CSA Newsletter for August 24, 2014

Farm Update

Our new potato digger made quick
work of the potato harvest last week!

Hi everyone!  As usual, it has been an eventful week at the farm!  Our summer crew is starting to go back to school for the fall; over the last week Nate and Charlie have returned to college, but we do have a new crew member, Logan.  He started a few days ago, and he's doing a great job!  We've had quite a lot of rain lately, so the driveways at the farm are kind of a mud pit right now.  The rain has also increased the amount of weeds we're seeing at the farm.  Last week we did our large potato harvest with our new potato digger, which saved a lot of time!  We also planted some large plantings of broccoli for the fall.  This has been kind of a weird year for tomatoes;  the cold, wet weather has made them more susceptible to late blight, and the blight seems to be spreading around central Michigan.  We've heard from pretty much every farmer we've talked to that their outside tomatoes have been wiped out by late blight, and indeed, that is what happened to ours. Our coldframe tomatoes seem to be doing pretty well so far.  There is a little bit of blight at the ends of each coldframe, but it is really hard to tell if it will spread and effectively end our tomato season, or if it will stay put.  Here's hoping that we still have several weeks of tomatoes to come!  The other crazy thing is that while the watermelons ripened a lot later than usual, the Brussels sprouts are already ready for the shares!  Normally this time

This year we've experienced some late blight, which is a foliar
disease that appears on tomato leaves when the conditions
are too cold and wet.

of year is too hot for the Brussels sprouts, so they have a very bitter taste.  But Fred ate one the other day and found that it tasted pretty good.  So for the first time ever (and probably the last, because this is seriously weird), we will have watermelons and Brussels sprouts in the same week!  I've given up trying to predict this crazy season!  Also, just a reminder, but next week is Labor Day.  The Alma drop-off will be occurring on Monday, September 1 as usual, but if you are going to be gone, just let us know and we'll postpone your share for you.  Thanks!

What to Expect in Your Share

These purple potatoes will be in the tricolor potatoes in the shares
this week!

• Choice between watermelon and Brussels sprouts
• Choice between tomatoes and tricolor potatoes
• Choice between broccoli and summer squash
• Choice between snap beans and surprise veggie
• Choice between large salad mix and regular salad mix
• Choice between kale, chard, and beets
• Choice between yellow onion, garlic, and red shallot

GMO Awareness:  What You Need to Know to Make Educated Decisions about Your Food

Rows of lettuce just waiting to get
harvested for salad mix!

A few weeks ago, I did an article about the difference between heirloom, hybrid, and GMO seed varieties (if you missed it, check out the article from the August 9th newsletter for a refresher!), and I mentioned that GMO's are pretty pervasive on the grocery store shelves.  In fact, GMO's are in virtually all processed foods unless the food is organic (because certified organic foods are required to contain no GMO's), or unless the processor is going to great lengths to avoid using GMO's, in which case the package would boldly advertise that the food is GMO-free.  Foods that don't come in boxes or cans, such as fresh produce or meat, are a little trickier.  While many other countries require producers and processors to label GMO's in foods, the US requires no such labeling.  So here is what you need to know if you are concerned about GMO's in your food and want to make educated decisions about what you're eating.

Picture this:  You walk into the grocery store and head to the produce section to pick up a few fresh fruits and veggies.  You are trying to avoid GMO's in your diet, and you know that organic foods don't contain GMO's, but you find that the selection of organic produce is pretty limited.  What do you do?

The first thing you want to know is which types of produce are most likely to be grown from GMO seed.  The picture on the right shows the top 10 most common genetically modified foods.  The corn and soy shown are more likely to be field corn and soybeans used for animal feed and processed food production, so you don't necessarily have to avoid non-organic sweet corn and edamame in order to avoid GMO's (although it is a good idea to avoid those things if you're concerned about synthetic chemicals).  Basically, it's a good idea to go organic on the top 10 items because then you know you're not getting GMO's.  If the selection of organic produce is limited, it's a good idea to stick to things like bananas and avocados, which are not on this list.  Important note:  Just because an item is not likely to contain GMO's does not mean that you are in the clear!  A lot of foods that are not on this list, such as conventionally grown strawberries, peaches, kale, etc, will still have a lot of pesticide residues on them.  And most of the people I know who try to avoid GMO's also try to avoid synthetic chemicals, so basically, unless your produce is organic, you're probably getting one or the other of the two evils, or maybe both.

