mexico, Chile, or China.

Does "Pesticide Free" Mean Safe or Sustainable?

Often, growers at farmers markets will say, "I don't use pesticides, I only use chemical fertilizers." Sadly, what many people do not realize is that chemical fertilizers are extremely hazardous. A high percentage of these fertilizers seep into our wells and municipal drinking water, or else run off into our streams, rivers, and finally end up in the ocean. Two-thirds of the nation's drinking water is contaminated with hazardous levels of nitrogen fertilizer. High nitrogen and phosphorous levels in rivers and oceans kill fish and other marine wildlife.

"Local" Factory Farms and CAFOs: Destroying Public Health and Climate Stability

According to Wal-Mart and Food Inc.'s definition of local (anything produced within a 400-mile radius), meat, dairy, and eggs, reared on a diet of GMO grains, slaughterhouse waste, and antibiotics, qualify as "local." According to the USDA, the majority of the nation's non-organic meat, dairy and eggs are now produced on massive factory farms, euphemistically called Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are typically overcrowded, filthy, disease ridden, and inhumane, not only for the hapless animals imprisoned inside their walls, but also for the typically non-union, exploited, immigrant workers who toil in these hellish facilities.

And where does methane pollution come from? Mainly from factory farms and the overproduction of non-organic meat, dairy, and eggs.

Food Miles and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Food miles are the average miles that food travels from the farm to the consumer. Since more than 80% of the U.S. grocery purchases are now processed foods, a huge percentage of the carbon or fossil fuel footprint of industrial agriculture comes from transporting factory farm crops or animals to the processing plant or slaughterhouse and then transporting these processed foods from the processing plant to the dinner table via the supermarket. By reducing the processed foods in our diet we can greatly reduce the food miles or carbon footprint for which our households are responsible, since the shorter the distance food travels, the lower the greenhouse gas emissions.

"Fresh food miles" indeed contribute to the high CO2 emissions from the U.S. food system, but these whole foods are certainly not the major greenhouse gas contributor in our food system. That dubious honor belongs to factory-farmed meat, eggs, and milk, which generate 30 to 50% of all of the U.S. greenhouse gasses, more than industry and fossil fuels combined.

Chemical and Local versus Organic and Local

If they are talking about comparing supermarket fresh organic with fresh chemically grown local, we should still choose supermarket organic, because, whether they are used locally or nationally, pesticides and fertilizers are more dangerous and deadly to your health and the health of the environment than chemically-free organic foods transported from outside your local region.

The Gold Standard: Local and Organic

Local organic food and farming are the gold standard. Organic farmers gladly adhere to a set of regulations, use non-toxic products, and accept the need to be scrutinized by an independent third party inspector.

There are no regulations governing "local" chemically grown or GMO-derived food. When the local chemical grower tells you that local is better than organic, tell them that they should switch to organic so that you can trust their food to be safe, clean, inspected, and environmentally friendly. Local-organic is the gold standard.

Easter is just around the corner and it is time to think "coloring" ..
With just a few simple ingredients you will have a rainbow of eggs, I am not going to comment on the coloring process out there nor on all the pastel junk ...
so here is what you need to create your rainbow:

RED
2 cups of beets, grated - 3tbsp white vinegar - 2 cups water
YELLOW to GOLD
3 large handfulls of yellow/brown onion skins - 3tbsp white vinegar - 3 cups water
BLUE
1lb frozen blueberries, crushed - 3 tbsp white vinegar - 2 cups water
Green:
Boiled spinach leaves - 3tbsp of white vinegar - 2 cups of water
Purple
Make a strong hibiscus tea with 2 cups of water then add 3 tbsp of white vinegar

Mix combinations of the primary dyes (in separate cups) to make secondary colors : red and yellow for orange, yellow and blue for green, blue and red for violet.

The vinegar acts as a fixative, without it the dyes won't stick to the eggs.
For uniform color, strain each dye mixture through a cheesecloth or a fine strainer.
For a mottled, tie-dyed or spotty effect, leave all the ingredients in the pans.
Use crayons to make designs on the eggs.
The longer the eggs remain in the dye, the deeper the color.
For special effects, dip half the egg in one color, the other half in another.

Happy coloring ...

Organic Farms and Seed Sellers File Suit Against Monsanto:
Preemptive Action Seeks Ruling That Would Prohibit Monsanto from Suing Organic Farmers and Seed Growers if Contaminated by Roundup Ready Seed
Press Release
On behalf of 60 family farmers, seed businesses, and organic agricultural organizations, including the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA), the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed suit today against Monsanto to challenge the chemical giant's patents on genetically modified seed. 
The organic plaintiffs were forced to sue preemptively to protect themselves from being accused of patent infringement should they ever become contaminated by Monsanto's genetically modified seed, something Monsanto has done to others in the past.

The case, Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association, et al. v. Monsanto, was filed in federal district court in Manhattan and assigned to Judge Naomi Buchwald. 
Plaintiffs in the suit represent a broad array of family farmers, small businesses, and organizations from within the organic agriculture community who are increasingly threatened by genetically modified seed contamination despite using their best efforts to avoid it.  The plaintiff organizations have over 270,000 members, including thousands of certified organic family farmers.

