Family Farmers Win A Big Battle

After 10 years of lobbying, family farmers across the country are breathing a sigh of relief. The unfair competition is over from large dairy factory farms who sell to big box stores and have been able to be labeled "certified organic" even though their growing practices are unhealthy and inhumane.

By tightening organic standards, the USDA effectively ruled out dairies that don't give their animals a chance to see the light of day. New requirements say that dairy cows and other ruminants must be allowed to exhibit their native behavior and consume a meaningful amount of their feed from grazing on pastures-specifically the new rules require that dairy animals be out on pasture for the entire growing season, and not less than 120 days.

Based on The Cornucopia Institute's research 90% of all namebrand dairy products are produced with high integrity. These tighter laws will eliminate unfair competition from factory farms who have slid in under the bar.

We at Sappington Farmers Market have always supported small producers who raise their animals humanely and show integrity in their branding. In fact, that describes our owners who raise livestock.

Spring is just around the corner

Despite evidence to the contrary, spring really is just around the corner.

I just got back from the Missouri Organic Convention and am fired up and ready to plant. So what's that snow doing on the ground?

Actually, I already have some seedlings in my kitchen window. The reflection from the snow is making them grow better. And the snow on the ground will add minerals to the soil as it melts. But I'm still anxious to get growing for spring. Guess I'll have to while away the snowy hours planning and re-planning my garden while I peruse seed catalogs.

I learned a lot about soil fertility, cover cropping and extending my season with high tunnels at the MOA convention. Can't wait to share with some of our farmer/producers so we'll have more local produce at the store even earlier and it will be even more nutritious because of the better soil in which it will be grown.

And speaking of the store, we have a new manager who managed Wild Oats for years. He brings great energy, knowledge and a passion for organics to the store. Stop in and see the changes he is bringing about.

Farm Aid-Supportively Sustainable

There are many things in life that just don't measure up to our expectations.

The Farm Aid concert, press event and Homegrown Village are not some of those things.

After weeks of excited anticipation, many of the staff at Sappington Farmers Market, with family and friends, attended the all-day and on-into-the-night event and completely enjoyed every moment. Even my three-yr.-old granddaughter, seen in the picture, had a wonderful time for hours and hours.

Kickoff for the day was the press event with the four headliners, Willie

Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews.
They were joined by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, USDA's Kathleen Merrigan, Rural Crisis Center's Rhonda Perry, University of Missouri Extension's Mary Hendrickson, a young dairy farmer from Wisconsin-and me, (representing Sappington Farmers Market and Farm to Family Naturally). We were joined on stage by assorted Farm Aid staff and performers.

The rest of the day was spent very enjoyably, browsing the many interactive exhibits in the Homegrown Village. Randy and Russell Wood's Floating Farms exhibit was a big hit, as was the Missouri Beekeepers Association's observation hive. Adults and children alike enjoyed finding the queen in the hive. Worm races drew a big crowd, and in my seed-saving booth, we gave away thousands of packages of heirloom seeds from Baker Creek seeds.

The food was awesomely fresh, local and tasty. The offerings at the Sappington Farmers Market booth included local apples, caramel apples made with agave syrup, grilled corn (the line for that was seemingly endless), deviled eggs and delightful all-natural baked goods from the interns at St. Louis University's School of Dietitetics and Nutrition. Tom Strumolo from NY City made the trip just to be able to help us present all that good food. We are immensely grateful to him for sharing his experience and expertise with our novice team.

I finally managed to finish taking down the seed-saving booth well after dark, just in time to race to my seat next to my dear son who had made the trip from Memphis. Just as I sat down, John Mellencamp hit the stage and I was in music heaven for the next few hours. It was well past midnight when we made our tired way home. None of us will ever forget it.

I'm so grateful.....

It's been such a long time since I blogged. I kept waiting to get some pictures of our wonderful experiences at Farm Aid, and so far, I still don't have the pix. I hope to get some from my daughter over Thanksgiving, but in the meantime, I'll just talk about something else.

Just look at this awesome heap of local potatoes taken at the end of the summer. Such bounty!

The second picture is a feast of local foods prepared for the St. Louis magazine Best Doctors Event and all the food came from our store! There was lots more, too. What a magnificent spread!

It's been well over a year now since we Farm-to-Family members purchased Sappington Farmers Market. And what a year it's been! Not only have we turned the store around, but we have become deeply involved in HELP (Healthy Eating with Local Produce) as the distributors of farm fresh food to Maplewood Richmond Heights school system. From the number of requests we've been getting from other school districts, we can see that's just the beginning.

