Quick News Items - New meat items - all from quality, humane and healthy producer. New sausages from the Swiss Connection farm in Clay County. A knockwurst sausage, a wine and cheese sausage called Swiss Sicilian made from their own Pazia (Parmesan) cheese. A beef breakfast sausage, and also their popular veal bratwurst are all in stock today!
Chicken Wings in 5 lb packages from Gunthorp Farms are perfect for the Super Bowl...check some out for the weekend.
Blue Bottle Specials ...
This week the Blue Bottle is featuring our pork shoulder roasts in a Marsala Pulled Pork Sandwich.
You can also find Swiss Connection Farms 100% grass fed beef chuck and arm roasts in their "Best Beef Manhattan Ever" special.
Owner Tom Green, and chefs Andy Porter, and Chelsea Butler also continue to serve our pastured free range chicken in all of their chicken dishes.
Are you wanting to eat at a restaurant that serves great tasting food with quality ingredients? Look no farther than the Blue Bottle.
Food For Thought
The Star Press has a brand new on line publication about to be launched entitled Muncie Green. They have asked me to write a few articles for it and the first edition is just now up on the web. You can get a sneak pre-view by clicking on Muncie Green. Below is a copy of the article I wrote that continues our conversation from our last newsletter. It's kind of an introductory piece about organic food with lots of quotes from local experts. Check out Muncie Green, and I hope you enjoy!
Organic Food - Why we grow it, sell it, and eat it, and how it can help save our world...
What is organic food? Why eat organic food? What can organic farming do to help people and the planet?
Luckily we don't have to answer the first question very often anymore. Most people now understand that organic food is simply food that is produced without synthetic chemicals. No pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, and no growth hormones or antibiotics in livestock, and no processing of food with industrial nasties. But do we know the answers to the last two questions? Why should we eat organic food? There can potentially be dozens of answers to this question, but I have basically broken the answers down into five main reasons.
1. It just tastes better.
2. It's better for human health.
3. It's ecologically sustainable and therefore good for the environment.
4. It builds local economies and has a lot of economic impact.
5. It benefits human culture in a number of different ways.
These are some serious claims to make I know. I thought a great way to back up these claims would be to talk with some "local experts" since this is a new "local" publication. So, one by one we'll answer these claims with opinions from local experts and we'll see if we can start a community conversation.
1. Organic food just tastes better.
Chelsea Butler a local Ivy Tech culinary school instructor, Ball State Dining Supervisor, and finally, a part time chef at The Blue Bottle Coffee Shop offers up the following opinion that is shared by most modern forward thinking chefs today...
"Of course organic (food) tastes better. Fresh produce absorbs flavor from the soil. Non organic produce uses pesticides, waxes, and chemical fertilizers to make up for poor farming methods, greatly effecting overall quality and taste. The flavor of animal products (dairy, meat, and eggs) is directly linked to the animal's diet, lifestyle, and health. Small, organic farms that pay attention to these details will always have a superior taste and quality. There's nothing delicious about growth hormones, disease, and the lack of ethics used in the factory farming industry."
2. Organic food is better for human health.
Dr. Michael Williamson is an Oncologist at Medical Consultants in Muncie and is an organic food consumer and advocate. He offers up the following view about one of the effects that eating organic food has on human health.
"The benefits of organic foods and products will help ease the burden of detoxification by the liver and other biochemical mechanisms. It's healthier in general for everyone."
3. Organic agriculture is ecologically sustainable and therefore good for the environment.
Dr. Hugh Brown is an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Natural Resources and Environmental Management Department at Ball State University. Dr. Brown is a former Chair of the department and was the instructor of the Sustainable Agriculture class at Ball State University. Dr. Brown offers us the following answer on some ways that organic agriculture is better for the environment.
"One key advantage for organic production over industrial agricultural operations is the environmental safety of avoiding pesticide use. Most pesticides do not control the target organism which causes the bulk of the material to affect organisms that we are trying to protect such as beneficial insect predators that help keep pests in balance.
The fertilization of fields with organic amendments such as manures and compost provides both essential plant nutrients and a carbon source for soil microorganisms. The favorable structure created by the microbes helps improve the soil's resistance to erosion."
4. Organic farming builds local economies and has a lot of economic impact.
Tom Steiner is a counselor and a business advisor with the Indiana Small Business Development Center. When asked the question about how he thinks the growth of organic agriculture in our area can improve the local economy, he gave us the following answer.
"From an economic standpoint, local farmers get a higher share of the consumer's money spent on food. This means that money is recirculated locally and not removed from the community. Because the food is local, there is less transportation time to get the food to market and this means less cost and fresher food for consumers. Probably the biggest impact local organic farming can have on a community is the creation of jobs. Organic farming can be more labor intensive, so job creation is part of the process of building a local sustainable food system.
Local organic farming is probably one of the best business models when it comes to building strong middle class independent businesses. These are the types of businesses that help grow and sustain a community.
5. Organic farming benefits human culture in a number of different ways.
In speaking with Ball State University Cultural Anthropology Instructor Gerry Waite, I learned that, in his view, employing more people in rural areas can help to eliminate social problems. Gerry says, "Sustainable organic agriculture is more family oriented and will therefore support more people on the land. Organic farming and sustainable local food systems will increase population density in rural areas. Industrial agriculture employs fewer people and leaves more people behind. Every person you can employ will eliminate another set of social problems in society. If you take care of the local economy, then you can solve many problems. Industrial agriculture is not sustainable in the long run."
Thanks to everyone for their input. In following articles I hope to delve a little further into these ideas and to generate some discussion in the community.
Dave Ring, Owner - The Downtown Farm Stand in Muncie, a local organic food store.
The Downtown Farm Stand is located at 125 E Main St - Corner of Main and Mulberry in Downtown Muncie, phone 765-288-3775. Open Monday - Saturday - 10:00 am - 7:00 pm. Also Open Sunday! 12 - 5 pm.
Parking Info:
We have a lot of parking available right on Main street in front of our door, also in the two hour FREE city lot there is free parking right behind the building with access off of Jackson, and also in the surrounding parking lots. If you need help finding these areas, just ask! Many people find we are very convenient if you need to get in and out quickly and do not have time to walk through a big parking lot and wander through a huge store. You can always find a friendly face to ask for help!
Please tell them you saw it on munciedowntown.com
Gordy Fine Art and Framing Company will host an exhibition in March by retired Ball State University Professor of Biology, Ed Hale. Serigraph prints and metal sculptures depicting laboratory instruments, experiments or science phenomenon will be included in the month-long exhibit at the downtown gallery. 
