We submitted our annual paperwork to continue
offering you organic fruits, vegetables, and meats. The rigorous process of
declaring the practices, processes, and products we use to produce organic food
is precisely the reason we are sensitive to claims, like natural, unsprayed,
chemical free or one of the other pseudo-organic claims in the marketplace. It
is worth explaining not just the process, but just how much is behind the USDA
Organic seal.
Years ago, we were certified organic by the
Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) to a standard set by them. At that
time, each state or region had its own version of what organic meant. Leaders of the organic movement sought a
uniform definition for clarity in the marketplace, and the USDA adopted a
single standard that was developed by the organic community. The USDA accredits
certification agencies (ACA) to administer the regulations on their behalf, of
which there are 53 agencies in the US, and 29 others around the world. The USDA
is also responsible for enforcement, marketing, and further refinement of the
standards. The Secretary of the USDA appoints 15 people to the National Organic
Standards Board (NOSB), to advise him of issues around the production and
marketing of organic products. These folks are representative of consumer
groups, farmers, processors, environmentalists, food scientists, and the
accredited certification agencies. Currently Mac is in his third year, of a
5-year term, as the representative for certifying agents, since he used to
manage the KDA organic program. The NOSB is in charge of maintaining input from
all aspects of the organic community and act as an administrative body for the
federal program. As you can see, there is a tremendous degree of oversight
behind the label or seal you see on packaging and signage.
Every year, we submit our organic system plan
(OSP) to an ACA. The forty plus pages allows us to describe how we at Elmwood
Stock Farm have interpreted the regulations and plan to produce food for you.
The national standards require very specific details of how we will not allow
any contamination of the products we deliver, therefore we must keep meticulous
records on virtually every aspect of the operation. Our plan is reviewed for
completeness of outlining procedures to promote biodiversity, manage issues
with the neighbors, seed source compliance (No GMO or nasty seed coatings),
pest control practices, animal welfare, and the like. Often there are more
pages of attachments than in the form itself. The ACA then sends an inspector
out to visually verify that our plan accurately describes the operation and we
have not missed any aspect of compliance with the regulation. The inspector
will perform various audit trail evaluations to confirm compliance. For example
the yield of tomatoes must match the number of seeds purchased and the
greenhouse production records to show we did not substitute non-organic
tomatoes sourced elsewhere, and call them organic. The volume of hay or feed
must jive with the livestock production data. The inspector then submits their
report to the ACA for further review. We are then issued an updated organic
certificate, with a detailed crops list to document our compliance. We may have
seen it hanging up when you were here at the spring farm tour, or posted at our
table at the farmers market. We will
gladly show it to you, as we are very proud of it, and all it stands for.
In Your Share
Edamame Soybeans –
organic
Green Beans - organic
Green Beans - organic
Lettuce – organic
Okra - organic
Green Onions - organic
Green Onions - organic
Red Onions - organic
Bell Peppers – organic
Sweet Potatoes – organic
Purple Viking Potatoes - organic
Purple Viking Potatoes - organic
Squash and/or Zucchini
Beets – organic
Red Cabbage – organic
Eggplant
Tomatoes - organic
Recipes to Enjoy
Edamame
in the Shell, a Mark Bittman recipe. You want to eat the beans, not the pods, leaves or stems. Once
the Japanese soybeans are cooked and seasoned, squeeze the pod on one side and
the beans will pop right out into your mouth. Discard the pods.
Salt
1 pound fresh or frozen
edamame in their pods
Black pepper to taste
To boil: Bring a large pot
of water to a boil and salt it generously. Add the edamame, return to a boil
and cook until bright green, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain. To microwave: Put the
edamame in a microwave-safe dish with ¼ cup water and a pinch of salt, cover
partly and microwave on high until bright green, 1 to 5 minutes, depending on
your microwave power.
Sprinkle with a teaspoon
of salt and a little or a lot of black pepper. Toss and serve hot, warm or
chilled with an empty bowl on the side for the pods.
Garden-Stuffed
Summer Squash, our thanks to a CSA member for sharing this
internet recipe that she really enjoyed.
