California Giant/Specialized Announces 2010 Cyclocross Team Roster

California Giant/Specialized Announces 2010 Cyclocross Team Roster

(July 7, 2010) California Giant Berry Farms, one of the nation’s largest grower-shippers of fresh berries, has sponsored a cycling team for ten years and is proud of the significant growth of this program with regard to rider successes and fan loyalty over the years.  The company is also committed to the programs continued success and contributing to the health of American consumers by providing an abundant, healthy & delicious product. California Giant believes in programs like cycling and other organizations that send positive messages about the importance of combining diet and exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle.
The 2009 Cal Giant Cycling Cross Team saw Cody Kaiser become US National Junior Champion and Meredith Miller US Silver medalist and top placing Elite Woman at UCI Cyclocross Championship, and place 12th at Worlds.  The 2010 squad has a few new faces including Jesse Anthony and Teal Stetson-Lee complimenting the successful returning squad including Cody Kaiser now competing in the U23 Elite men category. 
“I am very excited to be part of the Cal Giant Team this year and consider this a great opportunity in my career to join a program that is so well organized and supported”, says Jesse Anthony.  Teal Stetson-Lee adds “As a developing rider I am greatly looking forward to the support and experience that California Giant will undoubtedly provide me with”.  Stetson-Lee joins the team as the Women’s Collegiate National Champion; in addition to Jesse Anthony, a seven-time national champion. Rounding out the team will be Jeremy Ferguson. The 2010 team will compete in USGP and select UCI races in both the United States and Europe.  Throughout the upcoming Cross season team members will also be selected to compete in regional events in California, Washington, Colorado and the New England area.
Teaming up with Specialized, the California Giant Cyclocross team will be riding the new CruX.   “The all-new Specialized CruX is engineered to be the Cyclocross racer’s first choice for weekday romps and weekend racing. Its E5 alloy tubing is manipulated to provide optimum stiffness, ride quality, and the durability cross demands. The smart internal cable routing keeps cables moving freely despite gruesome conditions, and the top tube is shaped for easy shouldering. The super stiff FACT fork has a unique forged 1-piece cable hanger that provides superior braking without the ear-splitting squeal associated with headset or stem mounted hangers. The revised geometry and 1.125”-to-1.5” tapered steerer combine to yield awesome steering precision in rough off cambers. This consummate race tool performs without drama so that all focus is directed towards the finish line.”  Additional high quality equipment sponsors include, SRAM, ZIPP and TRP Brakes.  Other key team sponsors include Oakley Sunglasses, Clif Bar, Showers Pass, Squadra and Base Performance Nutrition.
 “Supporting the California Giant Berry team allows Specialized to get links into top amateur athletes and top races all over the country.  With a focus on developing young talent and supporting established racers – the Cal Giant team has a tremendous reach for Specialized.   With a top notch program focused on developing National Champions year after year – the California Giant Cyclocross team has built on success year over year” says Ian Dewar, USA Partnership Manager for Specialized. 
The 2010 team roster is as follows:

Jesse Anthony                    Beverly, MA
Justin Robinson                  Santa Cruz, CA
Nick Weighall                      Mill Creek, WA

Jeremy Ferguson                Sacramento, CA
Cody Kaiser                         El Dorado Hills, CA

Meredith Miller                  Fort Collins, CO
Teal Stetson-Lee                 Durango, CO

The team comes together in September in Watsonville California for a training camp and to finalize the race programs for the individual riders.  Team members will have the opportunity to tour California Giant corporate offices and meet the staff.  Ultimately, between training and racing, team members serve as spokespersons for the company and the products they produce.  ##

Farmers Markets May Not Have Locally Grown Produce

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/farmers.market.produce.2.1790944.html
Farmers Markets May Not Have Locally Grown Produce

CHICAGO (CBS) ―

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    Fruits and vegetables at your nearest farmer's market may not always be locally grown.

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Heading to your local farmers market is a rite of summer. But if you think all the fruits and vegetables are locally grown, you may be in for a surprise. As CBS 2's Dorothy tucker reports, you might be picking through "freshly shipped."

"You're getting fresh vegetables and they're coming right directly from the farm," said a woman selling produce at a local Farmers Market.

But where are those farms located? The farmers may be from lllinois, Indiana, Wisconsin or Michigan.

But Bob Vankalker, who's from Chicago Heights and sells his goods at the Oak Lawn Farmers Market, admits much of from his produce didn't come from his farm.

