I just got off the phone with someone from the USDA.  They asked if I'd be willing to take a survey to help them with crop data.  After the initial verification of who I was and where I lived, they asked me a string of questions that went a little something like this: "How many acres of green beans do you grow?", my reply: "Less than 1/8th of an acre.", pause, "How many acres of cantaloupe do you grow", my response: "Oh, about 1/8th of an acre", pause.  And on, and on, and on.

I often feel as a small grower that I'm living in the shadow of our industrial food system where the USDA lady thinks you're not telling the truth.  After all, who would grow only 1/8th of an acre of anything and make it successful?

When I began farming organically, I made the choice to live a rich, but simple and meager lifestyle.  As a beginning organic farmer, I had no clue that I like many other organic farmers would be considered a green radical and highlighted as a 'rock star' in the press and media.  I am just doing what I love and what I find meaningful.  So it came as even a bigger surprise when we actually made headway (a little) in our last year's farm bill.

The government has set aside $1 million dollars in the state of Georgia to put towards conservation implementation for organic farmers. 
Here's why:
Organic food sales in the nation is the fastest growing sector of the food industry, swelling by 18% in 2007. 
Organic sales tripled in 07 and there are a total of 4 million acres of certified organic land across the country.

Georgia is a little behind with only 3,081 acres certified and ranking 42nd out of the 50 states for organic acreage, but we're still growing at a rapid pace.  Finally the government sees the statistics and wants to help us grow.

What does this mean for us?  Because we are the only certified organic farm in South Fulton county, we've got a team of helpers from the NRCS that want to get us into this cost share program.  This means that with a conservation plan that they help us implement on some of the land we're not currently using, they'll share the costs up to 75%.  Wow!  Governmental help on a small farm, something that was hard for me to swallow but now tastes so
sweet.

Calories: energy
Fat: 0
Love: 100%

Below is a little information about the benefits of consuming organic fruits and vegetables compared to eating conventionally grown ones so you can feel good about your certified organic CSA purchase.

A $25-million four-year study of organic food, funded by the European Union, found that organic fruits and vegetables contain up to 40 percent more antioxidants. Organic produce had higher levels of beneficial minerals like iron and zinc. In fact, the milk from organically raised cows contains 60 percent more antioxidants and fatty acids than ordinary milk.

Another study, this one a doctoral dissertation by Virginia Worthington at John Hopkins University in 2001, revealed:

27 percent more vitamin C in organic produce than in the conventionally grown vegetables
21 percent more iron
29 percent more magnesium
13 percent more phosphorous, and
15 percent fewer nitrates

Many of these statistics are skewed or ignored in conventional health assessments and in dietary suggestions.  I find it interesting that in healthy soils, there is the same balance of salts (or cations) as there is in a healthy human body.  Also, minerals and nutrients in soils perform similar functions as they do in the human body.  The science behind nutrition and soils makes it clear that there is a distinct correlation between healthy biological systems in the soil and nutrition in the produce you are eating (and in our bodies).

Thank you for reading a typical 'Paige' long winded newsletter.  I hope I don't bore you...if so, let me know :)

Now, on to recipes!