What’s Growing This Week:  Tomatoes (All) Romaine lettuce (all) Broccoli (all) Canary Melon (all) onions (ALL) apples (all — #) potatoes (mL) Onions (L) Lima beans (L) “All” means that item is in all 3 types of box, “S” means small, “M” medium,and “L” large.  Quantities will vary depending on box size.

Most of the press I have seen has focused on the amount of this money that has gone to large corporations, millionaires, and state institutions — about 63%.  Antagonists call it welfare for the rich.  Apologists call it an unavoidable necessity of securing our food supply.

As an organic farmer and organic food consumer, I see it differently — as a biased use of tax dollars that supports an economically and ecologically unsustainable farming system.  If you ever find yourself shopping for food and wondering “Why is organic food so much more expensive” (or, as I do, “How can conventional food be so cheap”), here is your answer:Organic farmers receive no federal subsidies for any crops they grow.

 I do not have statistics for the average U.S. household food budget.  In my two-person home, we eat about $5200 annually of groceries plus the $1160 of veggies in  a large CSA box , totaling about $6400 or $3200 per person.  We probably buy 85% organic.  The $1000 of my annual taxes that goes to farm support payments represents almost the entire difference in price between what it costs me to buy organic vs. conventional — assuming a relatively high 80% price premium for organic.  Of course, this equation is faulty, because organic consumers do not get a tax rebate based on their shopping habits.

 I am not a free market capitalist, and it bugs me that so many farmers who claim to be are cashing big farm payment checks.  (I should say that many farmers in California do not benefit from direct farm payments, which support only basic commodity crops.)  But these programs screw up the entire conventional agricultural economy, and keep food costs from reflecting the true costs of production — including the social and environmental costs to rural communities.  They keep economically unviable operations afloat while thwarting young new farmers.

A classic example is the Federal Farm Credit program which backs agricultural mortgage loans with tax money.   It favors large established operations while discriminating against small, minority, and organic farmers of non-commodity crops.  Another example is the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, which pays conventional farmers to plant cover crops, use less pesticides, and implement other practices that organic farmers undertake on their own, without compensation.
 Last year, I was part of a group of organic farmers that lobbied for changes in the Federal Farm Bill that would remove the current disincentives to organic farming, as a way of recognizing the environmentally benefits of our standard farming practices.  It never occurred to me that we should also be lobbying for a tax rebate for our customers, many of whom are receiving none of the benefit of their tax dollars spent on agriculture.  I have been debating about which cause to donate my 2000 tax rebate check to, but I think I’ll just use it to buy a year’s worth of organic almond butter (one of the few conventional foods I still buy).

FARM DAY 2000
Need a day away from your TV/newspaper/computer for you and the kids?  How about a Sunday afternoon spent picnicking in the shade of Terra Firma’s walnut orchard?  Sound good?

We’ve settled on a date that gives us a little time to recuperate from the summer insanity, but that we hope assures a sunny day with temperatures somewhere in the livable range (Of course, as I write this, rain is wetting the dust and thunder booming overhead).  How about Sunday, October 28, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
As always, Farm Day will be a low key affair.  We will offer a shady spot, a few refreshments, farm tours, and economical pumpkins for Halloween.  And of course, miles of dirt roads and acres of orchard for your kids and selves to enjoy.  Dog owners are asked to bring leashes and leave home any Fidos or Fidas with the slightest aggressive or anti-social tendencies.

Directions (clip for later use) from SF:  I-80 North towards Sacto.  Exit Cherry Glen Road (after Fairfield), left, then 1 mile to Pleasants’ Valley Road and turn left.  Go 13 miles, until the road ends at Hwy 128 (at the Pardehsa Market).  Turn right and go 500 yards to our driveway, on the right.  Follow signs.
From Sacto:  I-80 to 113 North.  Take Covell Road exit in Davis, turn left onto Covell/Hwy 128/Rd 31.  Take it to and through Winters, then go 4 miles out of town.  After the big “S” curve, start looking for our driveway on the left.

LETTUCE & TOMATOES
We are now entering the short period each fall when we are harvesting both lettuce and tomatoes.  Our first planting of romaine lettuce was lost to hot weather, and the current heatwave is making us keep an anxious eye on the second planting.  We decided to rob the cradle a bit and send slightly immature heads of romaine along in this weeks’ boxes.  Let’s all hope this Indian Summer ends quickly so that the rest of the field can actually mature fully.
We experimented with a few plantings of romaine last winter, and based on the response from subscribers, we have expanded the plantings for this year.  We will be including the heads regularly in the boxes — sometimes instead of prewashed salad, sometimes in addition to it, and sometimes along with separate quantities of spinach, arugula, escarole, frisee, or other salad greens.
 

Thanks,            Pablito

Recipes

Potato-Onion Gratin — unlike some of the other gratins I have included in the past, this one requires no boiling of potatoes first.  Just slice, bake and serve.  This recipe is from The Vegetarian Bistro by Marlena Spieler.
Rinse and thinly slice 2 lbs. Of potatoes and 2 onions.  Mince 4 cloves of garlic.  Butter the bottom and sides of a baking dish and make a layer of potatoes, then a layer of onions, and repeat.  Sprinkle each layer with the garlic plus grated nutmeg, salt, pepper, and butter.
End with a layer of potatoes, then pour 3/4 C. heavy cream over the top and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 1 hour, until the potatoes are very tender and the top of the casserole is golden brown.
 

Produce 101: Early plantings of BROCCOLI at Terra Firma tend to feature slightly looser heads than those harvested in cooler weather, and some may even have small, pointy leaves growing up through the curds.  Pay them no mind.  Broccoli keeps fresh for just four days in the fridge, in a closed plastic bag to prevent dehydration. GALA APPLES come from Coco Farm on the Southern bank of Putah Creek, just 10 miles east of Terra Firma.  The Galas are newly harvested, crisp, sweet and CCOF certified organic.  Store in the fridge.

Prepay by 5th of month  please, for the month, or get the quarterly rate for prepaying for any three month period.
Up/downgrades are $5 per week per increment ~ ie up one size +5, up from small to large +10.

Vacations & Billing Inquiries
We need seven days notice before a vacation hold or other change of service.
Contact Valerie through e-mail Goldenbell@aol.com, or  voicemail at (530) 756-2800.
To donate your box to Foodrunners, please call 415-929-1866 or go to  www.foodrunners.org

MAILING ADDRESS:
Terra Firma Farm
P.O. Box 836
Winters, CA 95694
(530) 756-2800
www.terrafirmafarm.com
Goldenbell@aol.com
 

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