C.S.A. - Davis's Greenhouses

For those interested in community-supported agriculture, there is now an Indiana drop-off for produce from Davis's Greenhouses.  (Davis's is taking over customers from Misty Morning Farms, which is no longer operating.) Thanks to Barb, Andrea and Allison for doing some of the legwork to connect us with this CSA!

Free-range eggs will be provided through them as well.  Full share will include one dozen per week; half share will include one half dozen.

Davis's is not certified organic, but Tom Davis, the owner, used the term "naturally grown."  He tells me they use plant food and if they are forced to spray, it is the same kind of spray that organic farmers use.

Click here to visit Google Docs for the produce list. 

 If you have further questions about the eggs or the farming practices, please give Tom Davis a call at (814) 948-9202 or send him an email at davissgreenhouses@yahoo.com.

Here are some more details from Tom Davis:

DAVIS'S GREENHOUSES & PRODUCE

VEGETABLE & FRUIT  C.S.A

WHAT IS COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (C.S.A) & HOW DOES IT WORK?

Community Supported Agriculture is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a group of subscribers forming a direct link between the production and consumption of food.  Subscribers cover a year's farm budget by purchasing a "share" of the harvest in advance.  Subscribers then receive a weekly portion of the farm's product during the production season.  Davis's Greenhouses & Produce C.S.A. is seeking subscribers ready to embark on the enjoyment of sustainable local vegetables and fruits.

Signing up by June 1, 2012 insures your full 20 weeks membership.   

ABOUT DAVIS'S GREENHOUSES & PRODUCE

Davis's Greenhouses & Produce is located on Davis’s Farm on Spruce Rd off of Rt 580 between Uniontown and Pine Flats. As a member of C.S.A, you can receive fresh produce from early June through October. We will offer vegetables, salad greens & some fruits as they become available.

Weekly delivery will be via picking up at the Greenhouse or at specified drop-off points.

MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS & PRICES

A Full Share is ideal for families.

A Half Share is ideal for couples or singles.

Full Share Prices:

            $300      20 weeks

Half Share Prices:

             $150     20 weeks

 To join this CSA, you must fill out and return this form along with payment to Davis's Greenhouses.

photo credit: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Butter, delicious butter

Thanks to Allison for this helpful picture of Whole Foods' store prices on Kerrygold butter! 

Allison must really be a fan, because she also posted this one from Sam's Club, which sells the 500 gram size (1 lb, 1.6 oz.) for about $7.00.  Thanks, Ali!

If you're on our Facebook page, you may have seen the group's conversation about this butter a few weeks back.  Here are some excerpts pertaining to people's reasons for choosing Kerrygold:

From Hillary:
"It's Irish butter made from grass-fed cow's milk. I haven't actually tried it yet, but it's supposed to be wonderful and good for you too!"

From Rebekah:
"Giant Eagle has it.  I bought the unsalted stuff and it is AMAZING!!!"

From Elaine:  
"Giant Eagle has it for $4.19 a block; the cheapest place I've bought it is at Trader Joe's -it's $2.74 a block there. I've written Wal-Mart and requested they stock it in Greensburg We could request it for Indiana."

Elaine also added:
"Wal-Mart is trying to provide more organic and other healthier choices. I think requesting it as a group is a great idea; demographics believe that every letter/email sent represents about 100 people so making requests as a group would be terrific. Groups represent buying power to companies. ...

... Wal-Mart had a form that we filled out while we were there and the other stores just sent us to their website. Communicating through the websites seem to be the way the stores accepted requests."

So the idea has been thrown out to contact local stores via their Web sites or by requesting products in person if there's a product we'd like to see offered for sale.  Out of curiosity, has anyone done this, and have you seen any results?  Feel free to share your comments below!


As a bonus, we live very close to Amish country and have ways to purchase local, raw milk butter from the Amish.  The last time I personally purchased it, I paid around $3.85 per pound.  The color and taste were delightful.  Here it is next to a stick of butter from a local dairy:

We love seeing that beautiful golden color, indicative of nutrient-dense butter from a cow feeding on rapidly growing grass in the spring and fall!  (And you can buy butter in bulk then freeze it for safe-keeping.)  Even Ma from the Little House books yearned for that gorgeous hue - she colored her pale winter butter with the juice of a carrot!


