Tuesday, August 28, 2007

where do you come from?

if the law dictates that we know where our t-shirt was made by the label inside

why isn't the same standard in place for the food we bring to our table?

(an interesting piece to listen to here.)

by chance i noticed a can of organic black beans - brand of a regular stop on our grocery hunt - had a "product of china" stamp on it. (saw it once then never saw it again on another can... hmmm...)black beans and brown rice are brought to our table on a regular basis. in an attempt to eat more locally i am trying to find out where they came from. (hey, california is the breadbasket of the world they tell me, so shouldn't i be able to find them grown here?) so i am on a search. any ideas where to start?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you are at all inclined to garden, even container garden, I'd start at the local library for a good guidebook and online to find a good seed supplier.

Maybe the seeds wouldn't start off locally, but seeds cost much less to truck cross-country than a pound of beans.

That said, I bought a bag of dried black beans at the grocery store and planted them one year. They grew! The homegrown black beans were a bit smaller than the store-bought ones, but overall I'd call it a success.

Tracy said...

thanks so much heather!

Anonymous said...

Hi Tracy,

I don't know of any good black bean growers in CA...but, I order freeze dried, organic blackbeans shipped in bulk from Mary Jane's Farm in Idaho. I'd be all for growing them yourself if you have the space, the time and the luck. But, Mary Jane's organic freeze-dried stuff is light weight, so not too bad in the shipping category and has saved us in a pinch more times than I can count. All her products are great!

www.maryjanesfarm.com

Hope that helps.

-Marie

Tracy said...

thanks marie - i have luckily found a local farm to order through: Phipps Country Store and Farm