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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Order for June 6th

We have some new product additions for this purchase. Here is some information about items and suppliers on our most recent order.

BROWN RICE:

Our supplier is a family farm that has been growing in California for 25 years. They grow only certified organic rices, fed by the Shasta watershed. The rice is milled only when ordered using their custom built rice mill, which was designed to remove the husk, but leave intact the nutritious bran layers of their Organic Brown Rice. We have both Short and Medium grains available for purchase.

ALMONDS:

Grown on a small family farm in Central California, they have been growing almonds since the early 1900's. All Almonds are Certified Organic.

Featured Item this month is CASHEWS:

Though internationally sourced, the supplier of these cashews is a non-profit organization that has been around since the early 90's. They have been involved in the fair-trade community for decades, and have a commitment to alleviating poverty, malnutrition and exploitation by creating a fair trade market for the products they sell. I spoke with one of the directors of the organization, and he has a great passion for what they are doing. Our cashews are Certified Organic, grown in Honduras.

Now, how about a little cashew trivia:

Cashews are actually not nuts, but seeds that are related to the mango, pistachio and poison ivy.

30 grams (about 1/4 cup) of raw cashews contains the following:

  • 10% of DV of Iron (one of the best nuts for Iron)
  • 2% DV of Calcium
  • 35% DV of Copper
  • 20% DV of Magnesium (works with calcium to promote strong bones)
  • 5 grams of Protein
  • 20 mg Vitamin A
  • Also a good source of Vitamin B6, Vitamin K, and Thaimin

A FEW CASHEW RECIPES:

Teriyaki Cashew Lettuce Wraps - so easy, yummy snack

1 package of extra firm tofu crumbled (can also use veggie crumbles or moistened TVP)

Soy Vay Veri Teri

Cashews

Romaine Hearts

Add a little oil to a pan and cook off some of the moisture from the tofu, add Veri Teri to taste. Add a little oil to another pan, and very lightly brown the cashews. Spoon tofu mixture and cashews into a chilled romaine leaf.

Cashew "Cheese" - great for au gratin dishes, pasta, or veggies.

1/4 cup raw cashews

1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

2 tsp sweet white miso

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup water, more or less as needed.

Grind the cashews to powder in a dry blender. Add the remaining ingredients, using just enough water to make a thick but pourable sauce. Process several minutes until completely smooth.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Tomato Avocado and Barley Salad with Fire Roasted Serrano Vinaigrette

3 cups water
1 cup pearl barley
1 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
3 cups diced fresh tomatoes
2 avocados peeled seeded and diced
1/4 cup pine nuts toasted

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves stems removed
2 Serrano or Jalapeno chile peppers
2 Tbl Balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp agave nectar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Fresh basil leaves (optional)

loving preparation
1. In a large saucepan with a lid, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add the pearl barley. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer for 45 minutes or until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and let cool. Stir in the tomatoes, avocado and pine nuts.
2. Preheat a grill to medium high heat.* Place the peppers directly on the grill rack and grill, turning occasionally until all sides are evenly blackened and charred. Place peppers in a small paper bag for 5-10 minutes and close to let them steam (this will make removing the skins much easier). Remove the peppers from the paper bag and carefully peel off and discard the skins (you may want to wear rubber gloves). Slice each pepper in half and remove and discard any seeds or membranes.
3. In a small food processor or blender combine the basil, roasted Serrano peppers, balsamic vinegar, kosher salt and agave nectar. With the motor on the food processor running pour in the extra virgin olive oil and process until well combined. Pour vinaigrette over the barley salad and stir gently to combine. Garnish if desired with fresh basil leaves.

Serving suggestions
~ For a lovely optional presentation hollow out several red green or yellow peppers and fill each with a portion of the salad and garnish with the fresh basil leaves.
*You may roast the peppers under the broiler in your oven

Thanks to Veronica Callaghan

Sunday, May 25, 2008

mmmmm - Raw Pepita Pate

Nice side for a Memorial Day Picnic:

2 cups Pepita soaked in distilled water for 1-2 hours
1 jalapeno - seeded
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 2 limes
1+ tbsp salt (use your best judgement here - I used Himalayan and needed less than a tsp)
1 tbsp cumin
1 bunch of cilantro, washed and chopped
1/4 cup scallions
1/2 cup tomato, seeded, chopped into 1/8" dice

Grind Pepita, jalapeno, lime juice, and seasonings in food processor. Add water as needed (likely about 1/2 cup). Once smooth, fold in cilantro, scallions, and tomato.

