Organic.org Blog

The Pumpkins Told Me

Oct 15, 2007

It has been a long time! I, Holly, keeper of this fledgling blog, have been busy with a soon-to-be-unveiled re-branding project for our parent business, Foerstel Design. We are very excited about this, though it has sadly taken me away from communicating here on this blog. But, no more!

While visiting a couple of family farms on the East Coast and a very fun corn maize here in Idaho, I was inspired to begin posting again. I love the fall and am happy to be enjoying the warm sunshine and crisp outdoor air. You can smell it all around you - leaves turning, fires burning. I am also busy cleaning up the garden and turning thoughts indoors, nesting. Fall very much feels this way for me, so reflecting the way we often do in blogland, seems like a great opportunity for reinvigorating this space.

Oh, and getting back to cooking hearty casseroles and colorful soups!

Also, another great interview over at Grist with sustainable-food advocate, Diane Hatz of Sustainable Table.

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Top 10 Reasons to Support Organic in the 21st Century

Apr 23, 2007

Organic Pioneers, Alan Greene, MD (Organic Trade Association), Bob Scowcroft (Organic Farming Research Foundation), and Sylvia Tawse (Fresh Ideas Group) recently came together to produce a new version of Ms. Tawse's popular organic credo, Top 10 Reasons to Go Organic. The updated version was released at Natural Products Expo West in March.

As the world of organics has expanded and grown rapidly in the past decade since the first version was released, it became neccessary to take another look at motivating factors for going organic in the 21st century.

Take a look at Top 10 Reasons to Support Organic in the 21st Century!

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Premiering Tonight: The Green

Apr 17, 2007

Tonight, Robet Redford will debut The Green, televisions first regularly-scheduled programming  destination dedicated entirely to the environment. 

Programming is scheduled for Tuesdays at 9pm on the Sundance Channel. Feature-length documentaries will follow 13 half-hour segments of a series entitled, Big Ideas for a Small Planet.

Also available at iTunes for download. 

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Web Findings: Portovert

Apr 9, 2007

If you (or anyone you know!) is planning a wedding, check out Portovert, a beautiful online magazine for eco-conscious weddings. With an emphasis on locally-grown organic menus and other eco-conscious party-planning subjects, this is the place to come for a visual feast of wedding imagery and a growing score of resources.

www.portovert.com

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Online Forum: Sustain360

Mar 29, 2007

If you haven't already, check out Sustain360, an excellent online community for sharing organic ideas sponsored by some excellent organizations including:

Farm Aid
Organic Valley
The Organic Center
Slow Food
FamilyFarmed.org
Beyond Pesticides
Environmental Working Group
Holistic Moms Network


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An Inconvenient Truth

Jan 23, 2007

Last night an audience of 10,000 of us in Boise, Idaho (Organic.org's hometown) were lucky to have former Vice President, Al Gore present his Inconvenient Truth talk at the Frank Church Conference on Global Warming.

If you haven't seen an Inconvenient Truth, turn off your computer (and the lights, and anything else that will save energy) and ride your bicycle or walk to the rental shop and get it. Now! Better yet, if you have the opportunity to attend his presentation, do.

While I thought the documentary was poignant and spoke well to the masses, I was initially disappointed by the lack of palpable solutions at the end of the movie. Seeing the presentation again live, didn’t yield a step-by-step action plan that would likely serve our people well either. But this time, I realized it didn’t have to. We already have so many resources available to us that offer guidelines and suggestions for doing our part to stop global warming. Until An Inconvenient Truth, what we seemed to lack was a sense of urgency to seek these resources out and adopt their suggestions.

It can be really easy to feel the weight of this jeopardized world, and Inconvenient Truth certainly lays it out there for you, from an environmental perspective anyway. But, witnessing a boundless Al Gore march across the stage like a politician trying to rally his party for a cause he is so passionate about reminded me that regardless of our individual political tendencies, we have the tools to solve this crisis. We just have to use them.

Some of our favorite resources:

An Inconvenient Truth > Take Action
From an Inconvenient Truth's companion web site, ClimateCrisis.net

StopGlobalWarming.org
Learn why others are marching to stop global warming and peruse their easy to read tips

Greener Choices
An eco-friendly guide from Consumer Reports

Co-op America
A 12-step plan for Climate Action

New American Dream
Live consciously. Buy wisely. Make a difference.

Organic Trade Association
They wrote the hallmark "10 Good Reasons to Go Organic"



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An Organic Farmer in Congress

Jan 11, 2007

This week, Melissa Block, host of NPR’s All Things Considered aired a “Day in the Life” interview with the freshman Senator from Montana, Jon Tester. Aside from the prestigious U.S. Senate appointment, Tester is an organic farmer and part-time butcher. He is a third-generation farmer who works 1,800 acres of organic wheat, barley, lentils, and peas. While in Senate, Tester and his wife will continue to farm the land that has been in his family for over 100 years.

You can hear the interview here, and learn more about Senator Tester here.

P.S.  I love that Senator Tester’s wife, Sharla, packed up and brought with them to D.C. a cooler full of meat including rib steaks, T-bone, hamburger, pork chops, and pork sausage that they had butchered on their farm!



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New Year’s Intentions

Jan 4, 2007

I used to find New Year’s Resolutions a bit daunting and would consistently disappoint myself by setting these lofty goals for the year, which frankly fit more into a 5-year plan than a 365-day time slot that hoped to make the coming year a little juicier!

Now I resolve to go slow, take it easier in my expectations of myself throughout the year, and choose to succeed in living a healthier, more fulfilling life by making small changes. This is also true when it comes to integrating organic food and green living choices into your lifestyle. Taking small steps toward eating organic food and adopting green living techniques will leave you feeling satisfied and invigorated both physically and mentally.

With that, here are a couple of things I am looking forward to in 2007 (notice I didn’t use that pesky resolution word):

• Upgrading my water bottle to one that doesn’t leach bisphenol-A into my water. Done!
  
• Volunteering at one of our local organic farms
• Visiting MaryJane Butters bed & breakfast
  
• Eliminating sugar from my diet—this will be tough for reasons like this.
  
• Planning the first veggie garden at our new house (2 raised beds, 8x4 each)
• Starting a compost pile for said garden
• Cooking a new meal every week (This is one of those goals that always seems to fall by the wayside!).
• Getting outside even when it is cold

For ideas on adding a little organic into your life, click here.


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New Favorite Tea!

Jan 4, 2007

For chamomile tea fans out there, try this 100% Organic Chamomile Tea with Lavender from Traditional Medicinals (top left). It has a dreamy aroma and a pleasant lavender taste, which I wasn't sure I would like. But I had to try it because it was on sale. It is now my favorite nighttime tea so I may just buy it full price!

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Thanks to the Center for Food and Safety

Dec 14, 2006

For any of you who saw the Today Show segment "How Fresh is Organic?" on December 4th, you may have felt that the report seemed somewhat unbalanced in terms of reporting on the benefits of organic foods.

And this is one important reason we, Organic.org, and other organizations like ours exist. There are certain misconceptions about organic foods, many of which are fueled by reports like this one. Thankfully the Center for Food and Safety is launching a campaign to request a follow-up segment "to give equal time and consideration to the many benefits of organics."

Please join them!



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