Author Archive

Posted on August 4, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

With a Little Determination and A Lot of Caffeine…

“Women Nourish Us” is FRESH’s femme-focused blog series. Every week, we turn to a leading woman in the good food movement for ideas and inspiration. Be sure to check us out every Wednesday for a new write-in. Then pass the post!

Jacqueline Church is an independent food, wine & spirits writer whose work often focuses on “sensible sustainability” issues. She delights in helping people make practical choices to improve their lives and reduce their impact on the planet.

Her work appears in national and regional print media, including Culture: the World on Cheese and Edible Santa Barbara. She is a contributing writer to Nourish Network, writes the gourmet food column for Suite101, and publishes two blogs, The Leather District Gourmet and Pig Tales & Fish Friends.

She came to writing from a career covering diverse fields including the practice of law, high tech and management consulting. Her commitment to conservation issues precedes it all and began with a love of Jacques Cousteau and National Geographic. Since discovering Julia Child as an adolescent, she’s been devoted to good food and today combines all of these in the examination of global food issues and the nature of being a responsible gourmet.

She’s the founder of Teach a Man to Fish and Teach a Chef to Fish sustainable seafood events that engage people in the work of making more sustainable seafood choices for their families and restaurants.

I was the kid who always wanted to know “why” and often asked “why not?” I was always sure something better was just behind that closed door. I was always certain more fun was going to happen the minute I fell asleep.

I was the wrong kid to try to keep entertained during a childhood on a sterile, redundant, stifling military base. Three things diverted me from a life of crime: the National Geographic Society magazines on the coffee table, Jacques Cousteau specials on the television, and later, the discovery of Julia Child and cooking. If not for these, I’m quite sure I’d be asking you to bake me a cake with a file in it by now.

Lucky for me, my parents piqued my curiosity with legal but intoxicating ideas about the world. I vowed young that I would learn to dive so I could see that “undersea world.” I was probably still in jammies with feet when I promised myself that one day, I’d see Machu Picchu and visit the Terra Cotta Warriors. I knew in my travels I would eat exotic things, meet interesting people, and see wonderful ruins. I also knew I’d have to be a careful steward of the world out there that looked so very different from the one I lived in – the one that hardly seemed worth noticing at all.

Life happened. I got big girl PJs, big girl jobs and moved on to work that fed me in some ways and left me hungry in others. A couple of mixed blessings (AKA pink slips) left me wondering when I’d work at something that fed me more completely than law, than consulting, than hi tech bus dev gigs I’d enjoyed.

Eventually, I found writing and am learning to scratch out a living at it. More importantly, I discovered I could combine the things that are most important to me with writing. I could help people learn about these things through writing.

A few years ago, I hit upon the idea of sustainable seafood. Back then, it was still something not many folks in the mainstream were talking about. Many of us were still eating bluefin tuna and wondering if we really should. I’d been following the work of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program and decided to use my blog to host an event called “Teach a Man to Fish.” During a limited period in the late Summer-Early Fall, I invite chefs, food writers, cookbook authors, home cooks, bloggers, everyone with an interest in sustainable seafood, to share recipes, resources, tips and questions.

Each participant sends me a recipe, a photo and a short blurb about how they chose that seafood or what they learned about sustainable seafood they prepared. I tidy up all the disparate emails, re-size the photos and add resource information about the seafood used, the challenge presented, to each entry. Then I post one mammoth round up of them all. The recipes are there for everyone to enjoy. I’ve built a resource guide that includes guides for purchasing sustainable seafood, sites with more information, scientific reports, fun clips and related news. Bloggers share their URLS and everyone gains new knowledge about more sustainable choices for their table.

In the 3+ years that I’ve hosted this event I’ve been invited to the Sustainability Institute and Cooking for Solutions, met some hard-working advocates for ocean conservation and sustainable food issues. I’ve met some wonderful chefs including some “Top Chefs” and my blog has been graced with some terrific stories by people around the globe. I’ve been to Cordova, AK to learn about salmon fisheries management and to meet actual fishermen.

I’ve seen the growth of sustainable sushi restaurants and helped to introduce chefs to new tools and resources for restaurant professionals through workshops for chefs I added last year. “Teach a Chef to Fish” will likely take a different shape this year, and I have been thrilled to introduce some new tools to chefs who were starting their inquiry or looking to deepen or broaden their reach.