"The tomatoes are from Arkansas," he said. "The beans, I think, are out of Kentucky actually."

The potatoes were grown in Minnesota and the onions picked in Georgia.

And Vankalker got it all from the Chicago International Produce Market on the Southwest Side of the city. Supermarkets, restaurants and other retailers buy fruits and vegetables there that are shipped in from around the globe.

Vankalker says he picks up his produce there and sells it at the farmer's market.

When asked if he thinks he is deceiving customers, he said, "No. People want the produce now, and that's the only things that are available right now."

Farmers like Vankalker aren't breaking any rules by selling shipped-in produce at the Oak Lawn Farmers Market, but the rules are tougher in Chicago.

Market inspector Yescenia Mota says people are not allowed to buy things from the International Produce Market and sell it in Chicago Farmers Markets. She wants to make sure consumers are getting fresh, local produce because it's usually more expensive.

"It's a different price point because these farmers are actually out there growing, picking, watering, bringing it to the market, and they have to put all their costs into that pricing," said Mota.

To be sure you're getting the locally grown produce you're paying for, take some tips from farmers at Chicago's Green City Market.

"You gotta look for quality," said farmer Paul Thalen. "Does it look like it's been sitting in a truck for four or five days or does it look fresh?"

And it shouldn't look uniform. Produce from a local farm is seldom the same size. Another clue that it came from elsewhere is if it's obviously out of season or it can't be grown in the Midwest.

There is some out-of-season produce that actually is locally grown. It might have been grown in a green house or, in the case of apples, stored from last year.

The best way to shop the Farmers Markets is to know what truly is in season. Click here for a seasonality chart that shows when you can expect locally grown produce in the Farmers Markets.

Locavores take their passion for produce to the next level

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_15429352

Locavores take their passion for produce to the next level

Organic, sustainable, local — everyone talks the trendy talk, but some Bay Area foodies are taking the locavore message to heart. They're not only frequenting farmers markets, they're launching locavore supper clubs and recipe-rich blogs, and subscribing to CSAs — small, local farms whose Community Supported Agriculture programs eliminate the middle man by delivering fresh veggies direct.

You can credit Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver — and the Bay Area's wealth of fresh produce and small farms — with the transformation.

"A lot of people are buying organic," says San Jose resident Carol Provenzano. "We wanted to take it to the next step."

Provenzano and her friends began subscribing to a Hollister farm CSA and hosting locavore dinners after reading Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," which recounts the novelist's yearlong effort to lead the life of a locavore, serving only food she'd raised herself or that came from growers and ranchers she trusted.

It was Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" that abruptly raised the consciousness of Christina Valencia and her best friend Jillian Abernathy, San Francisco twentysomethings who started researching local CSAs within days of finishing the best seller.

"I didn't know anything about organic foods or pesticides," Valencia says. "It opened my eyes to a lot of things. I loved farmers markets, but it's Saturday mornings. I'm usually sleeping in! CSA was a
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great way to get local produce without hassle — and support our local farmers."

Going steady

If strolling a farmers market is casual dating, joining a CSA is going steady. Instead of browsing and picking and choosing, you commit to pick up weekly or biweekly boxes of fresh-from-the-farm produce — and in some cases chickens, eggs and herbs. But for every delightful heirloom tomato discovery, there comes a time when the box brims with something strange.

"You just get what you get, which is pretty fun," says Provenzano, who picks up her CSA box at a drop-off spot on the Santa Clara University campus. "Farmers are able to provide varieties of vegetables that have a shorter shelf life, so you're getting different tastes, and the stuff is very fresh. You think you know what a strawberry tastes like and then you taste these."

Still, it can be startling. One of Provenzano's first CSA crates contained, apparently, weeds. They were edible greens, she knows now, but at the time, they bore an uncanny resemblance to the greenery she'd just weed-whacked in her San Jose backyard.

"It's definitely an adjustment," says Valencia, whose produce came from Farm Fresh to You, a large CSA that delivers to homes and offices, rather than general drop-off spots. "The first box I ever got, I threw most of it away because I didn't know what to do with it. Beets and beet greens — I didn't know you can actually use those beet greens. But the more you explore, the more adventurous you are. You research it, and that's part of the fun. I just cooked for the first time with green garlic."

