Body scanners
Two journalists debate whether body scanners are worth it for security.
Issue no.
Holidays
Check out the Culture section for the different December celebrations.
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Volume 23
First Issue
FREE
December 09, 2010
news producer- mitchesplin@stumedia.boisestate.edu
news editor- andrewford@stumedia.boisestate.edu
Sports
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The Independent Student Voice of Boise State Since 1933
CSAs partner farmers with locavores Gabrielle Brandini Journalist
Moore headed to New York for Heisman ceremony.
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Online Go to arbiteronline.com to take our poll about local food sources.
Mom uses a CSA to get local food for family Edina Macic
Despite the Gem State’s status as an agricultural state, those who are constantly on the lookout for locally produced food find it’s sometimes impossible to find real Idaho-grown produce in our own grocery stores. Where can locavores, the students who stick to local fruits and veggies, find a steady supply of Idahoan vegetables? Well, for starters, CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture, is a system where a local farm gives out “shares” of produce in exchange for a membership or subscription fee. For example, if a consumer finds a participating CSA farm, he or she would pay a monthly fee, then receive a box of the farm’s crop every week. Some farms even deliver their crops to a customer’s front door. Using this system, consumers are able to directly support and know their local farmers. For those who are concerned about whether their food is grown organically or pesticide-free, CSAs make it easy to communicate with the farmer and ask questions. As a bonus, the food is local, so it has to travel less to get to your home. This reduces your carbon footprint and the food is literally “fresh off the farm.” CSAs will usually put a seasonal assortment of fruits and vegetables in a box. This way, members are exposed to a variety of produce that they might have not used or
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Boise’s Brown Box Organics showcases seasonal squash and sweet potatoes. seen before. fruits, bread or cheese. For instance, a box could Idaho is home to at least have a couple of apples, 47 CSAs, according to Losome baby potatoes, carrots cal Harvest, an organic and and a bundle of Swiss chard. local food website and an If they never thought about online CSA database. cooking with In Boise, there chard before, are 17 CSAs to LOCAL CSAs here’s their choose from. chance to try. One is Peaceful For a list of CSAs are Belly, a farm that not limited to local CSAs, visit offers produce vegetables and http://LocalHarfrom May to fruits. Many of- vest.org/csa September and fer eggs, milk, also has a stand nuts, dried at the Saturday
Market. Earthly Delights is another local farm that runs from May to October. Both have pick-up points for vegetables and Earthly Delights offers bike-deliveries for their produce. CSA shares cost more than the average selection of vegetables at the grocery store. Peaceful Belly prices its 18-week subscription at $400 (approximately $22 per box) and Earthly Delights’s boxes are $26. The boxes are expensive but they contain local, seasonal and organic produce. Earthly Delights’s “Local Harvest” entry, one of its shares contains “an average of 10 items a week, including seasonal vegetables, herbs and fruits.” There are a few downsides to CSAs, however. You don’t always get the vegetables that you’d like and as with any small business, sometimes poor service happens. “Every year we hear complaints about a few CSA farms (two to six farms a year, over the last nine years) where something happened and the produce was simply unacceptable,” reads Local Harvest’s website. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. The most important thing to do when considering becoming a CSA member is to do your research. http:// LocalHarvest.com is a great resource for more information on CSAs and also functions as a database for CSAs in the country. Some CSAs may look promising, but poor reviews on Local Harvest will say otherwise.
Journalist
Heidi Dean, 39, from Boise is a Brown Box customer who buys organic foods because she wanted to help her kids eat less processed foods. Where did you buy organic food before using a CSA (community supported agriculture) ? Originally the Co-Op and Fred Meyer because they have a fairly good organic food selection. I found Brown Box through a site called Living Social. Their prices were really comparable to what I was paying at Fred Meyer only their selection was better, especially for pre-packaged foods. How much do you spend on organic foods? I would say out of my grocery budget from Brown Box, $50 a month. Which is not even 10 percent of my budget. How important is eating healthy important to your family? I have a three-year-old and a oneyear-old, and I want to make sure to establish right eating habits while they are young. I learned about trans fats and immediately cut those out of our diet. As we did that, we naturally went towards natural foods in general and staying away from processed foods. Why do you think buying organic food from Brown Box is a better choice than off the shelves at a grocery store? I know there is some controversy whether it’s really worth the money. I’d much rather be safe than sorry. I worry about things like pesticides, I worry about the amount of lead in food... To me, the extra money and peace of mind is worth it, because of it we tend to eat healthier. Do you have any concerns with modified foods? I’m worried about the genetically modified seeds for corn and soy. And I think it’s dangerous for our food supply. That’s why the farmers markets have become so popular and there’s been a lot more demand for organic food. Dean’s answers were edited for brevity.
