The Red, White and Food

Conventional rice farmers use up to 40 different synthetic pesticides, many of which leach their hazardous contaminants into the ground and water supply. Organic rice farmers represent a minuscule number of farms and percentage of overall acreage. They are victory gardeners/farmers for sure and what they are doing counts more than ever. 

I live in the largest rice producing state in the country and wanted to do The Red, White and Food shout out to one of the only organic rice producers, Hogue Farms and their product, Southern Brown Rice. I spoke to the company this morning and although their rice is not carried in retail stores, you can order a 25 pound bag of long grain, organic brown rice for $22.50 plus shipping. Check them out at this website, www.hoguefarms.com and cheer them on.

The company that sets the standard for organic rice farming is California's Lundberg Family Farms and their products are readily available in stores and on their website, www.lundberg.com

They have wonderful rice; my favorite is the Wehani pictured above. It is absolutely delicious and the whole house smells fabulous whenever I am cooking it. As you will see from their website, they have done "the right thing" since 1937 and have a vast array of organic rice products. The brown rice pastas and rice cakes are terrific, too. 

Lundberg Farms is also part of the non-GMO project (as is Stauss Family Creamery, the milk supplier used by The Cowgirl Creamery featured in the first The Red White and Food entry) and published this handy link...print it out and take it with your when you shop. You heard about the "newest thing" in salmon, right??? Good grief. I'll write about that later.

http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/documentFiles/144.pdf

For me, organic rice is on my list of "must buy organic" and a big The Red, White and Food thank you to Hogue and Lundberg Farms! For all you young moms out there, rice is often your child's first solid food. Make sure it is organic!