http://www.msu.edu/~howardp/organicindustry.html
Month: September 2008
Whole Paycheck
Austin’s Whole Foods Market – wholesome, healthy for the wholesome, wealthy ?
“What passes for organic farming today has strayed far from what the shaggy utopians who got the movement going back in the ’60s and ’70s had in mind. But if these pioneers dreamed of revolutionizing the nation’s food supply, they surely didn’t intend for organic to become a luxury item, a high-end lifestyle choice.” –
Wha..!?
I don’t even want to know
Red Rice Riot (favorite)
Every now and then I go a little crazy in the kitchen, having some notion of my direction of travel but without a particular destination. Sometimes this works well, sometimes not.
Tonight, I was thinking Thai-ish & vegetarian. I’m not sure where I wound up, but man, was it good!
Starting clockwise from the bottom left- split peanuts, cilantro, purple basil, red Thai rice, coconut milk, peanut satay sauce with lemongrass, fennel, corriander and kafir lime, Madagascar vanilla and roasted chili powder. On the plate, clockwise from the bottom- scallions, galangal root, Fresno pepper, ginger root, orange, medjool dates and turmeric rhizome, and a large clove of garlic in the center.
Start by bruising the roots and adding them to the pot with the coconut milk, chili powder, vanilla and cilantro. Simmer this over low heat for about 30 minutes until the flavors develop and it takes on its beautiful yellow color. Scoop out the pulp, then add the rice and a little water so that the liquid volume is sufficient for the amount of rice. Still on low heat, cover the pot and walk away for another half hour.
Uncover the rice and stir in the chopped dates, orange pieces and basil. Sautee the peanuts, onions and peppers and add to the pot.
Serve topped with additional chili paste and satay sauce.
Update: Good Flow Honey & Juice Co
The Daily Texan – Austin juicery meets legal battle on pasteurization
The Daily Texan
Austin juicery meets legal battle on pasteurizationMohini Madgavkar
Daily Texan Staff
Published: Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Updated: Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Austin-based juicery Good Flow Honey & Juice Co. has halted production after an order from the Food and Drug Administration shut down the company’s East Austin manufacturing center Friday.
Good Flow Honey & Juice Co. got its start more than 25 years ago, selling hand-squeezed juice and honey harvested from its own bees. The Crofut family, which started the business, made a name for itself with unorthodox flavors such as Spirulina and Pineapple-Beet and its claim for making “homemade juice.”
Unlike most commercial juicers, Good Flow does not use pasteurization, a process that uses heat to kill microorganisms in juice and other beverages, in production.
Good Flow co-founder Judy Crofut said the company asked the FDA for an exemption from pasteurization mandates placed upon commercial juice producers because the company produces and distributes locally and delivers its product within 24 hours. “We have all our own processes in place to ensure that it’s good, safe juice,” Crofut said. “Pasteurization kills everything, all the enzymes that allow you to digest your food, so that was a big interest of ours.”
Crofut said that in 2006, the FDA retracted the exemption that allowed Good Flow to operate as a juice bar that sells directly to its customers and therefore, avoid pasteurization.
After a lengthy legal battle that threatened to shut down Good Flow several times in the past two years, Crofut said a court order Friday has forced them to suspend juice production until the company can comply with FDA pasteurization standards.
Some businesses throughout Austin that carry Good Flow’s products, including Wheatsville Food Co-op, Whole Foods Market and the UT pharmacy, as well as restaurants such as Kerbey Lane Cafe, said the convenience of direct delivery from a local juice bar will be difficult to replace. The drinks are particularly popular with students, said Caffé Medici manager Patrick Pierce.
“Once school started up, we started blowing through Good Flow,” Pierce said. “We do about 30 [bottles] twice a week, so about 60 a week.”
Kerbey Lane Cafe employee Phillip Bachus said Good Flow’s processes appeal to Austinites.
“I think people really like that it’s local,” Bachus said. “It supports your community, and it’s a lot better to have a gallon of orange juice from two miles away than from five states.” But Bachus said he recognized that problems could be associated with unpasteurized juice.
“There’s never been one single issue ever with Good Flow with any kind of medical thing, but I know that we’ve never served it to kids,” Bachus said. Crofut said Good Flow will continue to sell honey until it can reopen the juice business. “We’re going to call the City of Austin and see what we have to do to open this place as a retail outlet,” Crofut said, adding that the company hopes to reopen on a larger scale in compliance with FDA regulations.