6 medium summer squash
½ C green bell pepper diced
1 C onion, finely chopped
1 C tomatoes, chopped and seeded
½ C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
½ C Italian bread crumbs
4 slices bacon, fried until crisp and crumbled
pinch seasoned salt
2/3 tsp teaspoon kosher salt
ground black pepper
butter (for sautéing)
In large pot, cover squash with water and bring
to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash are tender but firm,
about 8 minutes. Drain squash and cool slightly. Trim stems and cut squash in
half lengthwise. Remove pulp, then chop it into small pieces. Reserve squash
shells.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Melt butter in a skillet
over medium heat, and sauté bell pepper and onion in butter until soft. In a
separate pan, sauté squash pulp (about 1 cup) until soft. Combine squash pulp
with onions, peppers, tomatoes, cheese, bread crumbs, bacon and seasoned salt.
and drizzle top with
melted butter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until top is golden.
Sweet Potato and Fresh Greens Pizza,
adapted from an Epicurious recipe.
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into
1/2-inch cubes
1 ½ T olive oil, divided
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 prepared whole-wheat pizza dough
1 bunch greens, stemmed and torn into bite-size
pieces (kale, chard, beet greens, spinach, or any favorite fresh green)
¼ C crumbled goat cheese
2 T shredded Parmesan
1 T crushed walnuts
Heat oven to 425°F. Boil a large pot of water.
Cook potato in water until fork-tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat,
drain and let cool 5 minutes. In a food processor, pulse potato, 1 T oil, red
pepper and a pinch of salt until sauce is smooth.
Roll out dough until 1/4 inch thick. Spread
potato sauce evenly over dough. Toss greens in remaining ½ T oil; top pizza
with goat cheese, greens, and Parmesan. Bake until crust is golden, 10 to 15
minutes, sprinkling on walnuts in final 2 minutes.
Master Recipe for Oven
Fried Sweet Potatoes, recipe from Cook’s Illustrated Perfect
Vegetables
1 tsp plus 1 T oil
2 pounds sweet
potatoes, scrubbed
salt and freshly ground
black pepper
Adjust the oven racks
to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat to 400°F. Place ½ tsp of the oil on each of two rimmed
baking sheets. Spread the oil evenly
over the entire surface and place both sheets in the oven.
Cut each sweet potato
from end to end into 8 thick wedges.
Toss the sweet potatoes and the remaining 1 T of oil in a large bowl to
coat. Season generously with salt and
pepper and toss again to blend.
Carefully remove one baking sheet from the oven and place half of the sweet
potatoes on the baking sheet cut-side down.
Spread them out so that they do not touch each other. Return the baking sheet to the oven and
repeat the process using the second baking sheet and the remaining sweet
potatoes.
Bake until the cut side
of the sweet potatoes touching the baking sheet is crusty and golden brown, 15
to 20 minutes. Remove each baking sheet
from the oven and carefully turn the sweet potatoes, using a thin metal
spatula. Bake until the second cut side
of the sweet potatoes now touching the pan is crusty and golden brown, 10 to 15
minutes. Use the metal spatula to
transfer the sweet potatoes to a platter and serve.
1/4 C canola or olive oil
1 pound eggplant
1 pound potatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, sliced
lemon juice
Roasted Potato and Eggplant, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
1/4 C canola or olive oil
1 pound eggplant
1 pound potatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, sliced
lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Put the oil in a large nonstick roasting pan and heat in the oven for a good 10
minutes, until the oil is sizzling hot.
Meanwhile, cut the eggplants and
potatoes into 1-inch cubes, tip into a bowl, and season with salt and
pepper. Take the roasting pan from the oven and place on a stable, heatproof
surface. Add the eggplants and potatoes and turn to coat in the oil, being
careful not to splash yourself. Roast for about 30 minutes, stirring halfway
through.
Remove from the oven, stir in the
garlic, and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are golden
brown all over. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, a little more salt and pepper if
needed, and any finishing touches you fancy. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Finish with finely grated lemon
zest, hot smoked paprika, or chopped herbs.