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After stops in Washington, California, ‘Brown Box’ owners make Boise roots Suzanne Craig Journalist
One of hundreds of Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) companies across the nation, Brown Box has been delivering organic foods to customers’ doorsteps in the Treasure Valley since 2006. The Browns, owners of the company, started working with organic foods and delivery in Washington, before moving to California and helping found a company in partnership with local organic farmers. In 2005, they moved back to the Treasure Valley and began planning for the opening of Brown Box Organics in December of that year. Their first delivery was made in July of 2006, and their business has only grown from there. Their most recent development is a store on Garden Center Way that opened in August. “We’re in the ballpark of 200 people ordering boxes a week,” said Kyle Greenfield, produce manager. Even with a new retail store, their weekly deliveries are still the bulk of their business. The health benefits of organic eating are frequently mentioned, and employees cite that as a reason for their decision to work there. Jamie Lish, current employee of Brown Box Organics and senior, general studies, psychology and communication emphasis major, said as a cancer survivor she started to look into food and the chemicals involved in food production, in an effort to keep up her own health. “I wanted to work for a company I believed in, and I love the idea of organic,” she said. Some produce is available year round, like carrots, lettuce and apples. More seasonal offerings include summer squashes and parsnips and acorn squash in the winter. Other delivery options include milk and eggs, which can be requested for delivery along with the boxes of produce. Brown Box delivers across the Treasure Valley, throughout Boise to Nampa and Star, and also offers delivery to the residence halls and apartments. “We deliver anywhere ... for each area we do once a week deliveries,” Lish said. Orders can be taken on an individual basis with a one-time order or with regular weekly orders without a contract. Orders can be placed online at their website http://www.brownboxorganics. com or in person at its retail store, 3811 Garden Center Way, near Hill Road and 36th Street.
Initially, CSAs began as a way to provide fresh, local fruits and vegetables to customers nearby. Now, they’re adding the ability to ship and sell packaged goods to organic-happy customers too.
Farms skip pesticides, grab ladybugs, spiders Stephanie Scheibe Journalist
Certified Organic companies carry food grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers or fumigants. Brown Box Organics owners Jim and Rachel Brown set higher standards by opting to not carry irradiated food. Food that is irradiated may kill bacteria, according to organicconsumers.org, but the process also can damage up to 80 percent of beneficial vitamins and enzymes. Just two years ago, Brown Box calculated the average number of miles it took food to get from the farm to their market. The total estimate for the summer time was 20 miles, with the year-round average at 302 miles. This is less than half the
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national average of 1,300 to 2,000 miles, according to National Sustainable Agriculture. “That’s the premise of this business beside having organic food because it’s good for you, but also it’s good for the community by supporting their farms and their businesses,” said Jillian Johnson, Brown Box Organics employee and 2009 Boise State University graduate. Brown Box Organics also doesn’t carry food grown from Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs. “Even in Co-ops or natural food markets, it’s very difficult to determine how something was grown, even if it was grown locally, it could have been grown with GMO seeds,” Brown said. These standards have enabled the business to thrive on local, family farms, such
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Nearby farms’ produce is showcased at Brown Box Organics Tuesday afternoon.
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as Eagle Creek Orchard -- a certified organic farm home to five acres of everything from tree ripened apples to Asian pears. Clover Leaf Creamery also boasts its presence among Brown Boxes’ shelves, an all-natural dairy farm located in Buhl, Idaho. Selling organic allows the local business to support farmers who use natural means of bug control. Instead of spraying insecticides, which are detrimental to the environment, farmers introduce insects such as ladybugs or spiders, as a more sustainable and effective way to rid fields of unwanted pests. According to Brown Box, utilizing natural fertilizers and crop rotation let organic farmers protect local food, air, water and soil supplies from pollution. Through Brown Box’s delivery service, Brown said the environmental effects extend beyond selling organic. “Each load that we take out one van-full of deliveries, it’s like emptying a parking lot with 300 cars in it from the grocery store,” she said.
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