Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Talking Turkey: Order Yours Now

I know it's only Halloween, but it's time to start thinking about your Thanksgiving turkey. I know, I know, many "green" people are vegetarian and vegan, but I'm not. I try to eat meat consciously and less frequently, acknowledging its greater burden on the planet, but at Thanksgiving, we like to have turkey. Organic, free-range, antibiotic-free, pastured, happy-go-lucky local turkey.

Happy Turkeys at Sunnyside Farm
I'm in Central PA, as most of my readers seem also to be, so here are some local resources to call to reserve your bird now.

Breakaway Farms, Manheim, PA. Offering broiler chickens and turkeys that "roam free in a special protected pasture from the time they’re a few weeks old, and enjoy a varied diet combining grasses, alfalfa, clovers and bugs from the pasture in combination with locally grown organic feed mix."

Sunnyside Farm, Dover, PA. Conveniently located off the I-83 corridor, Sunnyside offers pasture-based, intensive grazed grass-fed beef, chickens, farm fresh eggs, turkeys and raw honey. Now accepting orders for Thanksgiving 2010 heritage breed turkeys. A $40 deposit will hold your bird on the farm, with delivery right before Thanksgiving. Only $5 per pound for heritage breed, moved to fresh pasture daily, hormone-, antibiotic- and worming-medication-free birds.

Eberly Poultry, Stevens, PA. Looking for something more exotic, like a goose, capon or pheasant? Eberly is a larger-scale, organic and free-range type outfit that sells to Carr's at Lancaster's Central Market and to Keener's Poultry in Lebanon, among other retailers. Eberly also sells direct (at great prices) if you can make it to their outlet store not too far from Lancaster.

Jubilee Farms, Myerstown, PA.  Grass-fed turkeys and lots of other certified organic meats, dairy, prepared foods and produce (seasonally).

Are you ordering one? I'd love to hear of other places to try and reports on your experiences with turkeys or other fowl from any of the local farms!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Startup of Note: Healthy Beauty Project

My good friend, Todra Payne, an incredible makeup artist/author/generally great person, has decided to do something about toxic cosmetics. If you've tried to figure out what's good, bad and ugly in this space, taking into account what also works and looks good, you know the challenge she's up against.

Check out HealthyBeautyProject, where you'll find videos, articles and more. Trust me; you will learn something. She's also very accessible. Do you have a question? Do you have feedback on a product you've tried? Have you found something you think is great? Ask her, share with her, tell her.

Best of all, she understands your dirty little beauty secrets. She does not judge you for using Dior Show mascara even though it's not "healthy" in any sense of the word. You evaluate products, you make the best informed choices for you, and you do not obsess. And that's cool.

Hope you like the site. Let me know what you think!