When I was asked to contribute to this Women Who Nourish Us series, I was humbled. What could I have done or said to catapult me into this amazing cadre of women? Then I realized that the line I toss off when describing Teach a Man to Fish is at the core of this series’ intentions.

I often say my blog event is “simply an example of what one woman — armed with a little determination and a lot of caffeine — can do.” This is exactly the point, I think. I am not a marine biologist or a conservation expert with a degree. I’m simply someone who cares about these issues and is determined to help others build their own confidence and competence with them.

Each of us can pull up a big cup o’ Joe and get down to the business of whatever we think it is that needs to be done. All it takes is the willingness to ignore the odds, to disregard whether it’s been done before, the patience to explain a vision that may not at first make sense to anyone else. And when someone says it can’t be done, the willingness to ask — “why not?”

• Teach a Man to Fish began as a small blog event in 2007 with about 2 dozen recipes.
• In 2009, I designed and presented chefs’ workshops and delivered them in Boston &
Chicago. I delivered a shorter version at the International Boston Seafood Show with
chefs Andy Husbands and Barton Seaver.
• I speak regularly on the topic and recent engagements include a Slow Food Panel,
screening of The End of the Line and presenting at Tufts Friedman School on a panel
“Farm, Fish and Fowl: Exploring Sustainability.”
• TAMTF has been cited in Utne Reader’s Sustainable Seafood Report, noted by the
Sustainable Ocean Project and nominated for a Seafood Champions Award by the
Time Magazine 2009 Environmental Hero himself, Casson Trenor.
• Join in this year’s Teach a Man to Fish event on http://JacquelineChurch.com.

*If you believe in the power of women’s words and our growing sustainable food movement, please spread the word about our Women Nourish Us blog series via email, Facebook & Twitter (http://fdl.me/d1nqNe). If you would like to host a screening of FRESH for your friends or organization, please – be in touch!

Posted on July 23, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

Market Salamander: Local Fare with Lots of Flare in Virginia

Market Salamander Local Fare with Lots of Flare
Breakfast Never Tasted So Good!

Guest Post by: Bill Couzens, Founder Less Cancer
Middleburg, Virginia

Market Salamander is designed as an open marketplace that caters to contemporary demands and lifestyles by offering a selection of local, organic, chef-prepared foods.

With a focus on healthy cuisine and an endless assortment of high-quality fresh ingredients, Market Salamander is attracting patrons near and far. The market offers an unrivaled selection of seasonal produce, prime aged meats, fresh caught seafood, artisanal cheeses, homemade breads, fresh baked pastries, boutique wines, and imported packaged goods. And while quality often comes with a high price, Market Salamander is a best deal for a local breakfast. In fact, breakfast never tasted so good!

Market Salamander’s team in Middleburg is led by Vaughn Skaggs, the Chef de Cuisine, who began his culinary career at a young age in Virginia. Originally inspired by his mother, an inventive cook and restaurateur, Skaggs’ tireless conviction and support of gastronomic, local, organic, and sustainable foods makes him the “backbone of Market Salamander.”

Skaggs’ philosophy about the origins of the ingredients Salamander uses reveals his passion for the art of healthy cooking and living. “Whether it is produce or fresh meats, buying local helps many aspects of our business. It gives our guests a sense of trust and loyalty, knowing that they could trace which farm their food is coming from. The food is always more fresh and tastes better when it comes from the local farms. We also feel better about the food we are serving. We are leaving a smaller environmental footprint, instead of using transportation. In addition, we are supporting local businesses and helping keep our community economy strong.”

Skaggs’s culinary evolution has taken place in some of the best kitchens in the area – like Vidalia’s in Washington, DC; Potomac Grill in Leesburg, Virginia; and some of the most exclusive private homes of Virginia. His skilled culinary repertoire, coupled with his positive attitude and devotion to freshness and seasonality, has won him many acquaintances in the local farm movement. His combination of talent and commitment drives his passion for delicious and conscientious food.

Jason Reaves, Pastry Chef

Recently awarded the 2008 Front-Line Tourism Employee of the Year by the Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association, Jason Reaves is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY with a degree specializing in baking and pastry.

