Last week, Kari shared a post about 12 of the most important fruits and vegetables to buy organic. This comes from the Environmental Working Group's list of the worst offenders (it's been dubbed the "Dirty Dozen" as far as pesticides and other chemicals that end up in our food.

This is helpful so that we can make smart shopping choices and avoid putting unnatural chemicals in our bodies. Several of you made great comments on Facebook about why you buy organic for your health:

Kathi writes:

"People are amazed that on my limited budget I insist on organic - but it is an investment in my family's health. You either pay for it now or later in my opinion. I'd rather pay upfront for better food rather than later in medical costs."

Dyan from Miami says:

"My body is not a discount body. I will buy organic whenever I can get it."

We couldn't agree more. The concern for our health and the health of our children is an important factor leading people to choose to look for that organic logo above. But it's not the only motivator. Lisa points out:

"There'also the larger picture to consider here - not just what I'm putting into my body, but what I'm supporting, through my purchases, others in putting into the environment. I may be the only me, but there are billions of humans sharing only one planet Earth."

Well said Lisa! This really has been a major (some would say the major) reason behind the organic movement going back to the 1970s with guys like Gene Kahn trying to figure out how to [drive a tractor and] grow food in a way that works with our natural ecosystems - not against them.

If you're new here, here are is some further reading on why Cascadian Farm cares about organics:

Why Should You Care Abou Organic Farming?

Organic vs. Natural

Controlling Bugs Naturally: Organic Pest Controll

If you've ever been to visit us at the farm, you probably heard some stories about Gene Kahn. Gene founded Cascadian Farm, turning his vision into reality in the early 1970s. Many of you have even shared your stories of picking berries at the farm, or helping to build our roadside stand where we sold organic produce, jams, and homemade ice cream.

We've grown since then, and started selling our food at local farmers markets and coops around the Pacific Northwest. Today, as you know, you can find our organic cereal, granola bars, and frozen fruits & vegetables at many grocery stores around the country. But our mission hasn't changed: to pioneer organic farming methods, and bring great tasting and wholesome organic food from the farm to your table.

But for you old-schoolers (and our new friends too), we wanted to share this picture of Gene Kahn on the tracker back in 1972:

It's really true what they say about a "farmer's tan" isn't it?

If any of you have pictures from your trip to the farm please share them with us! You can post them to our facebook wall, or put them on your blog or flickr page and share the link with us here in the comments!

Earlier this week we introduced you to our electric farm truck, and we asked you for help in giving that little truck a name. Your responses on Facebook were amazing! But there were so many great suggestions, we couldn't pick one.

So we want to take a vote. Pick one of the names below for this little electric workhorse. Here are the options:

. .

Next time you're passing through Skagit Valley, we hope you'll come visit us at our Roadside Stand. We're right off Highway 20 near Rockport, Washington. While you're there, enjoying homemade Blueberry Ice Cream or buying some fresh produce from our farm you might notice a funny looking vehicle zipping around hauling veggies from the barn down to the stand. That's our farm truck!

Every farm needs a good farm truck, and Cascadian Farm is no execption. But ours is a little different than most farm trucks you may have seen. It's electric! It runs off of the stream-powered hydro-electric powerplant we have up above the fields.

We wanted you to meet this little beauty, and we wanted to ask you for help. What should we name this cute little truck?

Brad Bailie is one of Cascadian Farm's important farming partners. Brad grows organic potatoes in Conell, Washington. These organic potatoes go into some of our tasty frozen potato products like wedge cut oven fries, and organic hash browns.

Brad is featured in this month's Potato Country Magazine. Below are a couple highlights from the article:

Brad has an appreciation for nature and wants to preserve the land he farms. And, like all farmers, he wants to make a good living in the process. Through organic farming and conservation methods, he is able to accomplish both he says.

"I believe organic farming and conservation just go hand in hand. That's why a lot of the projects that I implament on my farm make sense -- not just financially. It's the health of the entire environment I'm farming in," Brad says.

Brad talks about everything from organic pest controll to planting legumes as cover crops as a natural source of nitrogen. You can read the full article here: Brad Bailie in Potato Country Magazine.

