For instance, this year our farm has no corn.  We planted close to an acre at the end of May, a typically reliable time of the year to plant corn.  Then the cold and wet weather of June came, and all of the corn seed rotted in the field.  We tried a smaller, later planting, but it’s not looking good.  So this year our Tahoma Farms CSA subscribers won’t see any corn (which we feel really bad about).

But this is only one type of risk that is associated with a traditional CSA.  Another is where an entire growing season is adversely impacted, and all of the crops are affected by weather, disease, pests, etc.  Under that scenario, the CSA members would actually lose (at least a portion of ) their investment for the year in the form of a reduction in the quantity of food available.

Our decision back in 2004 was that we would trade some of the uncertainties and risks of farming – and, in turn, reduce some of the risk for our subscribers as well – for a guaranteed “harvest”, a year-round source of income and a more flexible program that we thought would appeal to more individuals and families.  We review these assumptions from time to time and adjust our policies and practices to make sure our farm and distribution business is meeting your needs and our own.  (And we do have some changes that we will be implementing over the next 3 to 6 months, all of which are intended to increase the viability of our operation and your overall experience.)

But we think you should know that the most important reason for our existence, the reason all of us come to work every day to grow and distribute food, is that we are serving a community of individuals (you) and that you are supporting a farming operation (Tahoma Farms), and that is the real definition of community supported agriculture.

So… we hope you find a way to enjoy our farm’s tomatillos this week; we hope you also enjoy the corn that was grown by another farming operation in Lynden, WA; and we sincerely hope that you’ll come out to see us at HarvestFest 2010, October 2nd, at the farm.

Sincerely,

All of us at Terra Organics and Tahoma Farms

And that’s because the new law in Arizona is state-sanctioned discrimination.  If the problem was on our northern border, and white Canadians and other non-American whites were jumping the border, it would be obvious that a similar law that called for the detention of any person suspected of being in the country illegally would be absurd.  Or, more accurately, it would be useless because how could one distinguish between an illegal Canadian and a legal American?  But because there’s no confusion that in Arizona they are targeting illegal-aliens from Latin America, anybody with brown skin and that speaks Spanish is a suspect, a target, of the law.  And that is the definition of discrimination.

As a matter of principle, we reject discrimination.  And for the millions of legal, brown Americans in this country – including the thousands of farm-workers that put food on our table – we stand behind you.

• Superweeds:  A story from last Tuesday in The New York Times revealed what plant scientists and geneticists have known for years: spray enough Round-Up – the herbicide used on Monsanto’s Round-Up ready cotton, soybeans and corn – and pretty soon nature will develop Round-Up resistant strains of common weeds, known as Superweeds.  Bigger and badder than the common weeds Round-Up was designed to kill, the new weeds are so strong and persistent that the only thing that can kill them is more toxic herbicides, and more applications of those herbicides.  And what’s the logical extension of this treatment?  You guessed it: another round of Superweeds and even greater dependence on fossil-fuel based herbicides.
• Deepwater Horizon tragedy:  The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the resultant environmental catastrophe, has all but ensured that off-shore drilling for oil in this country will be in slow decline over the next several decades as old wells dry up and government will be unwilling to issue new permits.  The herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers and other toxins relied upon by the industrial ag industry are all derived from fossil fuels.  The bottom line is that organic is less dependent on oil; and as oil prices increase with ever-diminishing supplies, local (and renewable energy) will win out economically as well as environmentally.
• Mission: Readiness, Healthcare Overhaul and Food Revolution!:  What does a group of retired, senior military officials, a British reality TV star and the largest piece of legislation this country has seen in a generation have in common?  They’re all fighting for greater national health.  The legislation prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition (diabetes, heart disease); Jamie Oliver educates kids about nutrition in an effort to  “save America’s cooking skills and improve school food,” while the retired generals are concerned about the relatively large percentage of our youth that would fail basic fitness tests necessary for military service and, thus, our national security is at risk (obesity).
• Cancer and Chemicals:  The President’s Cancer Panel released a 200-page report last week that represents an acknowledgment by the medical establishment that chemicals found in our environment are causing cancer.  They actually recommend eating organic food.  “Only a few hundred of the more than 80,000 chemicals in use in the United States have been tested for safety,” the report says.  (Really?!)