“This case asks whether Monsanto has the right to sue organic farmers for patent infringement if Monsanto's transgenic seed should land on their property,” said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT's Executive Director and Lecturer of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York. “It seems quite perverse that an organic farmer contaminated by transgenic seed could be accused of patent infringement, but Monsanto has made such accusations before and is notorious for having sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement, so we had to act to protect the interests of our clients.”

Once released into the environment, genetically modified seed contaminates and destroys organic seed for the same crop.  For example, soon after Monsanto introduced genetically modified seed for canola, organic canola became virtually extinct as a result of contamination. Organic corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar beets and alfalfa now face the same fate, as Monsanto has released genetically modified seed for each of those crops, too.  Monsanto is developing genetically modified seed for many other crops, thus putting the future of all food, and indeed all agriculture, at stake.
“Consumers indicate, overwhelmingly, that they prefer foods made without genetically modified organisms,” said Dr. Carol Goland, OEFFA’s Executive Director. “Organic farms, by regulation, may not use GMOs, while other farmers forego using them for other reasons. Yet the truth is that we are rapidly approaching the tipping point when we will be unable to avoid GMOs in our fields and on our plates.  That is the inevitable consequence of releasing genetically engineered materials into the environment.  To add injury to injury, Monsanto has a history of suing farmers whose fields have been contaminated by Monsanto's GMOs. On behalf of farmers who must live under this cloud of uncertainty and risk, we are compelled to ask the Court to put an end to this unconscionable business practice.”

In the case, PUBPAT is asking Judge Buchwald to declare that if organic farmers are ever contaminated by Monsanto's genetically modified seed, they need not fear also being accused of patent infringement.  One argument justifying this result is that Monsanto's patents on genetically modified seed are invalid because they don't meet the “usefulness” requirement of patent law, according to PUBPAT's Ravicher, plaintiffs' lead attorney in the case.  Evidence cited by PUBPAT in its opening filing today proves that genetically modified seed has negative economic and health effects, while the promised benefits of genetically modified seed – increased production and decreased herbicide use – are false.

“Some say transgenic seed can coexist with organic seed, but history tells us that's not possible, and it's actually in Monsanto's financial interest to eliminate organic seed so that they can have a total monopoly over our food supply,” said Ravicher.  “Monsanto is the same chemical company that previously brought us Agent Orange, DDT, PCB's, and other toxins, which they said were safe, but we know are not.  Now Monsanto says transgenic seed is safe, but evidence clearly shows it is not.”

The plaintiffs in the suit represented by PUBPAT are: Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association; Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association; Organic Crop Improvement Association International, Inc.; OCIA Research and Education Inc.; The Cornucopia Institute; Demeter Association, Inc.; Navdanya International; Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association; Northeast Organic Farming Association/Massachusetts Chapter, Inc.; Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont; Rural Vermont; Southeast Iowa Organic Association; Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society; Mendocino Organic Network; Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance; Canadian Organic Growers; Family Farmer Seed Cooperative; Sustainable Living Systems; Global Organic Alliance; Food Democracy Now!; Family Farm Defenders Inc.; Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund; FEDCO Seeds Inc.; Adaptive Seeds, LLC; Sow True Seed; Southern Exposure Seed Exchange; Mumm's Sprouting
Seeds; Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., LLC; Comstock, Ferre & Co., LLC; Seedkeepers, LLC; Siskiyou Seeds; Countryside Organics; Cuatro Puertas; Interlake Forage Seeds Ltd.; Alba Ranch; Wild Plum Farm; Gratitude Gardens; Richard Everett Farm, LLC; Philadelphia Community Farm, Inc; Genesis Farm; Chispas Farms LLC; Kirschenmann Family Farms Inc.; Midheaven Farms; Koskan Farms; California Cloverleaf Farms; North Outback Farm; Taylor Farms, Inc.; Jardin del Alma; Ron Gargasz Organic Farms; Abundant Acres; T & D Willey Farms; Quinella Ranch; Nature's Way Farm Ltd.; Levke and Peter Eggers Farm; Frey Vineyards, Ltd.; Bryce Stephens; Chuck Noble; LaRhea Pepper; Paul Romero; and, Donald Wright Patterson, Jr.

For a copy of the complaint, go to http://www.pubpat.org/assets/files/seed/OSGATA-v-Monsanto-Complaint.pdf.
About OEFFA
OEFFA was founded in 1979 and is a grassroots coalition of farmers, backyard gardeners, consumers, retailers, educators, researchers, and others who share a desire to build a healthy food system that brings prosperity to family farmers, helps preserve farmland, offers food security for all Ohioans, and creates economic opportunities for our rural communities. OEFFA also operates one of the oldest and most respected organic certification programs in the nation, certifying more than 650 operations throughout the Midwest. For more information, go to www.oeffa.org.
About PUBPAT
The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) is a not-for-profit legal services organization affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. PUBPAT protects freedom in the patent system by representing the public interest against undeserved patents and unsound patent policy. For more information, go to www.pubpat.org.
 
