Declaring Food Independence
Here's a quiz:  Which food item is safer to eat, A) An apple from a tree in your backyard, or B) A sealed container of peeled, sliced "ready to eat" apples?  Most TFF subscribers would probably choose "A".  Unfortunately, most health department officials, food safety "experts" and officials at the Food and Drug Administration would unequivocally select "B".  That is why it is currently illegal almost everywhere in the U.S. to sell food you cooked in your own kitchen to another person.  Illegal to sell milk from a cow or an egg from a chicken in your backyard without being inspected by multiple authorities.  Or for schools to buy oranges grown locally in USDA funded school lunches (much less use food from the school garden).  The justification:  that bacterial contamination in those "unapproved" foods might make people sick.
      Meanwhile, thousands of food products receive the government stamp of approval that are proven to make millions of Americans sick every year from diabetes, heart disease and obesity.   Despite this fact, they are considered "safe" because they are produced in facilities which are inspected a few times a year for bacterial contamination.  
          Finally, some folks have gotten together and decided that enough is enough.  The little town of Sedgwick, Vermont has sent a shot across the bow of the food-industrial complex.  They recently passed the "Local Food and Community Self-Governance" ordinance declaring their right to produce and sell local foods of their choosing, without the oversight of State or federal regulation. 
There are many good reasons why local communities should rise up against the tyranny of food safety rules.  So called "lifestyle diseases" pose a huge threat even to small communities.  In a town like Sedgwick, fully a third of citizens are likely to suffer from diabetes or heart disease.  Compare that to the incidence of food poisoning by salmonella or E. Coli, which statistically speaking is unlikely ever to send someone in this small town to the hospital (less than 1 per 1000 occurence anually).  Which is a bigger problem?
Meanwhile, if any of the processed foods sold in a store in a small town are likely to be produced there, much less even in the same state.  Many small scale local producers of products such as meat, cheese, and milk cannot afford to comply with rules designed for large corporate food producers -- destroying economic opportunities in local communities.
For over year, the Health Department in Merced County, California has been shutting down farms like Terra Firma, declaring their CSAs to be a threat to public health.  Raw (unpasteurized) milk producers are being raided by state health departments across the country, even when all their customers have signed waivers acknowledging the "risks" involved with drinking the milk.  The state of California is on the verge of requiring artisan cheese makers to sterilize the milk they use, although there is no proof that their raw milk cheeses have ever made anyone sick.
If the outbreaks of food-related illness of the last few years have proven anything, it is that we're just as likely to get sick from a corporate egg produced in a USDA inspected facility as one from a backyard chicken.  Meanwhile, the government-approved industrial foods that most people in our country eat are killing millions of people every year.  It is perfectly clear which foods carry a higher risk for the public.  I applaud little Sedgwick, Vt. for taking a stand.

 

DIY Baby Food
On a related note:  A group in San Francisco has organized a weekly home-made baby food swap emphasizing organic and locally grown ingredients.  They're combining digital age organizing tools with centuries old community-building and self-reliance.  I just hope the local Health Department doesn't read the article ;)

In your boxes  
   The bunch of Asparagus in your boxes today will be the first of many this spring -- you can expect at least one bunch per week as long as the weather cooperates.  Heavy rain or intense heat will shut down harvest, but otherwise we expect the season to last at least six weeks.
  In light of the recent rainy weather, you should take care to soak your asparagus in a bath of water to remove any grit that may be stuck in the sheaths at the tip.  Snap off the tough ends or peel them before preparing.
   Frisee Endive is a lettuce-like European salad green that is most often used as an ingredient in mixed salads.  Its texture keeps it from getting soggy when tossed with dressing.  Take care to separate the leaves from the base, soak and drain at least twice, and check the bottom of the leaves for silt before drying.
   Medium and Large boxes get the first of our crop of Ruby Red Grapefruit this week.  As we move into April, these will be the primary citrus in your boxes.  Valencia Oranges should start to ripen in a month or so.