If you'd like to be a part of a buying group for Amish butter or Kerrygold butter, get in touch with the group on Facebook, or send an email to greenlifeindiana (at) gmail.com.  


For more information on nutrient-dense butter from grass-fed cows, check out The Skinny on Fats over at the Weston A. Price Foundation, or read any of the traditional food blogs in the column to the right.  Move over, margarine!

Pink Slime Action Items

Thanks to Rachel for passing on this link to a petition to the USDA.  It is very easy to type in a few lines and get this message to multiple people regarding the use of "pink slime" in ground beef. 

Googling "pink slime" will, of course, turns up lot of articles.  Here is an ABC News article that contains more details on the filler and lists the practices of some of the major grocery chains.

We can make a difference in our local community as well.  Here are a few suggestions for taking action (these are just suggestions, and in no way are they intended to represent this group's official position - they are offered here merely as options for those who may be interested in taking a stand):

• First and foremost, always be polite :)
• Call the grocery stores where you shop, ask for the meat department, then ask if they use "lean beef trimmings" or "pink slime" as filler in their ground beef.  Let them know you do not want to eat ground beef that is filled with chemically treated scraps, and that you will not purchase there anymore if it is used.  
• If they do use the filler, tell them you will also be letting your friends and family know so they can make the choice to keep purchasing ground beef there or not.
• If you have an extra few minutes, we'd love to hear what you find out.  If you could, would you please report back to us at this page in the comments section?
• Buy meat from local farmers instead of the store.  Check out the links on our "Local Farms" page and see if you come up with an alternative that works for you.
• Letters to the Editor of the local paper are a great way to spread the word and invoke change.  Businesses (like grocery stores) are very highly motivated to stay in business!  That means they are sensitive to where your dollars are going.

What about you?  Do you have any other thoughts on this subject? 

"Pink Slime" ground beef filler not labeled

Yet another reason to buy meats and produce straight from the farmers: USDA whistleblowers have revealed that about 70% of supermarket ground beef contains a filler known as "pink slime."

The filler is leftover fat and scraps of unused beef (trimmings that have typically been used in dog food), heated then treated with ammonia, then packaged into pink "bricks" for grocery stores to mix with beef.  Consumers don't even get the courtesy of a label.

Retired USDA microbiologist Carl Custer calls the pink slime a "salvage product" and does not consider it beef.

People might look at you crazy if you're one of those folks who grinds your own food, such as ground beef or grains.  But if a former USDA scientist, Gerald Zirnstein, is now grinding his own beef, perhaps it's not so crazy after all.  

I don't know about you, but this makes my stomach turn.  What's equally sickening is that we don't get a label because, according to ABC News' Jim Avila, "Over objections from its own scientists, USDA officials with links to the beef industry labeled pink slime 'meat.'"  In fact, it was former Undersecretary of Agriculture, Joann Smith, who made the decision to call it that, and in so doing, paved the way for Beef Products, Inc. (the manufacturer of pink slime) to make "hundreds of millions of dollars."  Interestingly enough, after stepping down from the USDA, Smith was appointed to the Board of Directors for one of Beef Products, Inc.'s principle suppliers.

Folks, this ain't right.

Anyway, for our little co-op to start organizing and getting some firm connections to local farms, we need to hold an informational meeting.  We just need a location that's big enough, and free.  Please comment below or send us an email if you have any suggestions!

Local Business Spotlight: Glick's Bulk & Discount

There's a great little Mom-and-Pop store called Glick's Bulk & Discount less than 10 minutes outside of town on Route 286 East.  I have now been there twice and am beginning to realize what a gem it is!  They have a wide selection of spices, baking needs, candies, jams, honey, pasta, meats and cheeses (John F. Martin and Sons), dried fruit, local eggs, and many other grocery items - almost all purchased in bulk so that it's sold very cheap.  In my mind, I could even begin to call it "Indiana's Trader Joe's" - as long as you ignore the fact that they don't have fun balloons and fresh produce and exotic sauces and ... OK, well, there's a lot you have to ignore.  But as far as getting some rare items and getting them cheap, Glick's has a lot to offer!