Before joining the staff at Market Salamander, Reaves worked at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia; Postrio in San Francisco, California; and as Pastry Chef on board Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of Aloha, and Pride of America. Reaves specializes in custom wedding and special occasion cakes as well as delicious pastries.

Though young, Jason Reaves is already famous for his mouth watering Salamander’s Signature Butterscotch Scone. At just 2.00 per Scone, it is the most delicious thing you could ever eat at breakfast – especially delicious with Salamander’s bottomless cup of coffee!

Salamander often uses local and organic foods. One such supplier is Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, Virginia which has been growing healthy, beautiful foods since 1821. The present farm was purchased in 1912 by Brig. Gen. James A. Buchanan of Washington, DC. The historic property of approximately 800 acres was purchased from his descendants in 1996 by Sandy Lerner. The farm’s mission appropriately states, “To farm sustainably and profitably, promoting the benefits of locally produced, humanely raised meats and organic produce to the consumer, our community, and our children through education, outreach and example.”

Dr. Maryann Donovan, Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said, “Beyond the obvious benefits in freshness, quality, and flavor, eating seasonally and sourcing food locally can make important contributions to reducing carbon emissions. The local farms that are additionally certified organic, and the markets that sell organic foods, also have great potential for reducing exposures to pesticides and other chemicals, benefiting both the environment and human health.”

Salamander’s owner Sheila Johnson (musician, movie producer, sports team owner ) understands the importance of local and organic fare, often feeding the Washington Mystics a farm to table regime.

The good news is that you too can enjoy a breakfast of champions and not have to break the bank to eat healthy.

Posted on July 19, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

FRESH 1%: Practicing Generosity When Times are Tight

from Ana Joanes, director of FRESH

This week we decided to give one percent of all of FRESH revenue of 2010 to one of the incredible non-profits out there that are making a difference in the sustainable food movement. Although now doing so seems obvious, the decision did not come easy.  Making FRESH was a labor of love, but the stress of unpaid debts and the responsibility to keep our office started to weigh me down.  Soon I found, passion and faith were slowly replaced by an attitude of scarcity – a protectively closed heart and mind.  My financial insecurity made it hard for me to truly appreciate what came out of what seemed to be a wild and out-of-reach dream 6 years ago.

For years, while making FRESH, I would wonder how my movie would ever get seen (the majority of independent productions never find their audience) and I would daydream of ways for my movie to contribute to the movement I was recording.  And now, it’s happened.  FRESH was released in May 2009, a little over a year ago, and against all odds — no money, no distribution company, no festival wins — it took off.  FRESH has now been screened thousands of times around the country in people’s living-room, churches, libraries, school and universities, and, in independent theaters and art houses. And most importantly, FRESH has been used as a platform to raise awareness and transform inspiration into action. With our growing visibility (and mailing list) we decided to start our own activist campaigns, raising awareness and calling to action our supporters on a variety of issues around our food system.

With so much positive going on, I decided that I couldn’t wait for some secure financial future to start giving back.  Hence came the idea to give 1% of our revenue to a non-profit that embodies the passion and hope that we believe will change the face of the sustainable food movement.  We will accept entries for this grant through August 6th, choose 12 and then open up a voting process to our supporters (there are 50,000 of you!). Stay tuned!

APPLICATION PROCESS IS NOW CLOSED!  SORRY!!!

Thank you,

Ana Joanes
Director, FRESH

photo from flickr user micah.e

Posted on July 12, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

FRESH Heroes: Rain Lily Farm

FRESH Heroes: Rain Lily Farm, TX from ana joanes on Vimeo.

Who said you can’t live in the country AND in the middle of the city at the same time? I know sounds kind of contradictory until you visit Rain Lily Farm in Austin. I’ve visited quite a few farms in the past few years, and I got to say that I just fell in love with this one, and with the three wonderful women who are making it happen, Stephanie Scherzer (in this video), her partner in Farmhouse Delivery, Elizabeth Winslow and Kim Beal.
Go visit if you live in or near Austin and check out their delivery and landscaping business.

farmhousedelivery.com/
rainlilydesign.com/home1.html

Best,

Ana Joanes
Director, FRESH

Posted on July 8, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

Silver Diner Gets a Little FRESHer

Guest post by: Liz Reitzig
Cross posted from Liberation Wellness

Ok, I admit it.  Eating at a diner kind of makes me feel like a kid again.  It brings out the Peter Pan in me—I won’t grow up!  But, with four children of my own now, it gets more difficult to justify doing things just for fun.  Sitting in one of those diner booths with the retro pictures and the cute jukebox at each table actually begs one to get a burger and shake.  But I can’t do that now that I’m grown up and “responsible,” can I?  I make huge efforts to feed my kids organic and local foods.  I buy grassfed beef and dairy.  I shop at farmers markets and I know most of the farms where our food comes from.

