Organic | Kitchen Stewardship | A Baby Steps Approach to Balanced Nutrition

Entries Tagged as 'organic'

New 2011 Dirty Dozen Produce List Released by EWG This Summer

August 2nd, 2011 · 49 Comments · Frugality, Green Living, What to Buy

If you try to buy organic when it counts to be gentle on your budget, you’re probably familiar with the Dirty Dozen produce list published by the EWG (Environmental Working Group), the same organization that puts out the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database that the natural sunscreen review relies upon heavily. The Dirty Dozen is [...]

Farmers’ Panel: My Local Favorites Talk Grassfed, Organic

April 27th, 2011 · 22 Comments · Food for Thought

Do you have a farmer? It gives me great joy to say “my farmer” and my joy multiplies as I find more and more wonderful places and wonderful people in Grand Rapids, MI to which to apply that label. I’ve got “my milk farm” and “my egg farm” and “my chicken farm” and “my beef [...]

“Recipes” for Liver: How to Eat Beef Liver (Without Tasting It)

February 9th, 2011 · 50 Comments · Recipes, Super Foods, Upgraded Nutrition

If you’re not ready to look at raw liver, you might want to find something else to read today. Strap on your big girl pants today, folks, it’s time to get that package out of the freezer and feed it to your families! We’re going to talk about how to prepare and eat beef liver [...]

Why You Should Really, REALLY Get to Know Your Farmer (Even if Your Friends Already Have)

October 20th, 2010 · 105 Comments · Food for Thought, Science of Nutrition

Our family has been buying grass-fed beef and chicken at a premium from Grassfield’s Farm in Coopersville, MI for about 18 months now. When we began, I didn’t ask a zillion questions, simply because I knew enough trusted real foodies who went there and I knew they had good quality, organic, grassfed products. Last Saturday [...]

Organic Gardening Series: An All Natural Spray to Battle Bugs and Disease

July 30th, 2010 · 17 Comments · Organic Gardening

If you buy a hose-end sprayer, you will feel like a real gardener, I guarantee it. It may not guarantee good vegetables, but doggone you look cool spraying your gardens. (I’ve decided this week that I’m not growing peppers ever again – it’s cheaper for me to buy the peppers than the plant that only [...]

Organic Gardening Series: Canning Basics for Preserving Summer Produce

July 8th, 2010 · 35 Comments · Organic Gardening

If you got your garden started off right, you may be harvesting lots of produce about this time. (If you live in the north country, like me, you’re still waiting on most things.) No garden yet? Sometimes it’s still less expensive to purchase a large quantity of produce from a local farmer, especially if it’s [...]

10 Questions to Ask Your Farmer

July 1st, 2010 · 15 Comments · Uncategorized

Joel Salatin’s said it. Michael Pollan has probably said it. Countless bloggers, locavores, and whole foods enthusiasts have said it. Get to know your farmer. Well. If the instructions were, “Pay your farmer what he’s worth,” or “Read the manual for your new car,” or “Follow the recipe exactly,” it would be easy to follow [...]