-- Lauren N. KetchamCommunications & Membership Services CoordinatorOhio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA)41 Croswell RoadColumbus, Ohio 43214Phone: 614-421-2022 Ext. 203Fax: 614-421-2011lauren@oeffa.orgwww.oeffa.org Follow OEFFA on Twitter and Facebook.http://twitter.com/oeffahttp://www.oeffa.org/facebook Earn money for OEFFA every time you shop and search online with the GoodSearch toolbar. http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/ohio-ecological-food-and-farm-association-oeffa Support OEFFA through workplace giving with Community Shares. Visit www.communityshares.net.

Food for Thoughts 02/03/2011

A week ago USDA authorized unrestricted planting of GMO alfalfa and therefore open the floodgate to Frankenfood, like it could be worst that what it already is !!!
A lot of brouhaha over the net, fingers pointing etc ... bottom line : USDA has approved GMO's alfalfa and I still need to see throng of people boycotting processed food !!!
But my point is not there as I already said : too many people just dont care ...
My point is in the responses from the CEO of Whole Food Market/Organic Valley/Stonefield etc ...
They more or less all said the same :
1. they are commited to organic farming
2. USDA presented only 2 options :
2.a.bad : allowing unrestricted planting of GMO's alfalfa
2.b.bad : allowing restricted planting of GMO's alfalfa
so their excuses was we had "no choice" but to opt for option 2.b.bad "cohexistence".
Now you want me to believe that you are the CEO of one of those multi billions producing company and you are at the table with USDA and YOU HAVE NO CHOICE ???
Who are we kidding here ???
of course you have a choice ... the choice to get up and walk !!!
Make no mistake they had a choice and they did not take it because their bottom line is not your wellbeing and they could careless about what you, the consumer, think ...
All this is already one week old ... now the consensus is "united we stand" BS
and it is business as usual ... the less we hear about it the better and in the meantime GMO's alfalfa will be planted this spring ... and Monsanto won another round !!!

If you want to learn more about what organic really means join us this coming Tuesday, February 8 (see calendar below) for a viewing of What is Organic about "Organic"?
See you All bright and early ....

Food for Thoughts 01/27/2011

Very depressing news today and I don't know which one is worst .. and I am not sure that, beside the 25 peoples reading this email, people really understand the long term negative impact on their health, on the environement and the future of food.
Today USDA announced that it's will NOT impose any restriction on planting GMO alfalfa which will open a flood gate to any other Frankencrops and in the same token Whole Food Market, Organic Valley and StonyField Farm have decided it was time to surrender to Monsanto.
Top executivs from these corporations have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa and want to cut a deal of "coexistance" with Monsanto following recent USDA recommendation to do the same !!!!
No need to have a PHD to understand that "coexistence" between GMO's and organics is impossible. For allowing Monsanto premeditated pollution WFM wants "compensation" and we already know that will never happens.
Several reasons behind this, first they all desesperately want the controversy surrounding GE food to go away, you need to know that 2/3 of WFM $9 billions/year sales is derived from so called "natural" processed food and animal products that are contaminated with GMO's.
Approximately 2/3 of the products sold by WFM and their main distributor, United Natural Foods (UNFI) are not certified organic but rather conventional (chemical-intensive and GMO tainted) food and products disguised as "natural".
Many well meaning consumers are confused about the difference between conventional products marketed as "natural" and those nutritionally/environmentally superior and climate friendly products that are "certified organic".
WFM and the others are maximizing their profits by selling quasi-natural products at premium organic prices.
There can be no such a thing as "coexistence" with a reckless industry that undermines public health, destroys biodiversity, damages the environment, tortures and poisons animals, destabilizes the climate and economically devastes the world's 1.5 billions seeds saving small farmers.
There is no such a thing as coexistence between GMO's and organics in the European Union and do you know why ?? there is almost no GMO's crops in the EU and do you know why ?? the consumers refused it !!
They (the consumers) made it mandatory to label any food containing GMO. Every study shows that american consumers would want it too but rest assured it will never happend because there is absolutely no polical will for it ....
The only way we will get any kind of result is by putting some serious pressure on retaillers .. and it is very simple : stop buying any processed food, right there you will avoid most GMO and you will save money because processed food is very expensive.
Give it a try next time you go grocery shopping !
You have the power to force a change each time you go to the grocery store, make sure you use it ...

See you All bright and early ....

here are the full articles:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm
http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/01/breaking-news-usda-to-fully-deregulate-monsantos-genetically-engineer-alfalfa-gene-contamination-of-feed-milk-meat-and-other-products-to-follow/

Food for Thoughts 01/06/2011
Well back with some thoughts after a break is hard!! hard to get back on track and focus on work after a few days off over the Holidays ....
So let's start the year focusing on the getting all that  GMO food labelled. It is very simple : GMO are bad for your health, bad for the environment, bad for the livestocks ... just plain bad and food containing GMO ingredients should be labeled. End of the story !!!
I am reprinting hereafter informations you can find at The Organic Consumers Association but they are compelling numbers and show that whatever processed food you buy DO contain GMO ingredients :

Any processed food that contains corn (75 million acres, or 85%, of U.S. corn production is GM); soy (72 million acres or 91% of U.S. soy is GM); cottonseed oil (8.8 million acres or 88% of U.S. cotton is GM); canola (3.2 million acres or 85% of U.S. Canola is GM); or sugar beets (1.2 million acres or 95% of U.S. sugar beets is GM); is overwhelmingly likely to contain Monsanto's engineered DNA, and therefore needs to have a label that says "May Contain GMOs."

Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, grass-fed animal products, and whole grains, while avoiding multi-ingredient packaged foods, fried foods, sodas, juice drinks and factory-farmed animal products, is another good way to avoid GMOs.

But most people in the United States find it very hard to do this. This isn't entirely the fault of consumers. According to the National Cancer Institute, the US only produces and imports half of the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables required for our population.

Only a quarter of the US population is aware that they are being force-fed GMOs, and most say they wouldn't buy GM foods, but nearly everything sold at grocery stores contains GMOs. And none of it is labeled.
Support Truth-in-Labeling. For more information about avoiding GMOs, you can go to Millions against Monsanto web page at
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

In the 1990s, Monsanto found an ingenious way to sell large quantities of its broad-spectrum toxic herbicide RoundUp to farmers. The company's scientists gene-spliced corn, soy, cotton, and canola with foreign DNA, enabling these "Frankencrops" to survive massive doses of RoundUp.
Farmers could now repeatedly spray their fields with RoundUp, killing weeds but not the crop. Unfortunately, the collateral damage of heavy RoundUp spraying includes groundwater pollution, toxic residues in crops, and destruction of essential soil microorganisms.
The Genetically Modified (GM) crops themselves create herbicide-resistant Superweeds and spread genetic pollution to organic and non-GMO crops as well as plant relatives.
Last but certainly not least, Monsanto's GM foods have been linked to serious health damage - not only for animals, but humans as well.
Today, a major portion of cropland in the US is sown with Monsanto's "RoundUp Ready" corn, soy, cotton, canola, and sugar beets.
Eighty percent of these GM crops are then sold as animal feed to the nation's 125,000 factory farms or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that produce most of the non-organic meat, dairy, or eggs sold in grocery stores or served in restaurants, schools, and hospitals.
The other 20% of Monsanto's Genetically Modified Organisms are laced into non-organic processed foods (soy lecithin, corn or sugar beet sweeteners, cooking oils, etc.) that are found in every grocery store aisle.
There is a direct correlation between our genetically engineered food supply and the $2 trillion the US spends annually on medical care, namely an epidemic of diet-related chronic diseases. Instead of healthy fruits, vegetables, grains, and grass-fed animal products, US factory farms and food processors produce a glut of genetically engineered junk foods that generate heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
Low fruit and vegetable consumption is directly costing the United States $56 billion a year in diet-related chronic diseases.
Monsanto's GM crops are highly profitable for the food industry, turning cheap, federally subsidized, genetically engineered crops and GE-fed animals into cheap, ubiquitous, junky foods. But from the standpoint of public health and environmental sustainability, Monsanto and their factory farm collaborators are nothing less than merchants of disease and death.
A critical mass of consumers would turn away from GMOs and Factory Farmed meat, dairy, and eggs - if they knew what they were eating.

You can find more informations on GMO at the following sites :
www.organicconsumers.org
www.nongmoshoppingguide.com
www.responsibletechnology.org
If you missed our Growing Local film serie in November you need to watch the movie that was presented : " The World according to Monsanto", google it, you can watch it for free from several web sites.
On a side note, GMO is a huge flop in Europe because the european consumers voted with their money and refuse to buy it. It is also now mandatory in all EU  to have GMO labelled in red on the packages.
Let's make 2011 a GMO free year ....

See you All bright and early ....

Food for Thoughts 09/30/2110

I was not going to have any "thoughts" tonight, it is late and I am close to brain dead but I got this article from a friend and I just find it too disturbing to pass it ...
somewhere in North Carolina, 60,000 chickens died in one of those ChickenGulag. Due to a power failure, the ventilation system stopped and they died of heat exhaustion !!!
Let's just pass the 60,000 chickens in ONE wharehouse !! according to the report, chickens died within minutes ... I would say probably NOT !! chickens are very resilients, those chickens died slowly of suffocation.
They" found the chickens ONE week later ... yes one week ... Health official say there is not public health concern!
Let's recap here :
60,000 dead chickens + one week + one smoltering hot metal building =
I let you do the "math" !!!
Why did it takes one week to find the chickens ?? because the owner does not want to pay someone to make sure accidents don't occur, he rather pay an insurance preminum and cover this type of problem.
And this is not an isolate case !!!
As a society, we let things like that happened all the time and I find it very disturbing ...
All of it because we want to pay $2 for a dozen of eggs ...

That's it ... the Cornucopia Institute report on eggs is out ... I read it and will you my 2 cents on it next week ...

Food for Thoughts 09/23/2010

Last week at the the 6th European Conference of GMO Free Regions in the European parliament in Brussels, a group of international scientists led by Andres Carrasco, Argentina's leading embryologist, presented a report confirming Roundup link to birth defects.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the world's best selling weed killer, Roundup, causes malformations in frog and chicken embryos at doses far lower than those used in agriculture spraying and well below maximum residue levels in products presently approve in the European Union (not to worry we are NOT in better shape).