We seek validation everyday that what we are doing is worthwhile and that we are making the right choices.  It’s good when the data that is out there is consistent with our beliefs.  Together, we are making a difference.

Image by http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoosvanrobin/

We are frequently asked to reveal our source for local, healthy meat.  We love Cheryl the Pig Lady, Thundering Hooves and Heritage Meats.  In fact, we will soon be offering products from both Heritage Meats and Thundering Hooves. In the mean time, there are a couple of other options out there for you, the discerning and conscientious eater.

I can’t speak from personal experience (yet!) about our first referral, but Inger Owen, and her husband, Dave, operate Fraction Farm in Eatonville, WA.  There, the couple raises antibiotic and hormone-free pastured poultry and is WSDA certified for on-site slaughtering.  The requirement for on-farm slaughtering is that all meat is sold from the premises within a 48 hour window and is never frozen.  That means that you can buy your bird the same day that it was harvested and bring it straight home to the rotisserie.  Their next farm day is Sunday, May 16th, from 10am – 2pm; whole chickens are available for $4.00 per pound.  Email Inger at inger@fractionfarm.com for more information.

The second referral is Bruce Dunlop, from Lopez Island Farm.  In addition to restaurant sales, an on-farm retail stand, processed jams, syrups and chutneys, Bruce sells pre-ordered meat out of the back of his pickup truck in the Proctor District of Tacoma.  Once a month (if we’re lucky) he makes the drive down from Lopez with his delicious pork, beef and lamb.  His next trip is planned for early June, so email him at bruce@lopezislandfarm.com if you’d like to be put on the mailing list to receive an order form every month or so.

“I noticed that the Small and Large boxes had apples and pears from South America.  (The PNW box, of course, had apples and pears from Washington).  I can understand getting certain things out of season from far away places (like mangoes from Mexico) but it seems weird to bring apples and pears, so abundant in Washington and that keep for long periods of time, from another hemisphere.   I was hoping you all could shed some light on this decision.”

Let me start by saying that I don’t believe in proselytizing: there is a wide spectrum of beliefs and attitudes about what is (and is not) acceptable to eat.  I’ve never thought it was our role (and I don’t want the responsibility) of saying what is the “right” decision when, for the most part, it really just comes down to a personal preference.

When we started Terra Organics in 2004, the only promise that we made to our customers, and the only prerequisite we established for the food we purchased, is that it had to be certified organic.  We know there is good food produced by farms that choose not to obtain organic certification.  But we decided that  organic certification would serve as the agreed upon lowest common denominator.  All of the farms we purchase from do not use pesticides, insecticides, synthetic fertilizers and that is good for our environment, the farmworkers, and our bodies.

The next level of standards is much more contentious.  It seems the trend is towards local food.  For a while it was simply taste.  For me, personally, it’s a combination of the two.  I really like mangoes.  I also know (more intimately than most) the benefits of eating locally: reduced carbon footprint, better taste, higher nutritional value, supporting the local economy, saving local farmland, revitalizing rural economies, etc.

So, in summary, the choices are difficult.  And as to the very specific question of why apples and pears from South America right now?  The answer is twofold:

1.)  The local apples and pears, despite the numerous advances in controlled atmosphere storage techniques, are deteriorating in quality very quickly at this point.  They have been off the trees since October (at the latest) and they just don’t taste very good anymore.

2.)  Those advanced storage techniques require an immense amount of energy to keep the fruit from spoiling six months or more after it’s been picked from the tree.  The fruit from South America, that is just now being harvested, is immediately put on large barges and shipped to ports around the world.  I am not aware of any study that has compared the carbon footprint of the two comparable apples that could be found in our cooler right now, but I would venture to guess that the apple from Argentina has a lesser negative impact on the environment.

That said, I’m really, really excited for when local strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, cherries, and apples (once again) will be fresh and local.  That is the best of both worlds.

Again, any questions or feedback, please send it our way.