Month: October 2010

Earthbound Farm – Products worth reviewing

When I think of the name Earthbound Farm, it conjures up images of lush green fields and tall, elegant apple trees shading nearby farmhouses. It makes me want to kick off my shoes, sit on the porch at the farmhouse and sip ice-cold lemonade. Well, it seems that their company name actually does live up to it’s portrayal of a sprawling farm with an extensive selection of organic vegetable fields and fruit orchards. They even have a farm stand open to the public where fresh fare is prepared on the premises and opened 7 days a week.

I love organic produce (as you can probably tell by my other posts) and the fresher they are, the more nutritious and delicious they are. Earthbound Farm is the largest grower of organic produce in the United States and the largest producer of organic salad greens. You can’t get any fresher produce than Earthbound Farm outside of growing your own fruits and vegetables. And because they are certified organic and carries the USDA Organic label, you know that you can trust their produce to be of the finest quality, unsurpassed by any other organic farms in the nation.

Earthbound Farm has a charming background. It all started with a young couple migrating from Manhattan who fell in love with the beauty and the splendor of a small, quiet town in Carmel, California. Their modest beginnings with a tiny farm of just 2.5 acres growing organic produce later became the nations largest organic produce growers with over 35,000 acres. And their dedication in providing the public as well as their family and staff  with healthy, non-toxic produce remains steadfast.  Their promise to themselves and to their consumers is straightforward – avoid the use of toxic fertilizers and pesticides; does not use genetically modified organisms (GMO’s); avoid the use of petroleum-based pesticides; fight global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide; provide constant food safety standards; uses only post-consumer recycled plastic for their salad packages; shipping cartons are made from 99% post-consumer corrugate; uses biodiesel in their farming equipment; uses 100% post-consumer recycled office paper for all their copiers, printers, and plain-paper; planted trees with American Forests every year to offset greenhouse gas emissions from their energy use and many other assurances to guarantee the safety and integrity of the planet and its inhabitants. With these strict guidelines set in stone, Earthbound Farm remain unwavering in their excellent production of organic produce.                                                                                                http://www.ebfarm.com/AboutUs/EnvironmentalStewardship/index.aspx

The company who started out small believes in giving back big. They believe that being a “catalyst for positive change” is the best way to promote a positive and healthier future for everyone. Earthbound Farm believes in helping their communities by supporting organizations that support healthy lifestyles; organizations that work toward a clean and healthy planet; award academic scholarships to local high school students who will pursue an education in environmental stewardship; and donates to charities nominated by their employees, and award academic scholarships each year to college-bound children of their employees.

As an avid organic produce consumer, I was given some free product coupons to try so I decided to try their dried fruit. I’ve already tried most of their packaged salad greens so I wanted to try something totally different – and I love dried fruit because it’s a great way to get some natural vitamins and fiber in your body with the convenience of eating it whenever you want to. Their dried fruit products include dried mangos, cranberries, plums, dates, and raisins.  All of their dried fruit are ripened on their vines or trees to their maximum ripeness to allow an abundance of natural sweetness and 100% organically grown. There are no preservatives used and the flavors and textures are exactly what dried fruit should be – sweet and tangy and just the right amount of “chewiness”. They come in convenient ready to go packages and they can be used in almost any recipe. I thoroughly enjoyed their organic dried fruit and plan on using some of them for baking in the future!

So why would you buy packaged produce? Well, because they are more convenient and easy to carry around or even placed in your picnic basket or lunch bag. They stay fresher longer than just placing your produce in the fridge. They’re more sanitary (you don’t have to worry about a million hands touching the produce on the shelf at your local market). And organic produce are usually packaged in environmentally-friendly plastic rather than the store-provided plastic bags available in the produce section.

So the next time you’re at your local supermarket or natural food store, pick up a bag of Earthbound Farm’s fresh produce. With an abundant selection of high-quality fruit, vegetables, and salads to choose from, you’ll always end up with the right choice. Earthbound Farm products can be found at most major supermarkets and natural food markets. For more information about Earthbound Farm, please visit their website: http://www.ebfarm.com. You can also order certain products online.

 

Disclaimer: The product(s)were sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on “Happymomblogger” remain unbiased and unpaid and are the sole decision of the author. The opinions of these product(s) were not influenced in any way, shape, or form. As always, please  read the labels carefully before trying any new products.