...we think its best chilled, WITH lots of tomatoes.....

Thanks to World Vegan Fusion Cuisine

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Report Targets Costs Of Factory Farming

Finally!!! These issues are being touched upon by the mainstream media.....

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Factory farming takes a big, hidden toll on human health and the environment, is undermining rural America's economic stability and fails to provide the humane treatment of livestock increasingly demanded by American consumers, concludes an independent, 2 1/2 -year analysis that calls for major changes in the way corporate agriculture produces meat, milk and eggs.

The report released yesterday, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, finds that the "economies of scale" used to justify factory farming practices are largely an illusion, perpetuated by a failure to account for associated costs.

Among those costs are human illnesses caused by drug-resistant bacteria associated with the rampant use of antibiotics on feedlots and the degradation of land, water and air quality caused by animal waste too intensely concentrated to be neutralized by natural processes.

Several observers said the report, by experts with varying backgrounds and allegiances, is remarkable for the number of tough recommendations that survived the grueling research and review process, which participants said was politically charged and under constant pressure from powerful agricultural interests.

In the end, however, even industry representatives on the panel agreed to such controversial recommendations as a ban on the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in farm animals -- a huge hit against veterinary pharmaceutical companies -- a phaseout of all intensive confinement systems that prevent the free movement of farm animals, and more vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws in the increasingly consolidated agricultural arena.

"At the end of his second term, President Dwight Eisenhower warned the nation about the dangers of the military-industrial complex -- an unhealthy alliance between the defense industry, the Pentagon, and their friends on Capitol Hill," wrote Robert P. Martin, executive director of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, which wrote the report. "Now the agro-industrial complex -- an alliance of agricultural commodity groups, scientists at academic institutions who are paid by the industry, and their friends on Capitol Hill -- is a concern in animal food production in the 21st century."

The report, "Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Production in America," comes at a time when food, agriculture and animal welfare issues are prominent in the American psyche.
Food prices are rising faster than they have for decades. Concerns about global climate change have brought new attention to the fact that modern agriculture is responsible for about 20 percent of the nation's greenhouse-gas production. And recent meat recalls, punctuated by the release of undercover footage of cows being abused at a California slaughterhouse, have struck a chord with consumers.

The report acknowledges that the decades-long trend toward reliance on "concentrated animal feeding operations," or CAFOs, has brought some benefits, including cheaper food. In 1970, the average American spent 4.2 percent of his or her income to buy 194 pounds of red meat and poultry annually. By 2005, typical Americans were spending 2.1 percent of their income for 221 pounds per year.

But the system has brought unintended consequences. With thousands of animals kept in close quarters, diseases spread quickly. To prevent some of those outbreaks -- and to spur faster growth -- factory farms routinely treat animals with antibiotics, speeding the development of drug-resistant bacteria and in some cases rendering important medications less effective in people.

It appears that the vast majority of U.S. antibiotic use is for animals, the commission noted, adding that because of the lack of oversight by the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies, even regulators can only estimate how many drugs are being given to animals.
The commission urges stronger reporting requirements for companies and a phaseout and then ban on antibiotics in farm animals except as treatments for disease, a policy already initiated in some European countries.
"That's a good recommendation. A strong recommendation," said Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which released its own report last week documenting billions of dollars in farm subsidies to factory farming operations and annual federal expenditures of $100 million to clean up their ongoing environmental damage.

The Pew report also calls for tighter regulation of factory farm waste, finding that toxic gases and dust from animal waste are making CAFO workers and neighbors ill.

In calling for a 10-year phaseout of intensive confinement systems such as gestation crates for pigs and so-called battery cages for chickens, the commission adds impetus to recent commitments from some corporate operators to drop, gradually, those controversial practices.
"These animals can't engage in normal behavior at all," said commission member Michael Blackwell, a veterinarian and former assistant U.S. surgeon general.
Calls for comments from industry representatives were not returned.

The report also calls for implementation of a long-delayed national tracking system that would allow trace-back of diseased animals within 48 hours after a human outbreak of food-borne disease. And it calls for an end to forced feeding of poultry to produce foie gras, a delicacy that Blackwell described unpalatably as "diseased liver."

Activists said it will be up to Congress and agency officials, under public pressure, to implement some of the commission's recommendations. Congress is now considering a bill, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, that would accomplish some of the Pew recommendations.