When it comes to processed food, most things contain GMO's unless it specifically states otherwise.  Corn and soybeans are the two most prevalent GMO crops, and corn and soy are found in most processed foods, even things you wouldn't expect.  They are used as filler in everything from salad dressings to packaged cookies to frozen pizzas, and they're even present in most conventionally raised meats.  (Most large meat production facilities feed their animals GMO corn and soy, so that ends up in the meat, as well as dairy products and eggs.)

The kale has been growing really well in the cooler weather!

To tell the truth, it is really hard to avoid GMO's when you're getting all or most of your food from the grocery store.  That's why it's always a good idea to shop at farmers' markets and co-ops, join CSA's, and ask around about where you can find quality meat, eggs, and dairy products that don't contain GMO's.  That's why I am a huge proponent of being connected to your local food system, where you can ask the farmer himself how he grew the produce or what he fed his animals.  And the more connected you are, the more you will hear about where to get the good stuff.  We actually buy very little of our food at the grocery store, because we know where to get milk straight from the cow, honey straight from the hive, and naturally raised beef and chicken to supplement the produce, pork, and eggs we raise ourselves.  In the end, eating organically raised and local foods is the easiest way to avoid GMO's in your diet.  

But what about the things we want to eat that don't grow in our climate?  Does that mean that we have to give up our bananas, avocados, mangoes, fish, coffee, and tea?  And what about baking staples like flour, vegetable oil, and sugar?  In situations like these, I try to get organic whenever it's available (as in mangoes, avocados, and bananas), and make substitutions when possible.  For example, if a recipe calls for canola oil (which is most likely from GMO rapeseed), I'll substitute olive oil or coconut oil depending on what goes best with the recipe, because those aren't likely to contain GMO's.  For sugar, I get the cane sugar instead of the beet sugar.  They're both still sugar, so obviously use them in moderation, but most sugar beets contain GMO's, whereas to my knowledge they don't have GMO sugarcane yet.  For fish, getting wild-caught fish is going to make it easier to avoid GMO's, because farmed fish are often fed GMO corn and soy.  Wild caught fish just eat whatever they can find in their natural habitat, so they are more likely to be GMO free.

In the end, it is almost impossible to avoid GMO's completely unless you only eat things that were grown by you or someone you know and trust.  If that is you, more power to you!  For the rest of us, our best option is to eat mostly things that were grown by someone we know and trust, get certified organic on the things we can at the store, and keep the GMO-likely items to a very small percentage of our diets.  My personal opinion is that avoiding GMO's is just part of the puzzle of good health, and in the end, the point of good health is to have a better quality of life.  So do what you can to eat healthily, but don't be the person who won't have a slice of your sister's pie at Thanksgiving because there is GMO canola oil in the crust.  There is definitely a balance, and finding that balance is what will lead to the best overall quality of life.

Recipes

Earlier this weekend, I was flipping through the August 2012 issue

This Garden Vegetable Tart is just one of the yummy recipes
to try this week!

of Better Homes and Gardens, and when I got to the recipe section, I was totally inspired by all the great recipes that let wonderful seasonal produce be the stars!  Normally I don't get too geeked about the food section in magazines because all the recipes call for a bunch of ingredients I don't have, but this time I was like, "Oooh!  This week I'm going to make this, and this, and this, and this!"  So I figured I'd share all those lovely veggie recipes with you.  Enjoy!

Pork Tacos with Spicy Watermelon Salsa

Shredded Swiss Chard Salad

Blistered Green Beans

Garden Vegetable Tart

Pork Tacos with Spicy Watermelon Salsa