Eat your homegrown veggies and other headlines

The CSA movement continues to draw a lot of press. In this nj.com piece, Eat your home grown veggies, some of the history and appeal of CSAs are examined. From the story:

The idea is not new. CSAs first appeared in the U.S. in 1986, a concept borrowed from the biodynamic farming movement in Switzerland and Germany. And what started as two CSA farms is now estimated at more than 2,200.

For the consumer, the lure of clean, local food, often organically grown, is powerful. Today, the idea of eating local and seasonal food isn't just for the gastronomic elite. Once you have Wal-Mart promising to support local farms, you know the movement has reached a mainstream tipping point. And there's a benefit beyond CSA's promotion of eating more healthful fruits and vegetables.

Later...

A neighbor recruited her into Purple Dragon, a Glen Ridge-based operation that is a bit of an anomaly in the CSA world. Unlike most CSAs, Purple Dragon, which currently has more than 1,000 New Jersey and New York members, deals with multiple small farms beyond the local region, as well as with wholesalers.

It's also year-round, yet doesn't require a year-round commitment. Members can opt in or out on a weekly or monthly basis. Founded in 1987 by Janit London, who was involved in food co-ops in California and Texas back in the '70s, Purple Dragon commands an exuberant and loyal following.

Shu pays $88 a month for two substantial deliveries of produce, coordinated at a central drop-off point -- in her case, the Community Church in Hoboken. She and neighbor Carter Craft share the responsibility of "hosting" each delivery, assuring it's picked up and parceled out.

"I think the biggest complaint I hear is that it's too much food," she said. "I really feel it's a good value, if you think about the price per pound. It's so expensive to buy organic at Whole Foods."

More headlines snatched from the Web....

Just Food.com: Dole starts offer for Senior notes

AZBiz: Will Friday eventually become a weekend day?

There is a movement afoot to switch business operations to a four-day work week. Typically in the past that’s meant four, 10-hour work days but now it sometimes means four eight-hour days, with the commensurate reduction in pay. A study released by two Brigham Young University professors suggests that four, 10-hour days may increase job satisfaction and productivity in offices.

There is no magic about the 40-hour work week consisting of five, eight-hour days. That standard was established in 1938 with the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The energy shortage of the 1970s brought experiments with shorter work weeks but they were abandoned when the shortage ended.

BBC: Eco freindly potatoes created

The Vales Sovereign was created at the Scottish Crop Research Institute.

It is being hailed as a "farming milestone" by supermarket chain Tesco who will stock the vegetable in their stores.

The oval-shaped potato is also said to be resistant to high levels of disease and is cheap and easy to grow.

St. Louis Today: Foreclosure plan coming

Joy of Cooking or Joy of Obesity LA Times

Published as a letter Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the report examined 18 classic recipes found in seven editions of the book from 1936 to 2006. It found that calorie counts for 14 of the recipes have ballooned by an average of 928 calories, or 44%, per recipe. And serving sizes have grown as well.

Cosmos: Seven deadly sins of obesity

NYT opinion: Dangerous food

Vitamin pills: A false hope? NYT

Despite earlier findings suggesting that multivitamins might lower the risk for heart disease and certain cancers, the study, published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, found no such benefit.

Top 6 reasons to eat only organic fruits and vegetables From Natural News

Reason#3 Pay now or pay later

Next time you feel hesitant to pay a couple of extra dollars for an organic item, simply remember: Pay now for delicious, healing food or pay later for medical bills, illness, and suffering. When you pay for organic food, you pay for energy, health, and the wellbeing of the Earth.

The Greenest Brands From greenbiz.com

Whole Foods and Trader Joe's among greenest brands

Employee verification program cut from stimulus