I would like to know where I can get certified organic blueberries
locally (I am in Bellevue, WA, near Seattle, WA), either at a local
market or through a service that will deliver them to me here. I
would like them immediately and to continue buying through the winter
and year round.
I have already tried calling these stores:
Larry's Market
Nature's Pantry
QFC
PCC
Whole Foods
Trader Joe's
Central Market
and some others I don't recall...
I have already tried calling these wholesalers:
Charlie's Producer
Rosellla's Fruit and Produce
None of them had them available. Some had conventional non-organic
blueberries. Some had organic strawberries and raspberries, but I
need blueberries as well. |
Request for Question Clarification by
tar_heel_v-ga
on
14 Dec 2002 14:05 PST
Johno101..
As you may be aware, typically, blueberries are out of season during
the winter. Would a source from outside the US, such as Australia,
meet your needs? Also, I have found a couple of sources of organically
grown blueberries here in the US and I have contacted them to see the
availability of the fruit.
Regards,
-THV
|
Clarification of Question by
johno101-ga
on
14 Dec 2002 14:49 PST
Thank you. I know they are out season definitely here locally. I was
not clear whether they were out of season everywhere in the US. Out
of the country is okay as long as they are of equal quality and
certified organic. I'm willing to pay extra for the imported berries
if necessary. Can they still be USDA certified organic if they are
from outside the US? BTW, I saw a web page saying that CA production
can extend at least into December.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
tar_heel_v-ga
on
14 Dec 2002 14:58 PST
USDA certified organic will be difficult outside the US. Do they have
to be fresh? I am assuming yes, but I have found a source of dried
certified organic blueberries as well as the possbility of frozen.
-THV
|
Clarification of Question by
johno101-ga
on
14 Dec 2002 15:08 PST
USDA certified may not be necessary if I can feel comfortable that the
organic process is of equivalent quality. Can you proivde any such
information? Have you found sources of imported organic berries, even
if not USDA certified?
I'm not familiar with dried berries. My concern is health, and if
they are good as far as nutrition, I could try them. I believe frozen
is easy to find in local stores. Do you know how frozen and dried and
fresh compare as far as nutrients? Freeze-dried might be another
option if they are available.
|
Hello;
In response to your question on where you can purchase certified
organic blueberries I have found the following information:
“Organic growing is a process of attunement that calls for looking at
and responding to whole ecosystems in which plants are growing, rather
than concentrating on isolated aspects,” Dan Jason, 1991, Greening the
Garden.
Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia
Reasons to “go organic.”
http://www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca
Cascadian Farm
Located in the foothills of Washington’s Upper Skagit Valley, a
two-hour drive from Seattle. Open daily May through October; buy
fresh, organic seasonal berries and produce or frozen, organic berries
at natural food stores.
http://www.smallplanetfoods.com
Amy’s Garden
Family farm selling organic products year round.
Scott and Amy Richards
2814 N. Torpedo Rd.
Oak Harbor, WA 98277
Tel: 360-240-8166
E-mail: amysgarden2@earthlink.net
http://www.amysorganics.com
Organic Consumers Association
CSA-Community Supported Agriculture organic farming, permaculture,
biodynamic farming. For a fee you help with costs of a working farm
but also reap the benefits of the harvest. There is several CSA’s
located in Washington in various locations, which can be accessed
through the Organic Consumers Association site. There is a listing of
organic growers in all states and contact information for each.
http://organicconsumers.org/csa.htm
GreenPeople
Listing of organic produce, organic meat, and organic coffee from
organic farms. Scroll down one third of the page to the heading
organic produce (fruits/vegetables) for a listing of over twenty farms
and producers of organic foods in other states.
http://greenpeople.org/organicfood.htm
USHBC
The US Highbush Blueberry Council is a great place to obtain facts,
growing information, recipes and a lot more about blueberries.
http://www.ushbc.org
Organic Culture of Bramble Fruits
Horticulture production guides for growing organic and non-organic
bramble fruits of which blueberries are included. Great source of
additional information on what certification is available for growers
of organic food.
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/bramble.html
Thanks!!! |
Request for Answer Clarification by
johno101-ga
on
17 Dec 2002 15:16 PST
I’m very disappointed in the answer. I specifically said I wanted a
source for fresh organic blueberries NOW (and through the winter and
the rest of the year). I don’t need or want background information
about organic food in general. I simply want a source of the
blueberries. Did you make any attempt to confirm whether any of links
you provided are a source of certified organic blueberries now and in
the winter, which is what I requested? I see no evidence of such an
effort or the existence of such information in your message. Please
respond ASAP with such information or please remove the answer (which
I assume will automatically refund the charge for the answer as well)
so someone else can at least attempt to answer.
|
Clarification of Answer by
abigayle-ga
on
18 Dec 2002 11:16 PST
John101-ga;
I apologize for any misunderstanding and my lack in not sufficiently
expressing the information you requested in my answer. I included the
information on blueberry production and certification because of
information I gleaned from previous comments from you to other
researchers involving concerns you expressed over nutrient values of
frozen berries in comparison to just picked berries and so forth.
Also you expressed a desire to have these berries certified so I
included information as to where you could access the standards for
certification within the US.
As for suppliers of berries, yes I did research and contact producers
in your area of which I included in my answer, I was unable to find
any producers supplying fresh, unfrozen berries year round, however,
according to the American Frozen Food Institute, "frozen fruits and
vegtables have the same nutrient value as fresh." The most accessible
producer in your area is Cascadian Farm located in the Upper Skagit
Valley. May through October you can visit their farm and pick your
own fruit if you like. They also supply many stores in your area with
their frozen berries year round. Click on the link
http://www.smallplanetfoods.com, then double click the Cascadian Farm,
and enter site icon. This will take you to the Cascadian Farm home
page, scroll half way down. In the column on your left you will see
the Store Locator heading, enter your zip code and a list of stores in
your area carrying Cascadian Farm products will be listed. As you
initially requested all of Cascadian Farm’s products are organically
grown.