They were led to research the embryonic effects of glyphosate by reports of high rates of birth defects in rural areas of Argentina where Monsanto's genetically modified "Roundup Ready" soy beans are grown in large monocultures sprayed by airplanes regularly. The soybean has been genetically modified to survive Roundup, allowing farmers to spray the herbicide liberally (understand "as much as you want") to kill weeds while the crop is growing.
The findings in the lab are compatible with malformations observed in humans exposed to glyphosate during pregnancy. Reporting started in 2002, two years after large scale introduction of Roundup Ready soybeans in Argentina.

In the U.S. 90 % of the soy produced IS genetically modified to be Roundup Ready and 70% of the corn produced IS genetically modified to be Roundup Ready and 95 % of the sugar beets produced ARE genetically modified to be Roundup Ready ... plus a large number of other crops but let's just stop at those 3 ..
Let's not be fooled here, Monsanto has fingers long enough to be in every cookies jar and such independent research will never happened in this country !!
Without saying at any time one of those 3 is present in any processed food ... so if you did not get sprayed you got the residual in the food !!!
and GMO ingredients are not disclosed on any label !!!
On a side note more and more countries in the European Union are pledging to be GMO Free Zone by 2011 !!! ....

Some update on the FrankenFish :
both FDA and the salmon's maker, Aqua Bounty, have said the fast growing fish APPEARS to be the same as normal Atlantic salmon and poses little threat to the environment or diners ...
APPEARS??? Lucky us it is still looking like a fish ... why in the world FDA is even considering it ???

Interesting history of Salmonella in eggs in the NY Times:
The first enteritidis outbreak recognized by health officials was in 1982 in N.H. and they traced the eggs from a farm in Maine owned by DeCoster (same guy of recent massive recall)!!!
In 1987 the first major food poisoning from eggs left 9 people dead and 500 ill, the eggs at the source of the outbreak were from a farm owned by DeCoster !!!
During the 80st, NY and Maryland state believed DeCoster eggs were such a threat that they banned selling them in their state !!!
Testing then found that a Maine breeder flock owned by DeCoster was infected, meaning that hens there could be passing the bacteria to their chicks, which might grow up to lay tainted eggs. Widespread contamination was also found in laying barns.
In 1991, tests revealed more salmonella contamination at one of DeCoster's farms in Maryland. The state quarantined the eggs, DeCoster challenged the order and a federal judge ruled that Maryland could not block him from shipping eggs (contaminated) to other states !!!
And the story goes on during the 90izz ... By then DeCoster had moved to Iowa where they have NO salmonella testing requirement !!! Nice to know that most of the commercial eggs out there are produced in ... Iowa !!!
Wednesday (last week) DeCoster apologized in front of a Congressional panel and said he was horrified his eggs may have made people sick !!! no shit ... where has he been for the last 30 years ??? he also said that the filthy conditions found by FDA were standard practice in the indutrie .. humm this explain that ...
any more reasons to come to the market to pick up your eggs ???

Snacking on watermelon ...

n

Food for Thoughts 09/02/2010
This egg's drama is just getting better every week !!!
Now we know the chickens are producing eggs with the salmonella INSIDE, each eggs popping out is tainted with salmonella .. I mean every egg/every day ...
You would think that basic common sense the hens would be destroyed (not merely ground up and served again (that is how Mad Cow spreaded)) and the houses burned down, I dont know if you have read the inspectors report ? yes let's just burn them down ...
but NO ...
the eggs are going to be sold to food processors (another bunch with an immaculate safety record) and either pasteurized or cooked enough that hopefully the salmonella wont "outbreak" again !!!!!
This has disaster in the making written all over ...
All that just to save the owner a few $$$ ....
The next brilliant piece of the saga is the inspection report ...
On one end you  have little Twin Oaks Farm and it's 50 chickens. In the State of Florida in order to legally sell eggs, at the farmer's market, you must have a fully equiped commercial facility, we built it out in 3 weeks and the licensing of it took 1.5 years but we have it.
Every 3 to 4 months, Mr. Inspector shows up and inspects our tiny little facility : Thanks to Mr. CarotTop and his team of licensed killers (AKA The Cats) our rodents population is under control, a crew of roaming chickens/ducks and the bugs are none and I do the scrubbing so usually we pass the inspection fairly well, every 3 months we also have to test our well water, if we don't do it timely we get a letter from The Holmes County Health Department reminding us....
so this is our situation here at litte Twin Oaks with our 50 chickens, we like it or we don't like it is not the question, those are the rules and we abide by them.
NOW how at the other end 4,000,000 chickens wharehouses are NOT inspected for years ?? Their water containing salmonella was not tested in years ?? ALL of that from some owner that has been a patented polluter for years, who has been fine millions by agencies that are not known to be the most efficient on the Big Guys when they (the agencies) find time and resources to send inspectors to little Twin Oaks or in the same token harass small farmers over a few gallons of raw milk, the list of abuse on small farms can on and on but you got my point !
I just need a very detailled explanation here because I am not getting it ...
And the spin is already on, a recent article in US NEWS was mentionning some obscure expert as saying there is no evidence that organic farm fresh eggs are safer !!! ....
Those people are delusional and in denial ...
And "cage-free" is not the solution, you will still have 20,000 chickens in a wharehouse fed the same mix of diseased animals, manure and other animals waste, plastic pellets and drugs and chemicals ... All residual of which you get in the eggs and in the meat ...
Well ... it is late and I will leave you that yummy note ...

