Factory Farms, Eggs & Food Safety

The recall of a half-billion eggs from two mega-farms in Iowa is accelerating the call for government action on food safety. Some news reports are confusing consumers over the safety of organic eggs. A couple facts: No USDA certified organic egg producers have been recalled. Factory farm practices that are banned in organic, including battery cages and feed contaminated with slaughterhouse waste and manure, are believed to be the cause of disease outbreaks.

Some consumer groups are pushing the Senate to vote on its version of the food safety bill passed by the House last year. Here are a few things we can to do to get moving in the right direction:

1. Congress should exempt small-scale, direct-to-consumer, local, pasture-based, and organic farmers and food processors from inappropriate food safety regulations. Support Tester-Hagan amendments to Senate Bill 510.

Take Action

2. Consumers should swear off factory-farmed animal products and eat vegetarian when pasture-raised organic isn't available. We also need to press the USDA to require pasture for organic chickens.

Take Action

3. Regulators should phase-out the worst factory farming practices. The USDA organic standards ban battery cages. Michigan and California are the first states to pass phase-out laws. Banning battery cages can cut the risk of salmonella contamination in half.

Learn More

4. Localities should lift restrictions on residents raising chickens in their backyards.

CNN Video

Enjoy! Marnie

School!

Time to gather together again what is left of our beach-brains and send our kids (and some of us) back to school! My son managed to pick up a virus playing soccer in the rain last week (and eating peanut butter & fluffernutter sandwiches). So he’s off to a slow start. He got enough down time to get his summer reading done though!

New Pick-up Site in Rockaway!

The Rockaway site will be operational on Big weeks (even weeks), so all types of baskets are available there every other week. If you are interested in picking up from the Rockaway Site please email me.

Kate Gray is our new host. She is a Certified Health Counselor and Animal Rights Advocate. She decided to become a health counselor to fulfill her passion of raising awareness of nutrition and the powerful mind body connection.

Find out more about our Madison and Rockaway sites on their webpages... 

www.mountainlakesorganic.com/Rockaway.html

www.mountainlakesorganic.com/Madison.htm

We are still looking for a Montville host. If you are interested please contact me to discuss what it entails.

Read about us in the latest Newspaper Article we're in!

Enjoy! Marnie

The Weather Broke!

The night of August 18th, in my book, Fall started. Every year, there is always a night where the air suddenly is different, and then it stays different. The heat of the summer is over. Haven’t you been sleeping better? That's not to say we won't have the usual warmer than usual days, but the nights will be much cooler now. With the fall comes apples, and squashes, and pumpkins and pears. The leafy greens can grow locally again too.

New Pick-up Site in Rockaway!
The Rockaway site will be operational on Big weeks, so all types of baskets are available there every other week. If you are interested in picking up from the Rockaway Site please email me.

Kate Gray is our new host. She is a Certified Health Counselor and Animal Rights Advocate. She decided to become a health counselor to fulfill her passion of raising awareness of nutrition and the powerful mind body connection.

Find out more about our Madison and Rockaway sites on their webpages...

www.mountainlakesorganic.com/Rockaway.html
www.mountainlakesorganic.com/Madison.htm

We are still looking for a Montville host. If you are interested please contact me to discuss what it entails.

Read about us in the latest Newspaper Article we're in too!
www.northjersey.com/food_dining/marketplace/99916424_Responding_to_the_demand_for_fresh_and_tasty.html


Enjoy!
Marnie

Soccer has begun!

Soccer has begun! We are back now (more or less) from the summer. Kristian met his little sister, his father’s baby. I’ve seen the pictures and, I have to say, she is very cute!

I will make this note brief because, my sorters are still on vacation so I’m doing it all today. The supplier gave us conventional strawberries by accident, so be sure to wash them extra well, even soak them.

Enjoy! Marnie

Tomatoes!

The tomatoes are king this week! We have a few less different items because the tomatoes are in high season right now and we are concentrating on them. The blueberries are still good here in Jersey and the melons are ripe! A great salad that is totally in season right now is the Horitaki Salad or Greek salad...

Horitaki Greek Salad

Ingredients

• 3 tomatoes sliced in segments
• 1 large red onion sliced

cucumber quartered lengthwise and sliced in 1/3’’ segments 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

How to make it

Combine all ingredients except olive oil and toss gently. Spread olive oil over all and sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano.

Enjoy! Marnie

Beautiful Local Produce!

Things are working out really well with Jeff’s Produce, our local organic supplier! Some of you may know Karley from various local farmer’s markets. She is my contact. This week we have hugh beefsteak tomatoes, grown right here in New Jersey. The zucchini, cucumbers, beets, and chard are also New Jersey grown. She didn’t have enough melons, but next week she should! 

I hope you all are enjoying your summer! I just climbed 2 mountains in 2 days in the catskills this weekend. (I’m really proud of that!) So my summer is turning out fine.

The Organic Solution to the Climate Crisis

"The future of life on this planet may depend on what we eat. Factory farmed junk food is the #1 cause of climate change, but we can save the planet by going organic.

"The greenhouse gas emissions from factory farms, deforestation, industrial crop production, food processing, and long-distance distribution make the food sector the biggest cause of climate change, responsible for at least a third of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Factory farmed meat, dairy and eggs alone may contribute as much as 51%!

"But we can change food system pollution into food system solutions. A worldwide shift to local, organic food production would drastically reduce food system emissions and turn the world's farmland into a carbon sink to capture and store 40% of global greenhouse gas pollution."

- Excerpt from Organic Consumers Association's "Food Agenda 2020: The Organic Alternative"

More and sign petition: http://organicconsumers.org/food-agenda/

Enjoy! Marnie

New Jersey Farm!

We have solidified a deal with a new supplier of local, New Jersey veggies this week – Jeff’s Organic Produce. About half the veggies are from them and I look forward to a full season working with them!

Please don’t forget – We will not be having baskets the next 2 weeks – July 13th and July 20th. We will still have milk, eggs and cheese in the fridge so please feel free to come by and shop! Have a wonderful couple weeks!

Nitrates in Water and Food may Increase Thyroid Cancer Risks for Women

By Ward, MH, BA Kilfoy, PJ Weyer, KE Anderson, AR Folsom and JR Cerhand – Environmental Health News, June 29, 2010

Nitrates in drinking water and food increase risk of thyroid cancer and thyroid hormone disease.

Long-term exposure to nitrates through food and water may increase a woman's risk of thyroid disease, finds a study of older women in Iowa. Public water supplies contaminated with nitrates increased the risk of thyroid cancer in the women. Eating nitrates from certain vegetables was linked to increases in thyroid cancer and hypothyroidism, one type of thyroid disease.

This is the first study to show a link between nitrates and thyroid cancer in people, although nitrates have been shown to cause thyroid tumors in animal studies.

More: www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_21136.cfm

Enjoy! Marnie