ALMOST ORGANIC: When close is good enough

  Everyone has to set their own standards on what they will let pass their lips. And while some people have appallingly low standards (Vienna Sausage? Really?), I find that most people don't fall strictly into a certain "food camp."  Sure, there are the rare few who insist they won't eat anything non-organic, non-GMO free, non-local, etc., but for my family there quite a bit of middle ground. And in the world of organics, there is plenty of middle ground, mostly made up of farms that are pesticide free, and using sustainable practices but not necessarily certified organic. Don't fool yourself. Becoming certified is very difficult and extremely expensive. Smaller farms often don't have the money or manpower to become certified, but are often much closer to the idyllic picture we have in our heads when we think of organic farming than their grocery store brand, certified organic counterparts.
  We've all been there. You find yourself shopping in the local grocery store and pick up a box of organic granola with a picturesque farm on the front. You feel pretty good about your purchase, right? But the utopic daydreams we have when we buy a box of Cascadian Farm and their ilk are often misplaced. I'm sure Cascadian Farm is a lovely place, full of rainbows and unicorns, but it is also owned by General Mills.

Wait, what?

Yep.

So before you feel too warm and fuzzy about your organic granola dollars going towards the Cascadian Farms Bunny and Butterfly Garden Endowment Fund, you might want to think outside the box (no pun intended). There is big money in that little "USDA Organic" label, and the big companies are taking notice. You might be surprised to find out who owns your favorite organic brand (Google it if you don't believe me).  And more importantly, if you purchase foods based solely on that label then you are missing out on a whole slew of local options that are right under your nose. There are a great deal of local farms that are producing high quality "almost organic" foods within an hours drive of Raleigh. The "almost organic" farmers are using many of the same practices as the certified organic farmers, they just aren't getting certified.

Below I've listed some local farms that are producing products that while perhaps not certified organic, are in my mind, close enough. I've also listed some certified organic farms. One of the benefits of buying locally is that if you are ever in doubt, most of these places allow farm tours. You can see where your food comes from, ask questions, and truly feel good about where your money is going. And visiting a farm can be a fun family outing, especially if they have animals. The appeal  of chickens and goats to a 2 year old is really amazing.

Contrarian Farms - Pittsboro, NC
Fox Hollow Farms- Apex, NC
Hilltop Farms - Willow Spring, NC
Old Millburnie Farm - Raleigh NC
Double T Farm - Garner, NC
Ray Family Farms - Louisburg, NC
Stone Wall Plantation - Raleigh ,NC
Btown Farm - Durham, NC
Bull City Farm - Bahama, NC
Vollmer Farm - Bunn, NC
Let It Grow Farm - Selma, NC
Possum Spring Farm - Wendell, NC

This is by no means a comprehensive list. Visit www.localharvest.org for full descriptions and more local farms. I will be trying to visit some of these in the upcoming months (bold farms are ones I have already been to and can give a stamp of approval).

RECIPE: Campfire Potatoes

This is an easy make-ahead recipe that you can take camping and just throw on the fire. We transport them in a Ziploc bag and then transfer them to the foil packet on site.

Ingredients:
4 Yukon gold potatoes, diced
3 T olive oil
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. soy sauce
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and mix well. Once on site, transfer all contents (including liquid, to a tightly sealed foil packet. Cook on fire grate for about 30 minutes, turning often to prevent burning. The coals should be hot, but you don't want the packet in direct flame or the potatoes will burn before they cook through.

Also, if you want to step up your hot dogs, go for the Weeping Radish quarter pounders on a pretzel roll. Hot dog perfection.

THE ORGANIC JUNGLE: Wading through food labeling

If I ever win the lottery, I will start shopping 100 percent organic. Sure my grocery bill will triple, but what's money to me, a multi-millionaire? In reality, I buy as much organic as I can afford. By now everyone knows about the "Dirty Dozen" and the "Clean Fifteen". Our family pretty much follows these guidelines strictly. The items that fall in the middle? Well, that just depends on the budget and the price. But I definitely want to make sure I'm spending our money on the RIGHT products. Do my bananas need to be organic? What about rice? Does "all natural" mean anything or is it just a marketing ploy? It can be dizzying. Whole foods are pretty easy - they are either organic or they are not. Cut and dry. Packaged foods get a little tricky however. The standards of organic labeling are confusing to say the least. I read labels carefully, and even I get tricked occasionally. Recently, I saw this item on clearance at Harris Teeter for $1.89 each

Wow - what a great price for organic chicken stock, right? Read the label more closely (as I should have). What the hell is organic "chicken flavored" stock? Think reading the ingredients list will clear it up?