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Lundberg Farms – Products worth reviewing

My family and I are big rice eaters and when I need more selections of rice products than just your basic steamed rice, I turn to Lundberg Farms. There are few food product companies out there that promises to maintain their high-quality, eco-friendly way of business all the while keeping it in the family for continuous generations.

The vision of Lundberg Farms began in 1937 when the humble family moved to Northern California to establish their passion for farming rice. They soon led the way to become one of the largest organic rice producers of the world. They also developed Eco-farmed rice which is a special integrated rice growing system that is an improvement from many conventional rice growing techniques of today. It is a bit different from their organically-farmed rice but it does not stray from their respect to the land, farmers, and the planet.

All of Lundberg Farms rice products are not genetically modified which is an important aspect due to scientific studies regarding GMO products and its health dangers.  And since their farms are managed by the family, each member involved takes great pride in every factor of the company. Their company policy is as follows:

Soil Fertility – the lifespan of soil is very crucial to their farms. They implement practices that allow their soil to thrive every year which includes rotating cover crops, periodically leaving fields fallow, and encouraging water fowl to rest on their fields to help break down the rice stubble and provide needed fertility to their fields.

Egg Salvage and Wildlife Habitat – their fields of lush and healthy rice grains naturally attract birds. Lundberg Farms views wildlife as a natural occurance in their fields and ensures that the eggs left by such birds are not damaged and donates them to volunteer organizations who help hatch the birds and return them back to wildlife.

Planting – every April and May they plant their rice in dry lands so as not to damage their soil when wet.

Water Management – water is essential to any farm. For the past few years, Lundberg Farms has significantly lowered their water usage by measuring water levels with stakes and closely monitoring them. They curtail irrigation early in season allowing fields to dry often without releasing any water.

Weed Control – Lundberg Farms does not use any chemical pesticides or herbicides on their organic rice. Instead, they implement unique techniques developed by the company years ago. With their Eco-farmed rice, they do their best not to use any herbicides and only in extreme situations.

Pest Control – pest management is crucial on Lundberg Farms and they try to use natural methods of controlling pests including wildlife, dry planting, and planting certain varieties of rice that are somewhat resistant to pests.

Harvesting –  Lundberg Farms recruits members of the family during harvesting time to ensure rice is at its optimal maturity. The majority of rice sold by the company are brown rice to retain its purest form and to prevent polishing rice to its white color.

Saw Incorporation – At Lundberg Farms, the company does not burn their rice after harvesting. Instead, they use techniques to incorporate leftover rice straw and stubble back into the field.

Drying, Storing, Milling and Packing – important aspects of rice farming, the company does not use any chemical controls on their rice stored at their farms. Packaging and energy used on the farm are consistantly in respect to the environment.

Research and Innovation – Lundberg Farms is a full-fledged facility. They manage everything from their soil development to rice planting to harvesting to packaging and onoing research in developing new environmentally-friendly farming practices and rice varieties.

Lundberg Farms was kind enough to send me a couple free product coupons so I decided to try their Sesame Seaweed Rice Chips. Since we regularly enjoy their Seaweed Rice Cakes, I had a feeling that the Sesame Seaweed Rice Chips would taste just as fantastic. And I was right! The Sesame Seaweed Rice Chips had an intense amount of flavor and it had such a nice crispy texture. Rice chips taste very differently than potatoe chips and can be compared in texture to corn chips. But rice chips definitely has the distinct flavor of rice to it.  The chips aren’t very salty at all and the flavor of seaweed is mild but distinctive. Their rice chips come in the following flavors – Sesame Seaweed, Fiesta Lime, Santa Fe Barbeque, Original Sea Salt, Honey Dijon, Wasabi, and Pico de Gallo.

Regardless of whether you try their rice chips, rice cakes, risotto, brown rice syrup, or their brown rice, you’ll definitely find a great assortment of rice products to suit your everyday needs. Lundberg Farms products are wholesome, natural, contains no preservatives, and full of flavor so any product is well worth taking a trip to the grocery store to purchase. So not only are you supporting a family-owned company, but you are helping a company take major strides in helping to improve the environment while maintaining sterwardship of a healthy planet for all of us.

For more information about Lundberg Farms, please visit their website: www.lundberg.com.  They also offer coupons on their site periodically.

Disclaimer: The product(s)were sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on “Happymomblogger” remain unbiased and unpaid and are the sole decision of the author. The opinions of these product(s) were not influenced in any way, shape, or form. As always, please read the labels carefully before trying new products. 

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