Organically grown blueberries, as you already know, are not easy to
find, especially when they are not in season. Another source during
the growing season is Amy’s Garden in Oak Harbor, WA. You can access
additional information at http://www.amysorganics.com. I also
researched producers in other areas of the country. Most deliver to
local areas only, however a few do have mail order services where you
can order dried fruit year round to supplement the fresh berries. You
can access them through their web sites at http://www.karibafarms.com
located in Cedar Knolls, NJ and http://www.fiddlersgreenfarm.com
located in Frankfort, MI.
Again I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you with
the way I worded my answer and thank you for bringing this matter to
my attention.
Sincerely,
Abigayle-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
johno101-ga
on
19 Dec 2002 00:37 PST
Abigayle, thanks for your clarification, and THV thanks for your
comment.
Abigayle, you mention the “Organically grown blueberries, as you
already know, are not easy to find, especially when they are not in
season.” I knew it wasn’t easy, which is why I posted the question,
but I hoped it would not be impossible. At this point have you given
up on providing such a source year-round (which really means finding
an off-season source because during the season, it is trivial to get
fresh organic blueberries every day where I live)?
By the way, I find it interesting that even though blueberries are
supposed to be out of season, I’ve been continuing to buy fresh
non-organic blueberries at the local QFC, as recently as today. On
the day I posted the question, I had been told by QFC and several
other local stores that they had fresh non-organic blueberries (and of
course plenty of stores had the frozen organic berries from Cascadian
Farms), but I couldn’t find anyone with fresh organic blueberries,
which was frustrating and was the reason for my original question. I
figured that if blueberries can be grown non-organically, there would
be someone somewhere growing them organically. I still find it
puzzling if that isn’t the case.
I was aware of the claims by Cascadian Farms that frozen is good
nutritionally but didn’t investigate that in depth. I’ve been buying
and eating large quantities of frozen Cascadian Farms vegetables for
several months (when I started buying the vegetables, I looked briefly
into info about frozen produce) and also tried all their frozen
berries (including strawberries, blueberries, blackberries) a few
months ago. I’m still not sure what to think about frozen vs. fresh
as far as nutrition (a matter I intend to find out more about), and if
forced to do so, I may settle for frozen, but my primary goal still is
to get fresh if possible. Although taste is not my primary concern,
the taste is MUCH better for fresh, at least based on my experience
with CF’s berries. The difference seems much greater than for
vegetables. The frozen berries just seem to be totally mushy and
taste pretty bad.
Anyway, this conversation may be getting broader than it really
should. Although I certainly find all these relating discussions
interesting, I don’t want anyone to have any misunderstanding that in
order for an answer to be acceptable, it needs to provide the core
information I requested, i.e., sources of certified fresh organic
blueberries immediately, through the winter, and year-round.
|
Clarification of Answer by
abigayle-ga
on
19 Dec 2002 19:59 PST
Johno101-ga;
I approached your question from a different angle and have found some
information for you. After contacting various produce wholesalers
around the US each gave me the same information. The only place to
get organically grown blueberries, or any berries, at this time of the
year is from Chili. However, there are no standards or regulations in
Chili for fruit production and although the product may be packaged as
organic does not necessarily mean it is organic. One source suggested
using frozen as standards being what they are in Chili you have no
idea what may have been used during production of the fruit. So,
although you can get organically marketed blueberries during the off
season they would be quite expensive and the organic claim may be
questionable. The produce department at most grocery stores can order
these through their wholesaler or these two wholesalers were the most
helpful to me, A&Z Produce in Utah, telephone: 801-359-2081, Coast
Distributing in California, telephone: 213-955-4900. Amy's Garden in
Oak Harbor, WA also uses a wholesaler for produce they do not grow on
their farm and can order blueberries for you, although, I found,
growers of organic produce do not like to deal with product from
Chili. You can contact them at 360-240-8166.
Abigayle-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
johno101-ga
on
16 Jan 2003 21:02 PST
Abigayle-ga, I wanted to follow up on your answer. I appreciate your
comments, but your information about Chile being the only source of
blueberries during this time of year appears to be incorrect
unfortunately (which I'm sure was not intentional of course). Just by
chance, a few weeks ago (at about the same time your last message was
posted) I found organic blueberries at the local QFC and have been
buying them since then. In fact, they are even indicated as being
USDA organic, which is interesting. Apparently there are several
other sources of organic blueberries from New Zealand as well.
Therefore, I need to request a refund for this question.
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
johno101-ga
on
16 Jan 2003 21:14 PST
Abigayle-ga,
I just requested a refund and got an error saying I am past the 30 day
time limit, which I find confusing since even the original answer, not
to mention any clarifications, was on 12/17 and it is only 1/16 today.
Can you please let me know whether there is a way you can process this
refund on your end? Thanks.
|
Clarification of Answer by
abigayle-ga
on
20 Jan 2003 17:45 PST
johno101-ga,
You may receive additional support from the Google Answers Team at
answers-editors@google.com
abigayle-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
johno101-ga
on
20 Jan 2003 18:11 PST
Thanks, I can try that, but before doing so, I was hoping you might be
able to handle it on your end more easily. I'm unclear whether you
can do so. Can you please clarify?
|
Clarification of Answer by
abigayle-ga
on
25 Jan 2003 19:59 PST
johno11-ga;
Sorry, I am unble to do anything further on my end. You will need to
contact the Google Answers Team.
abigayle-ga
|