So imagine my delight to find out that I could have my shake and drink it too. I realize that being “responsible” is about being open and responsive to the circumstances and opportunities that life presents without always being rigid and following a set of rules.  There is one diner where I can have fun with my kids without compromising my food philosophy: Silver Diner.  They source their foods locally and even invite farmers to sell, market style, at their restaurants.  And to add icing to the cake, Silver Diner is now partnering with the producer of the movie FRESH—an inspiring window into the local foods move

Silver Diner has made a big splash recently with their new menus featuring “fresh and local” ingredients. It is a treat to find a restaurant or chef, who is truly committed to the entirety of the “local” message.  In addition to their commitment to “Fresh and local”, they are equally committed to helping children understand about food choices and where their food comes from.  Each diner has a TV screen in the lobbies.  These screens show clips from various music videos.  A few days ago I took 6 children (my four and a friend’s two) to one of the Diners and a music video on the screen captivated their attention while we waited for our table.  These screens are now also showing idyllic clips from the movie FRESH.  Young visitors to the diner, many of whom have never been on a farm, will see scenes from local farms.  These short scenes have the potential to convey the greater ramifications of food choices.

This inspiring film highlights what we can each do to increase access to fresh and local foods. FRESH graphically illustrates the contrast between the industrial food system and the “fresh” food system.  The film engages people about where their food comes from as it takes the viewer on a journey to several local farms that produce food for their communities.

Showing the movie trailer at Silver Diner has the potential to captivate a whole new audience as it motivates these customers to bring the movie to their communities. The film’s creators designed the film as a community educational tool.  Across the country individuals arrange screenings of the movie in their own communities (living rooms, churches, school, etc.) to significant response.  These screening events engage consumers where they are and inspire them to propel the fresh food system further forward.  With super heroes Will Allen—urban farmer extraordinaire—and Joel Salatin of Polyface farms, scenes from this movie are the perfect accompaniment to a fresh and local meal, and an amazing inspiration for all our budding super heroes.  It’s going to take all of us to encourage the rest of the restaurants to use fresh and local foods and educating those around us—especially our young ones—with tools such as this movie is a first step to transforming our food industry in such a way.

At Silver Diner, “FRESH” is not just a movie, it is a philosophy—a philosophy that is taken seriously because they realize their responsibility to their customers and to the producers of the food. Behind the scenes of FRESH, it is not just a movie, it is an inspiring invitation to a refreshing way of eating.  The partnership between Silver Diner and FRESH brings the message of “fresh and local” full circle so that children—and adults who wish they were still kids—can add depth to their diner experience.  Because they have chosen this direction for their diner, I can now responsibly enjoy my burger and shake with my children as we all sing along to “Puff the Magic Dragon.”  And unlike little Jackie Paper, who does grow up, today, I’m still a kid.

Action Items: What you can do to support Silver Diner in doing what they’ve started…

1. Dine at Silver Diner and let them know that you support their new practices
2. Let your waiter / cashier know how you feel about them showing FRESH
3. Bring FRESH to your community….

Have you seen FRESH? Please share your experience below.

About Liz Reitzig
Liz Reitzig is a certified Liberation Wellness Nutritionist and a regular contributor to Liberation Wellness (www.LiberationWellnessBlog.com) She serves as President of the Maryland Independent Consumers and Farmers Association and Secretary of the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association.  As a champion for real foods and farm freedom, Liz is the co-founder and partner in a farm fresh buying club and raises her own family on real foods from local farms. She is also a Chapter Leader for the Weston A Price Foundation.

Posted on July 5, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

FRESH Heroes: Mike Evans, Urban Roots

FRESH Heroes: Mike Evans, UrbanRoots, TX from ana joanes on Vimeo.