 

Oh, really? Organic chicken flavor is made of organic chicken flavor and salt? How enlightening. Honestly, I'm not sure I even want to know. Likely some kind of ground up chicken parts. But hey, its organic! Just goes to show that packaging can be misleading. You have to read carefully. For example, I was recently getting ready to put some organic cereal bars into my cart, when I noticed that the package actually said "made with organic ingredients." What's the difference? Well, as it turns out, a lot.  There are some foods that I'm perfectly OK with being just partially organic, because they don't contain any conventional "red flag items" (grains, meat, dairy and the dirty dozen). But this particular product while made of organic wheat, contained conventional strawberries. Strawberries are one of the DIRTIEST, so back on the shelf it went.
So for a little clarity on the matter, I visited www.organic.org . Here is what their Web site said.

"100% Organic—Foods bearing this label are made with 100% organic ingredients* and may display the USDA Organic seal.

Organic—These products contain at least 95–99% organic ingredients (by weight). The remaining ingredients are not available organically but have been approved by the NOP. These products may display the USDA Organic seal.

Made With Organic Ingredients—Food packaging that reads “Made With Organic Ingredients” must contain 70–94% organic ingredients. These products will not bear the USDA Organic seal; instead, they may list up to three ingredients on the front of the packaging.

Other—Products with less than 70% organic ingredients may only list organic ingredients on the information panel of the packaging. These products will not bear the USDA Organic seal."

I really try to not get bogged down in the minutia of it all, but sometimes reading labels is important. Now if I had to choose between a packaged treat full of GMOs and pesticides and something only "made with organic ingredients", the I'd go with the latter. But sometimes I find myself reading the label and finding a red flag, like the conventional strawberries. In that case I just choose another product entirely. Shopping organically on a budget means you have to be flexible and not necessarily have your heart set on 100% Organic Strawberry Cereal Bars, cause guess what? They don't exist.

And just in case you need the 2013 Dirty Dozen, Clean Fifteen list:

12 Most Contaminated

• Peaches
• Apples
• Sweet Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Pears
• Grapes (Imported)
• Spinach
• Lettuce

15 Least Contaminated

• Onions
• Sweet corn (maybe technically low in pesticides, but I limit this due to GMO concern. Sweet corn used to be mostly non-GMO but has changed in the last few years. In a word: Monsanto)
• Pineapples
• Avocado
• Cabbage
• Sweet peas
• Asparagus
• Mangoes
• Eggplant
• Kiwi
• Cantaloupe (domestic)
• Sweet potatoes
• Grapefruit
• Papayas
• Mushrooms

RECIPE: Sausage and Eggplant Meatballs

These are a great way to not only fool yourself into feeling like you are indulging in big, decadent meatballs (when in reality they only use about a half a pound of meat and are about 40% eggplant), but also sneaky way to get picky kids to eat veggies.

.5 lb. uncooked country sausage (or substitute ground beef or ground chicken if that's what you've got on hand)
Small eggplant, peeled and very finely diced
1/3 c. seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
One egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
2 T. veggie oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine all ingredient and mix well, but don't overwork (hands work best for this).
Form mixture into balls  - size is up to you.
Brown on all sides in a small amount of oil in a pan. You need to handle the balls gently (yeah, yeah, I know, but the fourth grader in me couldn't resist) when you turn them - the eggplant makes them a little fragile.
Transfer to the oven and cook until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. About 15-20 minutes.
Yields 6 large or 8 medium meatballs.

STRECHING YOUR DOLLAR: One pound of meat, three meals

In an earlier post I mentioned that in the attempt to eat local and organic, my family has significantly cut down on our meat portion sizes. By doing this, we can afford to buy higher quality, and yes, more expensive meats from local sources. There are three standbys that I find myself using the most to make this doable: quiche, pizza and pasta. All three can be made using very small quantities of meat. For example, this week I made 3 meals from one pound of Ray Family Farms Country Sausage ($7.65). Monday we had sausage and cheddar quiche, Wednesday we had a sausage, tomato, yellow squash and basil pizza and Thursday we had fettuccine with sausage and eggplant meatballs. The meatball recipe will follow.

