SunRidge Farms is pleased to announce an expanded Pretzel line. These Non GMO items come in a variety of delicious coatings from Milk Chocolate to Blueberry Yogurt. Check your favorite grocers bulk section to find these delicious snacks or print out the flier and bring it with you so they can order for the store to carry.
Author: Greg Koenig
Trail Mix
It was 75 degrees in Santa Cruz last Sunday and the urge to dust off the camping and backpacking gear was too great to resist. I pulled it all out and began to go through everything to see what was needed for the coming season. Fortunately, it looks as if all the gear is in tip top shape and I only need to pick up some more bear spray and small propane cartridges for the stove and it’s go time. Oh yeah, and to load up on SunRidge Farms Trail Mix and other SunRidge Farms mixes for snacking on the trail and at the campsite. My stand by has always been the Organic Hit the Trail Mix, which simply tastes great and provides all the energy I need when hiking. This year, however, I’m going to make an effort to bring many different types of SunRidge Farms mixes. NonGMO Project verified Cranberry Harvest Mix combines dark chocolate chips with organic cranberries, organic peanuts, organic pumpkin and sunflower seeds, organic raisins, almonds, and apples. That’s a great breakfast coupled with hot tea or coffee or a solid lunch while taking a break from the trail. Our Tropical Trail Mix gives you a fruit emphasis in your trail mix with raisins, dates, papaya, pineapple and banana combined with sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, and coconut chips. These are but two of the many trail mixes we offer and doesn’t even touch the creations you can make yourself buy visiting the bulk section in your nearest grocery and deciding for yourself what constitutes healthier snacking excellence. Start making these mixes part of your everyday diet and you’ll find that trail mixes are not limited to the hike.
Farm Bill Reflecdt Shifting American Menu
From the New York Times comes an article on the impact and changes in the new Farm Bill just recently passed. Check it out here – http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/us/politics/farm-bill-reflects-shifting-american-menu-and-a-senators-persistent-tilling.html
Getting better at buying in bulk!
The conversion from a standard grocery store shopper to a more disciplined and careful BULK grocery shopper has taken time but the results are clearly positive. We’re eating better foods, snacking less, and reducing our waste impact. The really great thing is that in the bulk shopping I’m talking about doesn’t require me to buy 10 lbs. of pasta to get my savings like warehouse bulk buying requires. If we’re having pasta for dinner I can buy 12 oz. in bulk instead of a prepackaged 16 oz box knowing that we only eat 12 oz. and likely throw the rest away. Instead of a box of cookies to have around for snacking or dessert, we’ll buy some SunRidge Farms Peanut Butter Power Chews and put them in an old spaghetti sauce jar to stay fresh and snack on those. Hearty and filling, they are made with much better ingredients than the typical box of cookies. The only packaging for these Chews is the recyclable bag used from the bulk bin counter which means that waste is very limited ( no paperboard box, plastic cookie tray, or plastic wrap ). Better foods seem to be more satisfying too! My younger boy will simply grab one or two power chews and that seems to do the trick, whereas previously he’d put the box of cookies on the coffee table and snack without thinking.
Instead of a candy bar, he’ll grab a piece of dried Mango, a handful of banana chips, or some Dark Chocolate Coconut chews from a jar too. Again, no waste and he’s eating better and we’ve spent less money.
Give it a shot for 30 days! See what you can do to improve your eating habits by buying great foods in bulk. You’ll be surprised how much you like it but I won’t!
Dow pushing Enlist as a competitor to Monsanto’s RoundUp
A competitive seed product for soybean and corn is poised to enter US Agriculture. Designed by Dow, these new GMO crops are intended to compete against Monsanto’s GMO portfolio of engineered crops and seeds. Here’s the full story – http://news.yahoo.com/dow-seeks-growth-enlist-crop-chemicals-seen-key-121133785.html
Chinese funding of GMO research declines
The Chinese Governments push to research GMO’s has slowed due to reduced funding. There is enough confusion as to the safety, claimed yields, and regulation that the Chinese have been very slow in allowing GMO seeds to be used. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of years. Here’s the story from Reuters – http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/10/china-parliament-gmo-idUSL3N0M41FR20140310
California drought affecting Almonds
The drought in California is impacting almond growers to the point of having to remove the trees themselves because if they die in the orchard insects and disease spread to the remaining and neighboring orchards. The impact on crop production this year is unknown but farmers fear the worst. For more, http://news.yahoo.com/california-almond-farmers-face-tough-154734857.html?vp=1
US Food Companies find going ‘Non GMO’ no easy feat
People want Non GMO. That message is being heard by major food companies now and they are finding that the supply chain is so filled with GM crops that it’s a real challenge to convert. That’s how pervasive and insidious the GM problem has become. From Reuters this article details some of these issues in great detail – http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/18/us-usa-food-gmo-analysis-idUSBREA1H1G420140218
Monsanto GMO seed contamination of Organic Farmers field leading to new lawsuit!
An Australian farmer is suing his neighbor over the significant economic loss that occurred when the organic farmer lost most of his organic certifications due to cross contamination of his crop by his neighbors planting of GMO canola and rapeseed. Monsanto is not party to the suit as that company forces farmers to sign a third party waiver which leaves liability to the farmer. If the lawsuit is successful, farmers will likely be less inclined to plant GMO crops if they can be held liable for their potential contamination of neighboring farmers crops. Here’s more on this story – http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/13/monsantos-gmo-seeds-may-no-longer-be-invincible.aspx
Food Industry seeks voluntary GMO labeling
Reacting to the state by state effort by groups that want Genetically
Modified Organisms (GMO) labeled on foods that contain them, the food
industry is proposing voluntary guidelines for this labeling. With over
30 States expected to see some type of legislation regarding GMO’s this
year, the industry is trying to come to grips on what labeling should
be done so that each State doesn’t end up with their own set of rules.
It’s clear that people just want to know what’s in their foods.
Perhaps, labeling will happen sooner than we think. For more on the
story, http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_25076622/food-companies-propose-voluntary-gmo-labels?IADID=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com