Randy Wood and I have also been helping to write legislation for Missouri legislators to remove barriers that make it difficult for schools to source local products. That project is going really well, and we're pretty sure you'll be hearing about Farm to Cafeteria legislation in the next session. That's something for everyone to be grateful for.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving this year, we are very aware of all the things we have to be grateful for. So many wonderful things are happening that we get up each day and just wait to see where we are led today! It's hard to believe that many of the wonderful friends we now have are people we only admired from afar just a year or two ago. I'm especially grateful for my wonderful friends who work so hard to ensure a fresh, healthy food system for everyone and a decent living for farmers.

I hope you'll come visit the store in the coming week and see some of the awesome Thanksgiving bargains we have-cranberries for $1.00 a bag, mushrooms for $1.00 a package, organic celery (Did you know celery is one of the most-sprayed crops?) for $1.99, beautiful sweet potatoes from Arkansas for .39 a pound. I could go on and on.

Unfortunately, local turkeys are NOT one of the wonderful things we have to offer. We had a major communication breakdown with our turkey farmer and we ended up turkey-less. Local turkey-less, that is. We have a great buy on Honeysuckle White turkeys at .59 per pound with a $50.00 purchase. I apologize profusely to anyone who was hoping to get fresh, local turkeys from us. I promise we'll have them next year-and lots of them in all sizes!

Watch for changes around the store as our intern from SLU orders in more local and organic products and helps us display the new items. We're excited to have Justine to help us for her practicum. We only have her for five weeks, but I'll bet she'll work wonders in that time. I'm grateful for the wonderful young people we get to work with, too. One thing is for sure, the future of food is in good hands with all the caring and knowledgeable young folks who are coming along.

Farm Aid's Coming

http://www.farmaid.org/site/c.qlI5IhNVJsE/b.2723605/k.C7B8/Concert.htm
It's almost here! The Farm Aid concert is in St. Louis this year and we can't wait. Gates open at 12:30 on Sunday, Oct. 4 at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre. Featured artists and spokespersons are Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Neil Young. Up-and-coming acts include Jason Mraz. If you haven't heard him, check him out on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYhrYHmUPn0
Watch for all of us Sappington Farmers Market people. We will be all over the place!
We provided the straw, mums, pumpkins, gourds and apples for the decorations.
We provided much of the food for backstage. And best of all, we will be there with our own Farmstand Booth selling delicious farm-raised food prepared by student interns from St. Louis University. There will be fresh local apples and caramel apples made with organic agave syrup and whole grain organic cookies and rice krispy bars. Try the deviled eggs from our egg supplier, Good Earth Eggs from Bonne Terre, MO. They are the only large-scale local producer left in the St. Louis area and they feed their hens a special blend of naturally-grown grains. For drinks, try the fresh local apple cider.
We'll also have a special interactive seed booth and Randy Wood and his brother Russ will have some fish for you to see in their aquaculture setup.
Look for me in the Press Event. I'm incredibly excited to be part of this awesome event! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD0DdRNjgUI

Wild Alaska Salmon

Is Wild Alaska Salmon really local? Well, the owners of the company are local and they go to Alaska and fish for several types of salmon in season. Our meat manager, Colleen Broyhill, calls them right on their boat and they have the order to her in 24 hours from the time it is caught! Check out their website wildalaskasalmonandseafoodcompany for wonderful pictures of the Alaskan wilderness and their delicious fish. I took home a portion of the Sockeye Salmon last time I was at the Market, and it is really awesome-worth the price.
Wild caught salmon has much more nutritional value than farmed salmon. Farmed salmon can be disastrously dirty. The gorgeous red color that the Wild Alaska Salmon shows is added to farmed salmon artificially. They're pretty pallid without it. So for a nutritionally dense, delicious taste of the wilderness, try our Wild Alaska Salmon in the meat department at Sappington Farmers Market.

In answer to your questions. . .

In answer to Kathleen's comment about our homegrown corn:
Most of the time, our homegrown corn (in shucks) is near the mushrooms, off to the side of the produce department. It can be hard to see, tucked away behind a high display. That part of the produce department is one of my favorites, no trayed produce, lots of local stuff, and many ethnic choices. If you haven't visited it before, you're in for a treat.
In answer to the question about why we use styrofoam trays:
We have been desperately trying for over a year to get compostable trays.
It looks like we have finally found a supplier who has some that are sturdy enough for our use. Even though they are much more expensive than the styrofoam, we will be changing over to compostable trays as soon as we can get a shipment. Believe me, this has not been for lack of trying. Apparently, the technology is new enough that most companies have not been able to meet our needs.
The vast majority of our customers want their corn in trays. Otherwise, we would just pile up the fresh ears as they were in the picture you mentioned. Some folks want to see the corn they're buying. Like you, I prefer my ears packaged in shucks.
It is a high-priority goal of ours to have all biodegradable and compostable packaging. We never dreamed it would be so hard to find.