Jenn Broson wrote this great article on Eat Local, America !
check it out
http://eatlocalamerica.coop/node/509


See you All bright and early ....

....

Food for Thoughts 08/27/2010
By now we all have heard or read about the eggs recall, we all know about the filthy inhumane conditions those hens are raised, squeezed in a cage the size of 8"x11" sheet of paper, stacked on top of each other, do you know how much a chicken poop ?? You better be on the top rack !!!
And then you learn about the owner of the farm, The Iowa Department of Natural Resources declared him a "habituel violator", making his the first and only operation ever to be deemed as such in Iowa, for its handling of hog waste !!! Plus of course a few other millions in fines here and there for other violations ... Nice guy... !!!!
The precise cause of the salmonella infection has not been pinpointed yet, but the revelations by federal authorities on Thursday suggested they are moving closer and the bacteria was also found in bone meal, an ingredient used by the farm to make its feed.
which bring me to my point : factoryfarm feed ....
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, today's feed contains :
Same species meat,
diseased animals,
feather, hair, skin, hooves, and blood,
manure and other animal waste,
plastics,
drugs and chemicals and
unhealthy amounts of grains,
Are these ingredients legal ? YES, unfortunately.
Some raise human health concerns, others just indicate the low standards for animal feed. All are symptoms of a system that has lost sight of the appropriate way to raise food animals.
Animals in farm-factories receive antibiotics to promote faster growth and to compensate for crowded, stessfull, and unsanitary living conditions. An estimated 70% of the antibiotics produce in this country is added one form or another to animals feed.
Some of the antimicrobials use to control parasites and promote growth in poultry contain arsenic, a known human carcinogen.
Many animals need roughage to move food through their digestive systems. But instead of using plant-base roughage, animal factories  turn to pellets made from plastics to compensate for the lack of natural fiber in the feed.
And grains, some animals are made to eat grains, like a chicken, some other are not, like a cattle, a natural grass eater. Under current US agriculture policy, the government provides large subsidies to farmers that produce grains, particularly corn and soy.
Livestock consumes 47% of the soy and 60% of the corn produced in the US and it has been estimated that factory farms get a discount of 7 to 10% of their operating costs because of the subsidies provided by the government.
Bottom line factory farms are in business to make money, they dont care about the health of the animals, about OUR health, about the environment or anything else but making money. 
It is time we change the way we feed ourself, let's eat less meat but better quality one, meat raised by local farmers, on pasture with some respect for the animals.

See you All bright and early ....

 Mark your calendar

Growing Local: The Naked Truth about Your Food
August 31st at 7pm
Simply raw
Reversing Diabetes in 30 days
chronicles six Americans with diabetes who switch to a diet consisting entirely of vegan, organic, live, raw foods in order to reverse diabetes naturally. The participants are challengeD to give up meat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, soda, junk food, fast food, proc...essed food, packaged food, and even cooked food for 30 days. THE RESULTS ARE AMAZING.

Growing Local: The Naked Truth about Your Food is a film series presented by Raw & Juicy and Twin Oaks Farm every last Tuesday of the month at 7pm at the REP, Seaside Meeting Hall Theater.

Starting at 5:30pm, we will have a Localvore pot luck diner in front of the REP, come to the farmer's market, shop for local food and let's share it on Tuesday...

We have been invited, this year again, to the New Leaf Market 2010 Farm Tour, mark your calendar : Sunday October 24 2010.
More details to come ....


Thanksgiving's diner has arrived, time to reserve your duck....
....

Food for Thoughts 08/05/2010
Reading the following "news" over the week is going to make last week request for GMO labelling so dull !!!
AquaBounty Technologies made big news when they announced they were getting close to approval (by FDA!!) for their salmon that grows twice as fast as regular salmon, reaching full growth in captivity by 200 days, instead of 400!! The salmon grows faster because researchers inserted the gene for a growth hormone from another salmon into Atlantic salmon eggs.
They give you the whole list of "environmental advantages" but the most bothering part is that this animal (can we still call it animal or is it FrankenFish ??) is the closest of getting FDA approval for human consumption, having passed 5 section of the FDA's 7 part application !!
Hummm ... would you want to know that when you buy it ?? like a red little disclosure somewhere on the package ???
No worry it gets even better, the University of Guelph "created" a pig that produce less waste ... in other words a non-pooping-pig !! Your average pig can not digest phytate, which makes up around 50-75% of phosphorus present in cereal grains, corn and soybeans: the pig's main food. This excess phytate comes out in their waste, and they need to be fed additonal phosphorus in a digestible form. The "Enviropig" (yes it is it's name) contains a gene from E.coli called phytase, which encodes an enzyme which metabolizes phytate molecules into readily absorbed phosphate (no worry I am not getting it either). As a result it eats less feed and produces less waste including 30-65% less phytate. Again emphasizing on the environmental advantages, like if all of a sudden factoryfarms main concern was the environment !!!
Hummm ... would you want to know that wen you buy it ?? like a red little disclosure somewhere on the package ???
I have another one ... Omega-3 fatty acids are trendy, and for good reason, their consumption is linked to better cardiovascular health and lower risks of diabetes and cancer.
But they are hard to come by in a land-locked diet and animals fed a diet consisting mainly of grains, soy and corn, don't consume much omega-3 and naturally contain only omega-6 fatty acids, which don't have the same health benefits.
So long story short, Jing Kang, at Harvard Medical School, has inserted the fat-1 gene from C.elegans (don't know either who that is) into pigs, which allows them to convert the omega-6 fats found in their normal feed into omega-3s !!!.
At this point you need to feel sorry for those poor pigs .. they are piled in filthy conditions, genetically modified to not poop anymore and transform all their not that good omega into good one all that to be slaughtered in barbaric conditions to end up cheap food ...

