On Dec 09, 2007, at 3:41 pm, Lynnet Bannion wrote:

> Organic pastured pork is a little hard to find here too, but recently
> I have found two small family farms in Colorado selling organic  
> pastured
> pork.  Each delivers to our area, one to a small store, one to an  
> organic
> dairy, so it is convenient for me.

Interesting - how much does this pork compare to other organic pork  
and non-organic pork?  (Quality and cost wise)

> I volunteer with a CSA (vegetables) (I think that's the same as a  
> box scheme
> in the U.K.) in our area, and we are selling out our shares every  
> season.

Well, it's not quite as organised here.  All the box schemes I'm aware  
of are privately owned companies.  The one I buy from  describes  
itself as a "co-operative", but it looks like the members are all  
farmers, I don't think customers can be members.


> With all the recalls, both meat and vegetable, and the refusal on  
> the part of
> the USDA to label GMOs or irradiated food,

According to this <http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/food.htm>, the  
food must be labelled.  I don't really know anything about food  
irradiation, what's the situation with it?

> there is more and more interest
> in buying our food direct from the farmers, people we can talk to.

Nothing like voting with your wallet.  It's the only thing that works,  
but only if it's practical to get in touch with these people.


> Certainly in the U.S., the small farmers and ranchers are looking  
> for a way
> to make a decent living from all their work, and the direct sales/ 
> box schemes/
> CSA route is the best, so year to year we see more of them, fed by
> more and more demand for better quality food.  If you hunt around in  
> the U.K.,
> you will probably find some below-the-radar sources for most of what  
> you want.

I just stumbled across this site: <http://www.vegboxschemes.co.uk/>.   
Hopefully it will take off as a hub for box schemes.  Right now it's  
downright painful trawling the internet for info on them.  I guess  
farmers aren't big on IT yet.


> My husband and I started on a 100-mile diet in November, for one year.
> This goes very well with a Paleo diet, since grains and beans are  
> just the
> things that are hardest to find.  Not that they aren't grown within  
> a hundred
> miles of our home, but they disappear into the commodity food chain,  
> returning
> the farmers a pittance for their work.  (100-mile diet: eat only  
> food raised within
> 100 miles of your home; or you can change the radius of the circle,  
> or choose your
> state such as Colorado; the idea is to reduce the transportation  
> miles of your
> food, support your local farmers, and reacquaint yourself with your  
> local
> community, land and the seasons.)

It's ironic but I bet most people would at least double the variety in  
their diet if they restricted themselves to food grown within 100  
miles or less. It's just hard to get over the mental block of "but why  
can't I have apples in March?"

Ashley