Mike Evans, in his own words, “transforms the lives of young people through jobs and access to healthy food.” I never tire of visiting urban farms and am always amazed by how much one can grow in such small plots in the middle of our busy inner-cities. But what I enjoy most is talking to the young people, who, as Mike points out, are being transformed by their work. What’s more, they get out and then transform their peers, their families, their communities. That’s the kind of ripple effect we could use more of!

Learn more: www.youthlaunch.org/programs/urbanroots.php

Best,

Ana Joanes
Director, FRESH

Posted on July 1, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

FRESH Heroes: Marla Camp

This video was taken as part of Eat Local Week, December 5 – 12 (one of Central Texas’ most prolific growing seasons!).

FRESH Heroes: Marla Camp, Edible Austin from ana joanes on Vimeo.

Marla Camp is my kind of woman! She seems to get way more done than I could ever dream of and does so smiling. Marla is the editor of Edible Austin and she introduced me to some incredible people (some of them also portrayed in a FRESH Hero video) in this city that truly keeps it weird. Last December, she organized a HUGE screening of FRESH as part of a week-long celebration of all that’s local and delicious. If you ever plan of visiting Austin, I would consider skipping South By Southwest (music and film festival) and go, instead, during Marla’s amazing food and drink extravaganza (which last year included a bike tour of local farms, cocktails competition, coffee and tea sampling, tons of local restaurants specials, and so much more.) Marla is a true champion of the local and sustainable food movement and her work is invaluable. Thanks Marla!

Learn more about Edible Austin: edibleaustin.com/content/index.php

Best,

Ana Joanes
Director
FRESH

Posted on June 24, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

David and Goliath Battle on GM Alfalfa and How the Media Got it Wrong

By Guest Blogger: Lisa J. Bunin, Ph.D.

The media got it wrong and let the public down when it erroneously reported Monsanto’s wholesale victory in its Supreme Court appeal of the GM alfalfa case — the first-ever Supreme Court case on GMOs (Monsanto Co. v Geertson Seed Farms). Despite claims and headlines to the contrary, Monsanto is still prohibited from selling and planting its Roundup Ready GM alfalfa. The true victors in the case are farmers, consumers and environmentalists who have argued that planting GM alfalfa would contaminate conventional and organic crops and lead to spraying noxious pesticides in regions where over 90% of alfalfa farmers do not use or need them.

So, why did the press get it so wrong? Monsanto hit the press early and convincingly and the press failed to do its due diligence by corroborating Monsanto’s facts with both sides in the case. It should have known better and acted more carefully despite the rush to get the first story published, but it didn’t. Monsanto’s Goliath PR machine succeeded in framing the Supreme Court decision as a slam dunk in its favor, to head off a drop in its stock market price. The real news — that it still can’t sell its patented GM alfalfa — would surely have driven impatient investors to sell their stocks.

Not surprisingly, shortly after the publication of multiple stories announcing Monsanto’s unequivocal win, an alternative narrative began to circulate on the web and people started asking questions about whether Monsanto actually “won” the case and what it meant to “win” the case anyway. Fulfilling the role of David against Goliath, bloggers exposed how the rightful victors had been unfairly slain by the press due to the unsavory alliance between the Goliath biotech giant and the major media.

The answer to the question of “who really won the case,” requires examining on what grounds Monsanto appealed to the Supreme Court. Specifically, Monsanto asked the court to reconsider the lower court decision in the GM alfalfa case by:(1) lifting the injunction on GMO alfalfa, (2) allowing the planting and sale of GMO alfalfa, and (3) not allowing contamination from GMO crops to be considered “irreparable harm.”

In truth, the Court only ruled on Monsanto’s first request, which it affirmed by stating that the injunction was too broad to be allowed to remain in place. However, it ruled in favor of the farmers and Center for Food Safety on the two other remaining issues, which in many ways are even more important. First, the Court did not overrule the lower court’s ban on the planting and sale of GMO alfalfa and, therefore, the ban remains intact. Moreover, the Court’s decision to set aside the injunction was based, in part, on the fact that a prohibition on GMO planting was already in effect, due to the lower court’s ruling and, therefore, the injunction was duplicative overkill. Second, the Supreme Court agreed with the lower court that the threat of GMO contamination was a sufficient cause of environmental and economic harm to support future challenges on GMOs. Unfortunately, these critical details about the Supreme Court’s decision were omitted in early press accounts, making it look as though Monsanto prevailed in its quest to deregulate GM alfalfa.

