News From the Farm

A change in our eating habits and farming practices can help to put the brakes on global warming. In fact, CSA members may have already been living with a lighter carbon footprint for many years. The Community Alliance with Family Farmers (www.caff.org) recently outlined three of the ways that eaters and farmers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions:

First, by changing our eating habits in favor of local, we are reducing food miles - the distance that food travels from farm to fork. Currently food travels an average of 1,500 miles to its final destination and California, the most diverse and vibrant agricultural producer in the world, imports 40% of the food it consumes. If we could increase the consumption of regionally grown food, the studies of port traffic, air traffic and vehicle miles travelled show significant decreases in greenhouse gas emissions for California. An increase in local food purchases would benefit the economy as well, with more money staying local. CSA members can probably testify that there would be other positive impacts, such as an increase in D/FM ("Deliciousness per food mile!")

The second needed change has to do with fertilizer use. It turns out that the manufacture of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides accounts for almost 40% of all energy used in U.S. agriculture. A 2002 study for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization found that carbon emissions from organically grown land were 48 to 66 percent lower than from conventional systems, owing mainly to a much lower use of fossil fuel inputs. Why not move towards a greater reliance on biological cycles like nitrogen fixation and nutrient cycling in the soil? It is these cycles that organic farmers take advantage of when they apply compost and grow cover crops.

Perhaps less well understood is the role of nitrous oxide (N2O) -- a major greenhouse gas. According to a U.C. Davis literature review, N2O is hugely more dangerous as a greenhouse gas than is carbon dioxide (CO2) -- in fact they calculated a factor of 310 times the global warming impact. N2O emissions are associated with fertilization practices, especially the use of conventional synthetic fertilizers.

The third change outlined by CAFF has to do with land use and the reduction of sprawl. Encouraging denser urban development and discouraging sprawl out onto farmland will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a number of ways, most obviously by reducing miles traveled to and from work. The corollary of discouraging sprawl into farmland is that we need to provide incentives and support for the maintenance of agriculture on the urban fringe.

These proposals suggest that farmland should be valued not only in terms of its food production potential, but also in terms of its potential to provide other services to the environment.

Payment Reminder

September is right around the corner, believe it or not. Here are some payment amounts:

If you get your box on Tuesday: $85 for 5 boxes ($115 for home delivery) or $122.50 for weekly boxes plus flowers ($152.50 for home delivery).

If you get your box on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday: $68 for 4 boxes or $98 for boxes plus flowers. For home delivery on Wednesday, $92 for boxes or $122 for boxes plus flowers.

Don't forget the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic, serving low income women with cancer. You can help us to donate Full Belly fruits and veggies directly to the clinic where they will be made available to the clients. Let us know if you wish to make a donation. For additional information, see the Full Belly web site.

Know Anyone in Berkeley?

The Full Belly site at University Terrace is looking for new members. Our site is a bit unusual in that we pick up our veggie boxes at a little informal party, fondly known as the "soiree," every Friday evening from 4:00 to 7:00p.m. We roll out the cocktail cart and some delicious snacks, and hang out on the lawn chatting and unwinding. Our soiree takes place just outside our tot lot, so kids enjoy the event as much as adults. Our conversations range pretty widely, from how to cook that strange vegetable in the box to books, movies, travel and politics. Everyone is welcome. It's a great way to close out the work week and get the weekend off to a good start.

Update on Electronic Newsletter and Recipe Archives

We are excited about the opportunity to send electronic newsletters to our members. Our plan is that instead of the paper newsletter in EVERY box, there will be paper newsletters available at every delivery site, so if you want a hard copy it will always be an option for you to pick it up at your site. Unfortunately, it is going to take us a little longer than we expected to get the system for electronic newsletters set up. This is not only because there are complications, but because of the press of summer farm activities.

We are also developing a method of making archives of our recipes available, indexed by the veggies that are commonly in your boxes. All of these well-laid plans may turn into an early winter project! We'll keep you posted!

Mark Your Calendar for the Hoes Down

The Hoes Down Harvest Festival (www.hoesdown.org) at Full Belly Farm is planned for Saturday, October 4th this year. This festival is a benefit for sustainable agriculture and organizations that focus on rural community development -- all of the proceeds are donated to non-profit organizations. The festival features organic food and drinks, live music, workshops, farm tours, crafts and an amazing hands-on children's area. Admission is $20 for adults. There's more information on the web site.

Each year CSA members from all over northern California volunteer to make this festival a success. If you would like to be part of the volunteer team, please contact: volunteers@hoesdown.org or 1-800-791-2110. Most of our volunteers are absorbed into the day itself, but we can also use help on October 3rd, 5th and September 27. Shifts are four hours and besides all the fun and good karma, volunteers also get free entry and camping.

Special Orders!

Tomatoes, Popcorn, Sun Dried Onions, Sun Dried Peaches

If you are thinking about canning and preserving, you can purchase 20# boxes of Early Girls, Red Sun Slicer Tomatoes or Romas from us. These tomatoes will make great sauces and salsas. We will deliver them to your pick-up site with your veggie box.