Soon, Valencia and Abernathy were recounting those culinary adventures with tender broccolini and leafy kale on their Bay Area-based food blog, Farm and a Frying Pan. It struck such a chord, the blog has begun adding writers in Chicago, Denver and Southern California. And Valencia, who moved to New York City earlier this year to join the staff at Epicurious.com, has added a bicoastal element.

Expanding awareness

CSAs and farmers markets are a wonderful way to buy your produce, but figuring out how to get the produce home and then what to do with all that bounty is an ongoing issue, says Bay Area food writer Janet Fletcher. Her new book, "Eating Local, The Cookbook Inspired by America's Farmers," is a joint venture with Sur La Table. The cookware boutique's corporate headquarters in Seattle is a drop-off point for CSA boxes in a pilot program the company hopes may eventually expand.

The idea, Fletcher says, is "to make it easier for people to buy local, support local farms and get fresh food on their own table."

Part of that effort also lies in expanding, "people's produce awareness," says Fletcher. "Get people thinking about trying and cooking some of the vegetables they may have shied away from in the past — kale, tomatillos, rutabagas, things that turn up in those produce boxes."

Beyond the box

Meanwhile, Provenzano and her friends have moved beyond the CSA box. By fall 2009, what had begun with a book had become a passion.

"I was making cheese and yogurt, and canning tomatoes, and they were making jam and orange juice, and sharing with each other," Provenzano says. "We were trying not to use stuff outside the farmers market, our box and our backyard. And we thought, 'Let's see if we can do a dinner.'"

Now it's a neighborhood supper club, with monthly locavore dinners that feature only ingredients grown or produced in a 100 mile radius. The distance allows for Sonoma sea salt and Napa wines, as well as organic cream from Petaluma's Clover Dairy. A recent dinner featured grilled London Broil — from Morris Grass-fed Beef — that had been marinated in garlic and rosemary and served with a balsamic glaze. The velvety corn soup used produce from the farmers market and CSA box, and in true locavore fashion, a recipe from Alice Waters.

The only problem were the spices. Cinnamon, vanilla beans and pepper come from the other side of the planet, Provenzano says. No wonder Columbus was so motivated.

But this isn't some club with bylaws and gavels. The group just grins and looks the other way when the pepper grinder comes out — they get it — then cheers for the rest of the locavore meal, which displays the Bay Area's bounty.

"Our kids think it's crazy," says Provenzano, "but we think it's cool."

Produce by the box

Here"s a sampling of Northern California farms that offer CSA programs. Prices vary from $17 to $35 per box, depending on drop-off location and availability. Some of the smaller farms, including Los Altos" Hidden Villa, are already sold out for the season.
Farm Fresh to You: Doorstep delivery from a variety of farms. A small box might include, for example, summer squash, flame seedless grapes, musk melon, peaches, cauliflower, carrots, heirloom tomatoes, leaf lettuce, green beans, basil and gypsy peppers from the Capay Valley and Watsonville. Details at www.farmfreshtoyou.com.
Full Belly Farms: This Guinda farm offers weekly drop-offs in Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, Fremont, Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Mountain View. A recent Full Belly box contained beets, green cabbage, carrots, bicolor corn, Blenheim apricots, chard, onions, potatoes, summer squash and garlic. Details at www.fullbellyfarm.com.
Shooting Star: This Fairfield farm delivers to Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Benicia, Oakland and other locations from Memorial Day through Thanksgiving. In August, for example, a typical CSA Shooting Star box contains enough heirloom tomatoes, sweet peppers, basil, melon, onions, green beans and zucchini for a small family. Details at www.shootingstarcsa.com.
Soul Food Farm: This Vacaville farm offers chicken and egg deliveries in Berkeley and Emeryville. Details at http://soulfoodfarm.com.
Lindencroft Farm: This organic farm in Ben Lomond offers not only veggies, but farm fresh eggs and flowers too. Drop-off locations in Ben Lomond only. Details at www.lindencroft.com/csa.html.
More: For more possibilities, visit Farm and a Frying Pan"s CSA round up at www.farmandafryingpan.com/2010/01/bay-area-produce-csa-round-up/

What to Do with that CSA Box

A Farm and A Frying Pan: This organic produce-centric blog was launched by two San Francisco foodies to showcase all the ways you can use the contents of your CSA box; www.farmandafryingpan.com.
Eating Local: A new cookbook by Janet Fletcher, foreword by Alice Waters (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 306 pp, $35).