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What's Happening?Winter SharesInformation about Winter Shares can be found here. Winter sharers received a receipt / email telling you when your pickups will be around September 26, titled Sales Receipt from Stearns Farm CSA. If you have lost that information please contact janet stearnsfarmcsa.org._____________________________________________ Stearns Farm CSA $20 Flower Bouquet gift certificateFor the 2009 season, we are pleased to be offering pick-your-own gift certificates for purchase. We are selling a package of three bouquets for $20. It includes an attractive gift card with 3 coupons. Each coupon entitles the user to pick a bouquet of 24 stems from July 15th until September 15th. They can insert the coupon in the tin can at the flower kiosk after they pick.This is a wonderful, beautiful and unique gift for many occasions such as the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, as a thank you or just because. Consider it for your friends and family and help out Stearns Farm too. Click here for the Order Form. Don't delay. We have only 100 gift cards available. Global NewsOur Home-Grown Melamine ProblemMon 17 Nov 2008 9:29am NY Times, November 17, 2008 By JAMES E. McWILLIAMS For all the outrage about Chinese melamine, what the United States has failed to scrutinize is how much of the chemical has pervaded our own food system. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/opinion/17mcwilliams.html more here . . . Michael Pollan's Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief Wed 29 Oct 2008 10:52am NY Times, October 10, 2008. Dear Mr. President-Elect, It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food. Food policy is not something American presidents have had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration — the last time high food prices presented a serious political peril. Since then, federal policies to promote maximum production of the commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) from which most of our supermarket foods are derived have succeeded impressively in keeping prices low and food more or less off the national political agenda. But with a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. What this means is that you, like so many other leaders through history, will find yourself confronting the fact — so easy to overlook these past few years — that the health of a nation’s food system is a critical issue of national security. Food is about to demand your attention. more here . . . 'Dead Zones' Appear In Waters Worldwide — New Study Estimates More Than 400 Fri 15 Aug 2008 7:55am By Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, August 15, 2008. "In the latest sign of trouble in the planet's chemistry, the number of oxygen-starved "dead zones" in coastal waters around the world has roughly doubled every decade since the 1960s, killing fish, crabs and massive amounts of marine life at the base of the food chain, according to a study released yesterday ... Low oxygen, known as hypoxia, is in significant measure a downstream effect of chemical fertilizers used in agriculture. Air pollution, including smog from automobiles, is another factor. The nitrogen from the fertilizer and the pollution feeds the growth of algae in coastal waters, particularly during summer." more here . . . Is Your Organic Food Really Organic? Thu 7 Aug 2008 9:59am By Jill Richardson, AlterNet. Aug 7, 2008. - Half of federally accredited organic certifiers recently audited were put on probation after foods were found with unacceptable pesticide levels. "... the USDA just announced Monday it was putting 15 out of 30 federally accredited organic certifiers they audited on probation, allowing them 12 months to make corrections or lose their accreditation. At the heart of the audit for several certifiers were imported foods and ingredients from other countries, including China." more here . . . More dairies go raw Mon 21 Jul 2008 10:14pm By Darry Madden, Boston Globe, February 23, 2008 - "Jill Ebbott, a holistic health counselor in Brookline, buys 8 gallons of unpasteurized milk a week for her household of three people, and she pours a splash in the bowls that her three dogs eat from. She says a year of drinking raw milk has cleared up her husband's allergies." "Massachusetts is among 28 states in which raw milk can be sold for human consumption, and in the past two years the number of dairies licensed to sell it here has gone from 12 to 23. Dairies are selling more raw milk than they were five years ago, according to the Northeast Organic Farming Association, which says it receives calls weekly from consumers trying to find it." more here . . . Why Our Food Waste May Be Our Greatest Asset Fri 18 Jul 2008 10:47am By Ruben Anderson, The Tyee. Posted July 17, 2008. "Composting is key to reducing waste costs, cutting global warming emissions, and increasing urban food security." http://www.alternet.org/environment/91732 more here . . . |  Farm News2008 Stearns Farm CSA Harvest FestivalThu 25 Sep 2008 10:59am STEARNS FARM HARVEST FESTIVALSunday, September 28thCOME CELEBRATE THE BOUNTY OF OUR 2008 SEASON12:00 Dedication of the Root Cellar
more here . . . Reaping dividends - Boston Globe article on local CSAs Fri 15 Aug 2008 9:01am By Christina Pazzanese, Boston Globe, August 14, 2008. "Across the state, CSA programs appear to be thriving, said David Webber, farmers market coordinator for the state's Department of Agricultural Resources. 'What we've been seeing this year, the CSAs have sold out and most have a waiting list,' ... there are 68 CSAs listed with the state, and he estimates there could be as many as 91 in Massachusetts. 'We're seeing a lot of farms that were doing farmers markets are now doing CSAs,' he said, noting one of the first CSA farms in the country was launched in 1985 in Western Massachusetts, at Indian Line Farm in Great Barrington." more here . . . A Wild Ramble — learning about wild edible plants Wed 9 Jul 2008 9:42am Tuesday July 22nd, the Stearns Farm community will have the opportunity to experience something quite original. The Sudbury River Valley is home to over 100 species of edible wild plants, many of which are even more nutritious than their cultivated counterparts. Russ Cohen, expert forager and author of Wild Plants I Have Known...and Eaten, will be taking us on a two hour ramble through Stearns Farm and the adjacent woodlands to learn about more than two dozen species of edible wild plants. Pending favorable weather conditions, several edible mushroom species may be encountered as well. Keys to identifying each species will be provided, along with information on edible portions, seasons of availability and preparation methods. Russ will also give us general guidelines for safe and environmentally-responsible foraging. more here . . . The Harvest Festival Sunday, Sept 30th Sun 7 Oct 2007 12:00am A collage of photos from our 2007 Harvest Festival.Photos thanks to Claudia Gustafson. more here . . . sptest0 stearnsfarmcsa.org |
Revision 16. Last edited Sun 26 Oct 2008 10:01am by TomYelton