Chester, NH January 2011 January Newsletter from New Hampshire CSA In This Issue Delivery Service Notes from the Dietitian Subscribe to Our Newsletter! Greetings! A Sunday winter morning breakfast recently consisted of eggs and sausage from local Chester farms, potatoes in the form of home fries from one of the farms from Massachusetts, milk, bread from New Hampshire. I had to just pause and think how great it would be if more people purchased closer to home. Just to know it is possible to put this great tasting meal together from sources so close by felt good. Thank you to all our members for supporting us; which then allows us to support  the farms and growers in the community at large. We have been planning the 2011 summer CSA. Currently we have 2 local family farms that want to grow with us to further expand our offerings. What would you like to see growing? We are starting early this year now that we have the high tunnel and water ready. Lets hope for a colorful June filled with tomatoes! This is going to be the best year yet with all the infrastructure in place and ready to produce. If you want to get in on the 2011 season, now is the time to register your membership. It is a first come first serve basis and is limited. We are holding the price level for 2011 $550 full shares and $300 half shares. For those of you that run later on Fridays, no need to rush any longer, we will be able to pack a share for you to pick up after hours. We are taking reservations for 2011 with the first payment due in January.  get a sign up form via email here  Like to use facebook? Check us out and friend NHCSA. Post your recipes and comments too. The website home page has new links added including to one of our members The Victory Garden Man and he has great advice for home canning and storage of your produce. Another is for Milk delivery in glass bottles at NHMILK.       Here is Gary's cell phone if you have questions 603 548 5550. Organic Vegetable & Fruit Delivery: We are currently delivering to homes and businesses in Manchester, Bedford, Hooksett, Auburn, Derry, Londonderry and Chester. It's not too late to enjoy this service. see the site here for more  Field to Fork free range certified organic eggs and Abigail's Breads are still available too.     Chemical Children by Fran Van Geyte        Over 85,000 industrial chemicals have been approved for use in the US in less than half a century.  Many of these are now disturbingly commonplace in our environment and in our bodies. Of these thousands of industrial chemicals,most have never been tested for human health consequences and only a little over a dozen have even been tested for neurotoxicity safety; We are essentially conducting the experiment on our children and the results are just coming to light.  There's evidence that continues to mount on the connection between brain development and performance at school and  their exposure to metals such as mercury and lead and now pesticides.  Exposures to toxins have been show to impair memory, attention and language skills as well affect fine motor skills. Researchers are finding serious harmful concerns at lower and lower mercury exposures where there may not be any 'safe' level of exposure.      Toxins extend beyond lead and the mercury spewed into the air from coal-fired power plants; Compounds in pesticides are very concerning.  Organophosphates have been associated with cancer and hormone dysfunction. Over 40 different forms of this pesticide category alone find their way into our environment and food system.  Organochlorines have being phased out here in the US but when it was used a few years back, it used as prescription medicine to eliminate head lice; it had been associated with headaches and convulsions.  Although another similar form (dioxin) has been banned from sale here, it still enters the environment through industrial combustion;  PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) have been banned but are still prevalent in the environment and evidence exists that children even with low level exposure in the womb to PCBs have poor reading comprehension, low IQs and memory problems. In a study of baby foods sold in this country, the majority of samples contained pesticides and nearly one fifth of them had at least 2 or more pesticides in each jar of baby food.      Unfortunately chemicals known or suspected as endocrine disruptors make good flame retardants and have been used in upholstery and children's clothing; Consequently these are found to be in high concentration in household dust and sadly at the most vulnerable place in our food chain, breast milk;   Two categories of these flame retardants are banned in Europe and starting to be banned by individual states in the US;       Plasticizers namely Bisphenol A have received much attention; found in pacifiers, baby bottles, dental sealant and beauty products. Its been shown to be in almost all of our bodies now and they are associated with both reproductive and neurological systems.  While much research remains to be done one point is evident: children are far more susceptible to toxins in our environment than adults. Children living in homes with high levels of pesticides have almost twice the blood levels toxins as do their parents;  the World Health Organization (WHO) has also reported that an infant in a home with radon receive twice as much radon exposure as does the adult living in the same household;   this is due partly to a child's higher metabolic rate;  pound for pound children breathe more oxygen and consume more fluids and food than adults; on average an infant drinks 2-3 ounces of breast milk/formula for every pound of body weight; that would be equal to an adult drinking more than 12 Liters of soda per day;  Children also have a greater surface area for their size than adults and consequently receive more exposure to chemicals such as formaldehyde applied in carpets and pesticides applied to grass.       But the vulnerability does not end with the greater exposure from consumption, breathing or rolling around in the dirt;  the concern is also that they are still growing and developing;  key organs such as the brain, nervous system, lung and reproductive system continue to develop rapidly during childhood and organs such as the kidney and liver do not detoxify harmful chemicals as well as those of an adult so the exposure is not only greater in amount but duration.       Despite the history of efforts to clean up our environment being stalled at the federal level, States are setting new standards for safer chemical emissions and comprehensive chemical reform efforts are starting from that level. Arguably the most important effort is one that begins at home making decisions with every dollar you spend; whether it is grass fertilizer or food purchases the market responds to what the consumer spends money on.          Ever get home and forget what that new vegetable is, check out our veggie ID chart here. Thank you to all the membership, we look forward to seeing our returning members and meeting all the new ones. Enjoy and Eat Well. Best Wishes for the coming year, Gary and the crew NHCSA 603 548 5550 The NHCSA is a multi-farm CSA. We have created an alliance with accomplished growers who are either certified organic or growing organically. By supporting us, you're helping to sustain multiple small farm growers in their quest to provide quality produce.Together, we'll provide you with a colorful array of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers that are fresh-picked and grown without contaminants.