That's is for tonight, really busy week here, clearing under the oaks threes, where we will be moving all the chicken coops early tomorrow morning. The heat has been just too much for our poor chickens and that is the only place where we really have some shade ...

But we will be ready in time for the market ...
See you All bright and early ....

 Mark your calendar

Growing Local: The Naked Truth about Your Food
August movie : Simply raw

Growing Local: The Naked Truth about Your Food is a film series presented by Raw & Juicy and Twin Oaks Farm every last Tuesday of the month at 7pm at the REP, Seaside Meeting Hall Theater.

We have been invited, this year again, to the New Leaf Market 2010 Farm Tour, mark your calendar : Sunday October 24 2010.
More details to come ....


Diner time ... just so much better from the bucket ....
....

Food for Thoughts 07/30/2010
I was reading the Soil Association report on GM Crops - The Health Effects ....
One of the main concern about GM crops is whether they will have negative effects on health. This was initially a theoretical concern. however, considerable scientific evidence has emerged over the last few years that has substantially developed our understanding and show that there are indeed real health risks from genetic engineering.
Evidence is also beginning to emerge that if GM crops are fed to animals, small amounts of GM material appear in the resulting meat and dairy products. This raise serious human and animal health concerns about the use of GMO's in food, and also major concerns about the fact that foods from GM-fed animals remain unlabelled.
It is now known that genes do not operate in isolation or completely dictate to the plant. Genes are instead themselves controlled by numerous interactive plant regulatory mechanisms, including other genes and cellular processes, in a complex systeme which is far from fully understood. The result is that the same gen can behave in 10 different ways in 10 different locations, depending on the regulatory elements it ends up next to ....
Almost all non-organic processed food and animal products in the U.S. today contain ingredients that come from genetically engineered crops or from animals given genetically engineered feed, vaccines or growth hormones.
Again you may not care or think GMO is fine but let it be a consumer's choice ... let's label GMO food and have each of us decide if Frankenfood is what we want ...

 
See you All bright and early  ....

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Food for Thoughts 07/22/2010
I was reading this article (link below) about 2 kids in Utah with incredibly high level of arsenic, long story short, they found out, after testing all over, that the feed their backyard chickens were getting contained arsenic (a common practice in industrial feed) and that arsenic was found in the eggs and those kids eating the eggs got a shot of arsenic each time !!!
Which bring me to my point today : disclosure level when it comes to food .... 
Don't you think if that bag of feed had a warning in red letter "May contain arsenic" those parents, who went the extra yard to raise their own chickens, may have thought twice before buying it ???
As I was at the farm store, I looked at their chicken feed label (no particular brand they are more or less all the same !!) the first ingredient on the label is :"Processed grains by product" what in hell is that ??? "Processed grains by product" .. it is not even grains to start with and then it is processed, which can means anything and everything but always sounds suspicious. The first ingredient in the bag of feed is "unknown" at best then I dont remember what was in second but in third position was Methionine (remember the story of the mouse and Alzheimer??) as for the rest of the label it mades me feel like I had an acute dyslexia so I gave up ...
The price of the bag is like $13 or so .. again "cheap" comes at a price.
Our chickens are getting a certified organic mix of real grains and because our feed is certified organic it can NOT contain any of the above !
I keep on hearing "organic certified" means nothing, well here is a good example of the meaning : it gives the consumer the garantie some unwanted ingredients are not in the product.
The lousiest business deal is all about disclosure and when it comes to our food amazingly we don't request any !!! 
Right now food manufacturers are fighting for NOT to have to disclose GMO in their products. Europe just made it mandatory to disclose the disastrous side effect of dyes in food by a warning label and here FDA has not even shown interest in the subject. If all of the above are so safe then why not disclosing it and then let the consumer choose ??? We may or may not want to eat food that glow in the dark but let us be the judge.
Beware of what you are buying and ask questions, obviously we still have a long way to go before disclosure gets mandatory when it comes to food !!!
and if you raise backyard chickens dish out $30something and get some certified organic feed, your children deserve it ... and your chickens too ... 

Localvore potluck diner before the movie ...
Growing Local, The Naked Truth about Your Food.
Tuesday, July 27 at 7pm at the REP
This month : A chemical reaction
The award-winning documentary film - while being a heart-warming, inspirational, human-interest story about the origin of the natural lawn care movement in Canada and the U.S. - is also a powerful tool for individuals and organizations interested in reducing and/or eliminating pesticides from the environment, especially around homes and schools.

Before the movie .... 

We will hang out outside the Rep Theater and eat yummy food from 5:30-6:30ish,  then together clean up and get ready for the movie which will start promptly at 7pm.

