More mail order organic foods - Special Section: Plants as Teachers - directory

Whole Earth Review, Fall, 1989 by Ann Nugent

More Mail Order Organic Foods

IF YOU CAN'T GET TO THE MARKETS that sell organic food, try ordering by mail. Over eighty mail-order food companies offer organically grown food, but they vary widely in quality and service. Here are some more picks from Ann Nugent, who wrote "Mail Order Foods".

Blue Heron Farm. P.O. Box 68, Rumsey, CA 95679; 916/796-3799. All produce--organic almonds, walnuts, and oranges--is grown on this family-owned farm. It's a member of the California Certified Organic Farmers Association. Crops are handpicked and stored cold. Almonds and walnuts are ready in the fall, oranges available in February and March. Nuts are $2.75/lb. Gift packages if you wish.

Hawthorne Valley Farm. Route 21C Harlemville/R.D. 2, Box 225A, Ghent, NY 12075; 518/672-7500. It sells only organic cheese, bread, and granola, all of which are produced from grains or animals raised on the farm. It's primarily a school for children from nursery through high school, where they live and learn the bio-dynamic way of life, "which treats the land as a living organism." A 28-oz. loaf of bread is $2.25. You must buy either half or whole wheels of cheese (four-or five-pound minimum at about $4.25/lb.).

Starr Organic Produce. P.O. Box 561502, Miami, FL 33256-1502; 305/262-1242. This company is limited to bulk orders and to tropical and citrus fruits (ten varieties) -- like mangoes, bananas, and oranges. But it's included here because organic fruit is hard to find, and the company insists on quality control: "certification affidavits are available upon request." Its interesting brochure tells you about growing organically, and gives helpful hints about how to store your fruit. A 40-lb. box of grapefruit (available late winter and spring) is $16 plus shipping. The Herb & Spice Collection. P.O. Box 118, Dept. D28, Norway, IA 52318-0018; 319/227-7791. This company carries only herbs, but it's included because it carries every kind imaginable, and it has an impressive 60-page catalog that is one of the best-organized of the lot. Members get discounts. Special section for certified-organic herbs. Individual items are marked organic, though the term isn't defined.

Paul's Grains. 2475-B 340th Street, Laurel, IA 50141; 515/476-3373. Sells a limited supply of organic grains, flours and cereals, grown mostly on its own farm, which it has owned since 1964. It explains its organic growing methods, and says the food is also stored and processed without chemicals.

Eagle Agricultural Products. Route 4, Box 4B, Huntsville, AR 72740; 501/738-2203. It defines the standards by which its crops are organically grown, standards that "are maintained throughout the production, storage, processing, harvesting and packaging of our products." Limited supplies of grains, flours, beans, cereals. Two-to five-pound minimum order. Nine varieties of organic bread: six-loaf minimum ($8).

Fiddler's Green Farm. R.F.D. 1, Box 656, Belfast, ME 04915; 207/338-3568. Specializes in organic pancake, muffin and bread mixes, but it also carries organic jam and organically grown coffee (about $5/12 oz.). All products are grown and prepared on the farm (except for the Guatemalan coffee). The owners explain their organic-farming philosophy.

Morningland Dairy. Rt. 1, Box 188B, Mountain View, MO 65548; 417/469-3817. Though it sells only one type of food -- organic, raw-milk cheeses -- it rates review since organic cheese is hard to find. It produces the cheese with milk from its own herd of cows that feed only on organic crops. The helpful brochure tells you how the owners work the farm organically, and how they produce their cheeses. The farm offers fourteen varieties, primarily jack, colby and cheddar. An under-a-pound-sized cheddar is about $2.70/lb. Shipped in insulated bags.

Green Earth Natural Foods. 2545 Prairie Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201; 800/322-3662. This is a store specializing in organic foods, but it's starting a mail-order service and the catalog is now ready. It carries a full line of organic produce, bulk grains, nuts, dried fruit, and meats, and offers eight varieties of organic apples--MacIntosh at $1.25/lb. Most of the produce is certified organic, but it doesn't specify which ones.

Maine Coast Sea Vegetables. Shore Road, Franklin, ME 04634; 207/565-2907. Its informative brochure says that its hand-picked products, which grow wild in the pure-enough Maine Coast sea, qualify for the organically grown category. Its sea vegetables are limited to alaria, kelp, nori, and dulse. Nori is $14/lb.

Gold Mine Natural Food Company. 1947 30th Street, San Diego, CA 92102. (CA) 800/647-2927; (US) 800/647-2929. Its organically grown products are certified by California state law, and it regularly tests its other products for pesticide residues, but it doesn't say what it means by this. The catalog is worth getting for interesting news about macrobiotic cooking. Large inventory: eight varieties of cool-ground corn flour, 20 varieties of unyeasted organic breads (minimum order three loaves). A 24-oz. loaf of whole-wheat bread is $3.39.