Quotes from this story and photos are from Denise Keller, Potato Country magazine

Last week the team from small planet foods got together for a Holiday Party near Sedro Wooley, WA. This time of year we're all looking forward to spending time with family, friends and neighbors to celebrate the holiday season.

Many farmers don't have the luxory of having days off, or paid vacation. Many livestock farmers work 7 days per week, 365 days per year. As the saying goes..."These cows won't milk themselves" ...even on Christmas!

At the home farm, our winter crops don't require quite as much attention and work, but there is still plenty of work to be done - even in the off season. There is planning to be done with our sourcing partners from around country and around the world. Equipment on the farm needs maintinence and upkeep, and winter is often the best time to do it.

Cascadian Farm's founder Gene Kahn - working on the tracker in the 1970s

Soon enough spring will be here. It will be time to sew our seeds, and get ready for the busy season. But for now we're looking forward to some time with our famies, and hope you enjoy the same this holiday season!

So what's the big deal with organic food anyway? Organic products are almost always more expensive than other foods on the grocery store shelf. And it seams like these days everyone is marketing some sort of "natural" or "green" product just because it's trendy. So why pay more for ours or other organic food companies products?

The short answer, is that organic foods are good for your body, and good for the planet.

But here's a little longer answer: Food - in any form - comes from farms. Even if there were many steps between your mouth and the field, all food came from a farm of some kind. This may seem obvious to you - but by the time our food ends up in a box on the grocery store shelf, it can be easy to forget that at some point it was planted, grown, & harvested on a farm.

Our food isn't just "natural," it's organic (see our: "Why organic?" page for more info). And that means the farms that grew our food had to do (or not do) all of the following:

• Don't use synthetic pesticides, herbicides and soil fumigants.
• Don't use genetic engineering
• Don't use sewage sludge as fertilizer
• Do improve the quality and fertility of the soil
• Do protect water quality
• Do reduce soil erosion
• Do rely on natural biological systems for pest and weed control
• Do reduce the impact of agriculture on our environment
• Do produce high quality, great tasting food

So here comes the sales pitch: if you are not currently purchasing organic foods, try it. See what products on your weekly grocery list you can replace with organic ones. If you can't commit to going 100% organic (this is really very difficult these days), will you see where you can start?

We believe that every dollar you spend on purchasing organic food, is actually quite literally an investment in saving the planet. Our home-farm was started over 35 years ago with the thought that this little plot of land can make an impact on the rest of the planet. And we've grown well beyond the boundaries of our 28 acres since then, but we have organic farming partners around the country, and around the world that are putting less chemicals into the soil and water system, improving water quality, and reducing erosion.

So that's the big deal. To us anways. Organic food is better for our bodies - and that's important, but it's about something bigger than that: organic farming helps save the planet, and and works towards a better earth for generations to come.

If you look at our blog, you'll see a link underneath the roadside stand that says "Organic Feed."

No, we're not getting into the business of feeding your livestock (but if you are looking for organic feed for your livestock, check out ATTRA's list of organic livestock feed suppliers).

We're talking about a different kind of feed - the one that everybody keeps talking about online. RSS Feed, Twitter Feed, News Feed...it seems the web-world sure does like to feed!

Anyway - we think there are a lot of people out there that are feeding us some really food for thought on the web. We've hired a few of them like Kari, Jennie, and Shana to come here and write on our blog. But still there are so many others that we love to read, and we wanted to share them with you. We've asked them to let us show off their blogs, tweets and videos on our Organic Feed.

Do you want to be featured on the Cascadian Farm Organic Feed? Please send us an email at: smallplanetfoods@smallplanetfoods.com and tell us about your blog, twitter, youtube or flickr profile.

One of my favorite things about the Farm (aside from the blueberries) is all of the stories surrounding the early days. During my visit, I spoke with many wonderful people who took the time to share early Cascadian Farm stories with me—from the first crops that were grown, to interesting methods of weed control. This week, I want to bring you a story about that very topic—weed control. Organic farming is about working in harmony with nature, meaning that sometimes a little creativity and ingenuity is needed to control weeds in a natural way.

The following story was shared with me by Don Smith, a fellow blogger and a Graphic Designer for Cascadian Farm...