For instance, for the gluten-free diet, there's sorghum flour, rice flour, GF oats, GF brownie mix and chocolate chip cookie mix, lots of Bob's Red Mill items, GF pasta, and many other GF flours for baking (too many for me to write down in my little book while shopping!).  I got a 3-pound bag of Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats for around $7.00 - pretty reasonable for a specialty item like this.  You can also buy small containers of arrowroot powder for $1.00-$3.00, which is better, in my budget, than buying a large bag at the grocery store for over $6.00.

Here's a list of some noteworthy items I found at Glick's (there are tons more!):

• Honey (raw "rough" honey, Yoder's, and others), some for around only $10.00 per quart
• Flax seeds and flax meal, $1.00 for 0.5 lb.
• Polenta
• Flake coconut
• Coconut oil, $6.29 per quart (though I could not see info on its processing)
• Carob powder
• Butter (John F. Martin and Sons, Hillendale Farms)
• Dried fruits
• Dried vegetables
• Vegetable chips
• Tons of gluten-free baking supplies
• Arrowroot powder
• Bob's Red Mill flours 
• Stevia
• Maple syrups
• Farm fresh local eggs
• Tons of spices, including rare finds like whole nutmeg - all very well-priced

Glick's is located at 5381 Hwy. 286 East (before you get to Clymer) and is open every day but Sunday (M-Th. 8-6, F. 8-7, Sat. 8-5). Ph: (724) 349-5453.

What about you?  What local businesses would you like to tell us about?  If you have a place you'd like to share with us, send us a message or leave a comment!

The Food-Brain Connection

I have lots more to learn on this subject, but I am becoming more and more convinced that much of the health problems our nation faces, including mental & behavioral health, stem from problems with our food. 

There is much that could be said on this subject, but for now, I just want to share this link to one family's success story of essentially "curing" autism in their son simply by changing their diet and food sources.  Check it out here.

The other day, I went to Medical Wellness Associates in Jeannette, PA.  The doctor I met with (Dr. Noah Erickson) had a brain full of information - I sort of wished I had a tape recorder!  (Er, do people still use those?  I guess they are digital now...)  One of the most remarkable things he shared with me was how he was able to treat a child's autism with diet and supplements, and now that child does everything the medical doctors said he wouldn't.  Can you imagine how awesome those parents must feel, to have their son back?!

I hope to share more about that appointment in the coming weeks, but don't just take it from me.  What we eat has life-changing effects.

Joining Forces

I am not sure how many people have heard of the Holistic Moms Network, but I first found them through a link on my friend Bethanie's blog, Green and Grateful.  (I am not even sure if Bethanie is a member!)  It looked cool, and I discovered there is a chapter in Pittsburgh.  However, I never checked it out because, well, it's in Pittsburgh.  It also looked like you had to be a member.

But recently, I emailed the chapter leader, Jennifer, and heard back that anyone is welcome to attend a meeting to check out the group, then decide if they want to join.  She was excited about what we're doing here in Indiana (even if we're not doing much yet, haha!) and said it sounds like we have some similar mindsets.  She let me know that they are having their first chapter meeting of the year on TUESDAY, February 28th.  That's THIS coming Tuesday! 

The meeting is to be held at the Wilkins Community Center PlaySpace (Regent Square) at 6:30 p.m, located at 7604 Charleston Ave., Swissvale, PA, 15218.  Children and spouses are welcome, and there is a play space for the kids (hence the name "PlaySpace") to use while the adults talk. 

Jennifer let me know that there is a membership fee, but that it "pays for itself" with all the discounts and freebies from holistic partners.  Something to keep in mind.  Even if anyone from here attended, it would be a great way to connect with an established network, see what is already going on in our region, and get ideas for our group here.  I would be curious to see what they are about!

[EDIT 2/24/12: Bethanie, my friend through whom I heard of this group, left a comment on our Facebook page -- she said, "We are a member of the Centreville (Northern Virginia) chapter and we absolutely love it. We have learned lots and gotten lots of support/ideas for our lifestyle. We highly recommend becoming members!!! Let me know if you have any questions about them."  Just FYI!]