RECIPE: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Whole Foods has avocados on sale this Friday. One of my favorite uses:

INGREDIENTS:
One 32oz. box of chicken stock
6 oz beer
2 cloves garlic
Jalapeno pepper, quartered
1 cup cooked chicken
1/3 c. rice
1/3 cup corn
2 T. honey
One lime
One large tomato, diced
One avocado, diced
Cilantro, chopped (to taste)
Salt and pepper.
1 T. oil
2 flour or corn tortillas, cut into strips

Start by simmering chicken stock and beer with 2 smashed cloves of garlic and a jalapeno cut into 4 pieces (or more if you like it really spicy). After about 30 minutes remove the pepper and garlic. Add 1 cup of cooked chicken (leftover rotisserie chicken works great), 1/3 c. rice and 1/3 cup corn (canned or frozen is fine). In the meantime, toss tortillas in just a little oil, salt and pepper and bake at 350 degrees until crisp. One the rice is cooked in the soup add salt and pepper to taste, 2 T. honey and the juice of one lime. In the bottom of the soup bowls, put diced tomato, avocado and cilantro. Ladle soup on top (this way the avocado and tomatoes don't jet mushy). Serve with the tortilla strips (I like to serve them on the side, because they soften quickly in the soup).

Makes 2 big bowls, or 4 small bowls of soup.

LOCAL FARMS: Ray Family Farms

This morning we visited Ray Family Farms in Louisburg. I had been looking for a place to get local meats, and this farm popped up on a Google search. I'm not going to go into all of the amazing practices they are using to produce sustainable, "almost organic" (there will be an upcoming post about this idea) meats and eggs, but this place is really outstanding. Solar power, biofuels, the list goes on. All of the animals live their entire lives on the farm. There are no cages or crates - everything is free range. The pigs have a huge piece of property to roam with trees and wallows. The chickens are everywhere but have a beautiful coop called "The Chick Inn". 

 

The owners, Chad and Jodi Ray, were selected last year as one of President Obama’s “Champions of Change” for their commitment to sustainable farming and energy conservation practices. For more information on their practices and philosophies, visit their Web site at www.rayfamilyfarms.com .

As much as we would like to eat local and organic all the time, it just isn't financially feasible for our family. We do what the budget allows, but have found that by reducing our portion sizes (Americans eat WAY too much meat in general anyways) and eating vegetarian a few nights a week, that we can afford to buy local organic or "almost organic" meats. Those 3-4 oz. servings were a little hard to get used to at first, but we've all survived and lost some weight in the process. Ray Family Farms offers a "Sample Package" which includes all of the following for $99: 1 beef roast, 3 ground beef, 1 pork chop, 1 bacon, 1 breakfast sausage, 1 dozen eggs, 1 Italian sausage, 1 Bratwurst sausage, 1 Chorizo Sausage, and 1 Chicken and a jar of jam. Eating the smaller portion sizes, this should easily be enough for our small family of 3 for an entire month. Could I get more at Harris Teeter? Sure. Would it be as good or as healthy? Hell no. I mean, I actually MET the chickens that laid these eggs.

So, in a nutshell, this place is just a completely different world from most of the commercial sources of meat production in this country. I want my son to grow up knowing that there are alternatives to feed lots and chickens so big that they can't support their own weight.  Anyone who visited a commercial poultry plant might walk away seriously considering vegetarianism. At this farm, you can't help just feel good about what these people are doing and what a model they could become. They have my utmost respect.

Sorry for the interruption.... ;)

Sooo....yeah, it's been awhile. What can I say? Who knew babies take up so much freaking time?
But now that I have the first two years under my belt and have regained a little bit of free time, I'm back to blogging. Having a child will change the scope of the blog a bit. There will be more about feeding kids right, and probably very few restaurant reviews (since we don't get out as much as we used to). Recipes will likely be simpler since cooking is something I find I have to do much more quickly these days. Hopefully still useful info to those who are interested in local food and recipes. My first official entry back (well, after this one that is) will be about a great local farm we visited this weekend that is producing sustainable, organic meat and eggs. Stay tuned.