Remember, this is a potluck - so, please bring a food (with serving utensils) or beverage to share featuring local/regional foods. It would be great if you could bring plates and cups for your own use, as well, though we will have some on-hand.

Food for Thoughts 06/24/2010
Lots of events in the community the next few days and it is exciting to see so many people wanting changes. I am a firm believer in the power of numbers, changes will never occur, no politicians, no government will do it unless WE request it ...
The first one is
Hands Across The Sand
Saturday at noon at a beach near you ...
If you were not able to make it last February to keep offshore drilling off the coast of Florida, well then now it is time to get out there ... We know now the disaster affiliated with offshore drilling but it goes beyond that, we all need to seriously think about our oil addiction and what we can do to change it. It won't happened overnight but if we never start it will never happened ... so walk or bike to your nearest beach ....
Then on Sunday night, at 7pm, at the Hibiscus House in Grayton Beach,
Reclaim Our America is hosting a "Beyond Oil Party",
showing a 15 minutes documentary on the Deep Horizon Oil Spill and few small films made locally documenting the experience of the local community and the effects of oil.
They will have individual flags for sale for a $1 where you can write your name and a step that you will take to begin to move beyond oil. The flags will be on display along businesses on 30A showing your support for moving "beyond oil".
It is a potluck, always fun and a great way to bring a dish made with some locally grown produces.
Then on Tuesday night at 7pm at the Seaside Repertory Theater,
Raw & Juicy and Twin Oaks Farm have collaborated in sponsoring
Growing Local, The Naked Truth about Your Food.
A film series putting a spotlight on what goes into the food we eat.
The first film of the series is FRESH, The movie and here is what Michael Pollan had to say about it :
"If Food, Inc. was your wake up call, FRESH, The movie is your call to action. FRESH's strength is that it shows the incredible creativity of individuals who are devoting their lives to producing food differently. We all know the problem with the American food system, but what about the solutions? FRESH is a bracing, even exhilarating look at the whole range of efforts underway to renovate the way we grow food and feed ourself".

I read somewhere and the author forgive me because I dont remember where I read it:

"If you think you are too small to be effective, you've never been in bed with a mosquito" !!!

here are few links :
www.handsacrossthesand.com
www.reclaimouramerica.us
www.freshthemovie.com

See you All bright and early  ....

.

Food for Thoughts 06/17/2010
Raw & Juicy and Twin Oaks Farm have collaborated in sponsoring :
Growing Local, The Naked Truth about Your Food.
This film series sheds a spolight on what goes into the food we eat. It is presented to support the idea that eating and living organically and sustainably is necessary for our health and the health of our planet.
The films will be shown the last Tuesday of every month at the Seaside Repertory Theater at 7pm.
The showing is free to the public but we ask you to consider a $10 donation to the REP to support their mission.
The first film of the series is FRESH, produced by Ana Sofia Joanes, and will be aired on June 29 at 7pm.
FRESH is described as a film that "celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are reinventing our food system. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision of our food and our planet's future.
FRESH addresses an ethos that has been sweeping the nation and is a call to action America has been waiting for. For more information on this film, visit www.FRESHthemovie.com.

Future film include:
A Chemical Reaction, on July 27.
What is Organic in Organic, on August 31.
Raw for Thirty, on September 28.
No Impact Man, on October 26.
The World According to Monsanto, on November 30.

For more informations and frequent up date please join our facebook page:
Growing Local, The Naked Truth about Your Food. 

See you All bright and early  ....

.

Food for Thoughts 06/10/2010
Local strawberry season is over but if you try to prolong it make sure you buy certified organic ones :
In 2006, in California, pesticides and fertilizer used on strawberries :
9,274,453 pounds of pesticides at an average rate of 279.44lb per acre on 33,190 acres !!! This is the highest average pesticide use on any fruit or vegetable !!
Two of the top five pesticides are probable carcinogens. All five top chemicals cause multiple birth defects and the article goes on with the detail of which on does what damage and 92.3% of the berries tested had pesticide residues ...
and right now EPA is reveiweing the approval of Methyl Iodide, as a soil fumigant that could also be used on strawberry fields, Methyl Iodide causes cancer, is a known neurotoxin and thyroid disruptor etc etc. It is so toxic that it is used to intentionnally induce cancer cells in lab setting. And yet EPA has decided that Methyl Iodide is fit for our food, for our communities and for our bodies ...
In the meantime blueberry season is upon us ....
They are everywhere, they are LOCAL and you should be bulging on them ...
They are full of all the goodies your body will need to fight the "stuff" EPA is approving !! 
When buying the local ones you are pretty safe on pesticides, blueberries dont need any spraying still you are putting them in your body so ask how they are grown and if they have been sprayed with anything ... 
You will be surprised but farmers spraying and the ones that are not are equally proud and both side will brag !! always amaze me ...
There are plenty for sale at the farmer's market and here is a list of u-pick put together by WaltonOutdoors
http://www.waltonoutdoors.com/its-blueberry-time-in-the-florida-panhandle/#more-10898
they freeze beautifully
and of course our fabulous preserve is made with fresh local blueberries ....
 

See you All bright and early  ....

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Food for Thoughts 06/03/2010
Reading some report this week I fou]]>Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:56:20 -0600