Sun Dried Stockton Red Onions -- $3.50 for 1/4 lb. bag with a nice label or $12/lb bulk
Sun Dried Peaches -- $10/lb
Popcorn (yellow or purple) -- $3.00 for 1 lb.
Roma Tomatoes -- $26 for a 20 lb. box
Red Sun Slicer Tomatoes -- $30 for a 20 lb. box
Early Girl Tomatoes -- $26 for a 20 lb. box

Call or e-mail us with your order and send a check to Full Belly Farm, P.O. Box 220, Guinda, CA 95637.

Farm Stand Open in Capay

Capay Valley Growers (a cooperative of various farmers and artisans in the Capay Valley) recently opened a farmers market tent in the town of Capay, on State Highway 16 on the way to Guinda and Full Belly Farm. The stand is open on Saturdays from noon to 6pm and Sundays from 11am to 5pm. Produce, honey, olive oil, lavender, nuts, dried fruit and flowers from the Capay Valley are all there.

Schedule of Events

Hoes Down Harvest Festival, October 4 and 5
Wreath-making Class, Tuesday November 11

Eggplants

I usually don't peel potatoes because the skins are nutritious. I usually don't peel eggplants because I'm lazy. It turns out I've been doing myself a favor. The skins of eggplants contain nasunin, a phytonutrient that protects the lipids that make up our brain cell membranes. In the flesh of the eggplant, chlorogenic acid is the predominant phenolic acid. It is known to be one of the most potent antioxidants in plants, reducing LDL cholesterol as well as being antimutagenic, antimicrobial and antiviral. In one study, lab animals with high cholesterol were given eggplant juice. The cholesterol in their blood, artery walls, and aortas was significantly reduced, and their blood vessels relaxed to improve blood flow. This effect was most likely the result of several of the many phytonutrients in eggplants working in conjunction. It also turns out that the phenolic acids in eggplant are what cause it to brown after you cut it. So don't worry about the browning -- those little guys are very good for you. As well as all these phytonutrients, eggplants contain fiber, potassium, copper, manganese and B vitamins. (For more information, see www.whfoods.com.)

Summer Squash

With over 10,000 years of agricultural history behind it, the squash family provides us with tasty treats from pumpkin seeds to zucchini bread. Nutritionally, summer squash stands out for its array of vitamins and minerals. One cup of cooked squash contains manganese, vitamin C, magnesium, vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, copper, folate and many more vitamins and minerals. This combination makes summer squash helpful in promoting cardiovascular, bone, and men's health. More specifically, the manganese activates the enzymes that utilize key proteins and vitamins (including vitamin C) as well as enzymes important in bone formation. Potassium decreases calcium loss, helping bone maintenance. Magnesium provides the structure (similar to scaffolding) on which our bones are built and is important for muscle and nerve relaxation. Over 300 different enzymes in our bodies require magnesium in order to function, so we need sufficient magnesium for the function of our cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems, muscles, kidneys, liver, hormone-secreting glands, and brain. I think that's pretty cool in and of itself, but if you are still unimpressed, try adding shredded summer squash to any muffin, bread, or cake recipe. Just decrease the liquid called for in the recipe by about 1/3 to compensate for the squash's moisture. Chocolate zucchini cake is a particular favorite of mine (it's easy to find recipes online).

Are Organic Vegetables More Nutritious?

This month, the Organic Center published a comprehensive survey of 97 peer-reviewed studies addressing this question. Conclusive comparative studies of vegetables are difficult -- weather, soil type, the variety and harvesting practices all come into play. The review narrowed the studies to only those that had controlled for these features. They found that organic produce usually ranked higher in four antioxidant categories (total phenolics, total antioxidant capacity, quercetin, and kaempferol), vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Phosphorus.

Conventional produce often ranked higher for total protein and nitrates. (Note that nitrates are undesirable, so the authors considered higher nitrate levels to be a nutritional deficit.) Beta-carotine and potassium levels were about equal. The authors also found that the magnitude of the difference was generally much larger in favor of organics. When the organic sample had a higher nutrient level than its conventional counterpart, the magnitude of this difference was greater than 20% in 42% of the samples and greater than 30% in almost a quarter of the samples. For the same nutrients, when conventional produce ranked higher, the difference was greater than 20% in only 15% of the samples and over 30% in only 6% of the samples. Although the protein levels were higher in conventional samples in an overwhelming majority of cases, they were higher by more than 20% in only 17% of the cases. Condensing all of the data into ratios and finding the average, the authors found that the organic produce contained an average of 25% more of the nutrients included in the study than conventional produce.

To download a copy of the study, see www.organic-center.org/science.nutri.php?action=view&report_id=126

A quote from Are Organic Vegetables More Nutritious, published by The Organic Center:
"The nutrient density of many common foods has declined gradually over time in both the U.S. and the U.K.... Declining average nutrient levels in the U.S. food supply have been brought about by what agronomists have labeled the 'dilution effect,' first coined in an important review article published in 1981... The remarkable increases in per acre crop yields brought about over a half-century through advances in plant breeding, the intensity of fertilizer and pesticide use and irrigation are well known. However, few are aware that this achievement has come at a cost in terms of food nutritional quality."

All nutrition articles by, -- Lizzy Koltai

Back to Top