This Month's Features

Every month, we will feature new fun facts, a new featured web site for you to visit, and a long feature article, craft, idea, or information. At the end of the month, we will add some of the fun facts to our Fun Facts Page and the web site to our Links Page, if it's not already there. Don't hesitate to tell us what you think about this new page; see our Talk To Us page to e-mail us.

Featured Fun Facts

* 771,000,000 pounds of synthetic pesticides are applied to crops in the U.S. every year!

* Organic food sales have grown 20% a year for the last 8 years.

* The Environmental Defense Fund estimates that Americans collectively have 20 tons of DDT in their bodies, which averages out to 1.5 grams per person.

Featured Web Site

Organic Foods

A great question-and-answer web site about organic foods by the New Pioneer Co-Op. This site includes information about how organic food is certified, who sets the certification standards, and other information.

If you would like your site featured here, please e-mail us its URL and a 50- to 80-word description of it. Send it to us at Ramola15@aol.com.

More and more chemicals are going into the foods we eat. In order to get a better crop, farmers spray their produce with chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Many apples you see in the grocery store are actually dyed red. Bananas are gas-ripened so they look good in the store, but rot as soon as you get them home. Not only are these chemicals harmful to people, they hurt animals and plants too! The pesticides and fertilizers can wash off in rain, get into rivers, lakes, or groundwater. Animals and plants that use contaminated water also become contaminated with the pollutants, which makes a negative effect on the entire ecosystem. In today's world of "faster, cheaper" there is still a way you can fight the use of these chemicals on our food. If you don't want any pesticide in your body, we have two simple words of advice, "GO ORGANIC!"

Over the last fifteen years, many organic food producers started business as more people became aware of the environment and our effects on it. Today, it's easier to find organic foods in your local grocery store, and they are competing with regular food. Because of this increased awareness of organic products, "Recycling Rules!!" had decided to dedicate August's Feature Page to organic foods and the companies who make them.

We went to our local grocery store, Heinen's, and we took a good look at organic products and who makes them. We wrote to those companies and looked on-line for company websites or organic information. Below you will find our organic food directory, which contains the results of our search.

NOTE: We are not connected with any organic food company; these are just the results of our independent search. The list here does not contain every organic food company that exists!

EDEN FOODS, INC.
Eden Foods, Inc. was founded in 1968 in Michigan, where it was one of the first organic food companies. Today, their organic farms have gone an average of 15 years without any chemicals added to the soil. They use an "audit trail" system to insure that the food they sell is 100% organic. Their system traces the food back to the exact field where it was grown, and on every step of the way after that. Their definition of "organic" for their products means that the food was made from ingredients that were grown in soil that has gone without chemicals for at least four years. Eden foods owns and sells products from the Eden Organic Pasta Company, American Soy Products, New Meridian cannery, and the Hirzel family tomatoes and sauerkraut. They have 107 products that are certified "organic" and 96% of their products are certified kosher. Their organic foods range from grains, pasta, fruit products, beans, soy products (Edensoy), and teas. They also have dozens of organic-food recipes that can be made with their products. Recipe books are available by writing to Eden Foods.

ARROWHEAD MILLS
Arrowhead Mills in Texas was started with one mill in 1960. Their only products then were stone-ground wheat flour and cornmeal. Today, they have a 20-acre complex and 95 certified organic products on the market! The Texas Department of Agriculture certifies their products as organic. Their network of over 90 farms stretches across the nation. Their organic products include grains, beans, hot and cold cereals, flour, and seed and nut products. Write to Arrowhead Mills for their handy information cards about types of organic products and organic recipes.

HEALTH VALLEY CO.
California's Health Valley Company is a division of the Hain Food Group. They make other food products as well as organic foods. They have 28 organic soups and cereals. They also produce reduced fat, fat free, low sodium, and other types of foods such as cereals, soups, cookies, snack bars, chilis, broths, beverages, cat food, and soy products. Write to them for a copy of the Federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. The Organic Foods Production Act is the guideline for all organic food producers in the country, and it helps you understand more about the growth and production of organic foods. Their address is:

GERBER PRODUCTS CO.
Gerber was founded in 1928 by parents who were tired of puréeing and straining baby food at home, and has since become one of the world's leading producers of baby food. Gerber also has a line of organic baby foods, called "Tender Harvest." "Tender Harvest" is certified by Oregon TILTH, which is a non-profit research and education organization that certifies organic foods. "Tender Harvest" baby foods include juices, fruits, vegetables, and dinners. Write to Gerber for a complete ingredient listing and nutritional values of their foods.

RAINBOW VALLEY ORCHARDS
Rainbow Valley Orchards was founded in 1981 by Rich Hart. They are located in Rainbow, California, in northern San Diego County. They grow, pack, ship, and distribute organically-grown fruits, such as avacados, oranges, lemons, other citrus fruits, and "subtropical specialty tree fruits" like kumquats, kiwis, and guavas. They also sell orange, lemon, and grapefruit juice. If you would like a complete list of their products and ripening times, write to them at this address:

NATURE'S PATH
Nature's Path is located in the Pacific Northwest of Canada. Their organic products include 11 different kinds of breakfast cereals, 10 varieties of "manna bread," and 6 flavors of instant hot cereal. Their products are certified organic by Quality Assurance International. To save paperboard, all of the Nature's Path cereal boxes are printed with vegetable-based ink on 100% recycled paperboard. They also sell their cereals in "Eco-Pac," which saves 66% of packaging material. For a complete detailed product list, nutrition information, and brochures, write to their head office:

If you want to find out which company produces which foods, click here and use this handy table. A smiley face in a company's column means that they sell that type of product.

Organic Foods On The Web!

CASCADIAN FARM
Cascadian Farm was founded in 1972 and has over 150 organic products on the market today! They sell frozen vegetables, juice concentrates, fruit spreads, frozen desserts, and more. Check out their web site at www.cfarm.com/index.asp.

EARTH'S BEST BABY FOOD
Earth's Best Baby Food sells baby cereals, juices, breakfasts, dinners, fruits, vegetables, older baby foods, and cereal bars for toddlers. For more information, go to their web site: www.earthsbest.com/main.html.

ORGANIC VALLEY FAMILY OF FARMS
The Organic Valley family of farms was started in 1988, and now has 160 farms. They produced the U.S.'s first organic cheese in 1988. They sell mostly dairy products like milk, cream, cheeses, and butter; but they also have other farm products like eggs, beef, and vegetables. Visit their web site at www.organicvalley.com.

NATURE'S PATH
For a complete description of the company, see their listing in our directory above. They have a web site at www.naturespath.com.

There are many more organic food companies out there, but our survey only included a few that we've seen. If you'd like to "go organic," check if your local grocery store has an organic food section. If it doesn't, you can ask the store manager if they'd consider starting one.

If you would like to write an article, experiment, craft instructions, or some fun facts that we can feature here, send it to Ramola15@aol.com. Be sure to include your name so we can give you credit!

This Month's Features - August 1999

Organic Foods On The Web!