Two and three days later, the real story about the outcome of the GM alfalfa Supreme Court case has emerged in some press accounts. Yet, any analysis about the need for civil society to demand greater corporate accountability in the face of government inaction to halt threats of GMO contamination has yet to surface in the mainstream media. Clearly, the greatest significance of this case is that it shows how Goliath corporations, like Monsanto, BP and the rest, can be held accountable for their actions by members of civil society who have the courage to take on the role of David in the battle to protect our environment and food supply.

_____

Lisa J. Bunin, Ph.D. is the Organic Policy Coordinator at the Center for Food Safety, a national, non-profit, membership organization, founded in 1997, that works to protect

human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. On the web at: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org

Posted on June 22, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

Don’t Let Monsanto Spin The Story

It comes as no surprise that Monsanto’s PR machine managed to spin the Supreme Court decision on June 21, 2010 (Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms) as being a ‘big win’. While the decision is complicated, the decision is by no means the victory that Monsanto was hoping for (and claimed through media outlets who didn’t do their homework).  The bottom line is that it is still illegal to sell or plant GMO alfalfa.

“The Justices’ decision means that the selling and planting of Roundup Ready Alfalfa is illegal. The ban on the crop will remain in place until a full and adequate EIS is prepared by USDA and they officially deregulate the crop. This is a year or more away according to the agency, and even then, a deregulation move may be subject to further litigation if the agency’s analysis is not adequate,” said Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety. “In sum, it’s a significant victory in our ongoing fight to protect farmer and consumer choice, the environment and the organic industry.”

• If you would like to hear more, the Center for Food Safety has an update on the decision here: http://truefoodnow.org/2010/06/21/update-on-supreme-court-decision/

• Andrew Kimbrell’s diary on the decision is extremely helpful: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-kimbrell/supreme-court-case-a-defe_b_620087.html

• Berkeley Law & UCLA Law have a helpful analysis of the decision as well: http://legalplanet.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/u-s-supreme-court-issues-decision-in-monsanto-case/

Genetic contamination from GMOs are still considered harmful under the law, both from an environmental and economic perspective. We will keep you updated on any changes regarding the efforts to deregulate GE alfalfa. In the meantime, share this blog and make sure that you help your friends, family and social networks see past Monsanto’s PR campaign and maintain our fight against GE alfalfa!

Please consider donating just a few dollars to help FRESH continue our outreach and educational efforts. Donate today: https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5958/t/10286/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1765

Eat Safe,

Lisa Madison
Distribution & Outreach Coordinator
FRESH

Photo from flickr user dbking

Posted on June 18, 2010 - by Lisa Madison

Seeds Of Life: Open Pollination (video)

There has been tremendous interest in a past post written about Monsanto’s ‘gift’ of hybrid seeds to Haiti.  I thought we should follow up with a bit about exactly how pollination works, to grasp the immense implications of gifting hybrid seeds to a country like Haiti. – Lisa Madison, FRESH

Guest post by Cooking Up a Story

Continuing with our Seeds of Life series, Willamette Valley organic seed breeder, Frank Morton, explains the benefits of open pollination in plant breeding, and the important role for farmers in the selection process to continually improve plant varieties for better local adaptation.

In open pollinated plant varieties, pollination can occur from the pollen of related species that sometimes travel great distances (as measured in miles), by insects, wind, and birds.

Open pollinated plants can be selected over time to breed a desired mix of traits, and the seeds from these plants can be reused over successive generations with highly favorable results. In particular, Morton says, organic farmers want organically bred seeds, that is, seeds which are designed to work well in an organic system. Organic farmers place a strong emphasis on maintaining soil fertility, and do not use commercial fertilizers, and other chemicals to artificially boost production yields. Organically bred seeds, may be bred for roots that travel deeper through the ground to acquire the necessary supply of nutrients that a healthy plant may require. By contrast, an organically grown seed, means only that the seeds were grown on organic soil, but will not have been bred to do better under an organic farming system.  Keep Reading….