Enjoy!

Rhubarb Crisp
serves 8

Ingredients
8 large stalks rhubarb, cut into ¼” pieces
1 ½ cups of organic sugar
½ cup organic flour
1 Tbs unsalted organic butter
Organic Topping (recipe follows)

1. Combine cut rhubarb with ¾ cup of sugar and let stand for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Turn rhubarb into a large bowl and add remaining sugar.  Mix well.  Add flour and mix again.  If mixture is too soupy, add flour to thicken.
3. Butter a 2 ½ quart gratin dish and pour in rhubarb mixture.  Sprinkle with topping.
4. Place dish on middle rack of oven and bake for 1 hour, until rhubarb is tender, juices are bubbling and topping is crisp.

Oatmeal Topping
¾ cup organic flour
8 Tbs (1 stick) cold unsalted organic butter, cut into small pieces
1 Tbs organic ground cinnamon
1 cup organic rolled oats
½ cup organic brown sugar

In a food processor, combine flour, butter and cinnamon.  Pulse until large crumbs form, about 20 seconds.  (If you don’t have a food processor, cut butter into dry ingredients until large crumbs form.)  Pour into bowl with oatmeal and sugar.  Crumble with fingers until well combined.

I realize it’s called the Natural Products Expo for a reason – a compromise to sell space to the spandex-clad women who hawk supplements and colon cleansing.  But the true purpose must be to get everyone excited about natural and organic food…real, honest-to-goodness, food that matters.  Unfortunately, this year’s show was dominated by bars/water/chips being sold as nutrient carrying devices and touting the benefits of the super fruit du jour.  The only thing in short supply was real fruit.

To be fair, Earthbound Farms was displaying fresh salad mixes and Alexia was sampling yummy sweet potatoes fries.  Industry stalwarts Organic Valley and Applegate Farms were there, too.  But for the most part, the aisles were filled with people and companies competing to sell empty calories.

Obviously, some of our cookies could be considered “empty calories”.  But in everything we do, we make real food with simple ingredients and offer better-for-you alternatives to our counterparts.  That’s the beauty of organic – every ingredient is real.  You’ll know we’ve “jumped the shark” when we start selling “energy bites with ginko”.

It should surprise no one that the Natural industry is in the same boat as mainstream producers.  Since we collectively produce far more calories than we could (or should) possibly consume, selling food in the U.S. is a zero-sum game.  Growth comes from stealing “share of stomach” from the next guy by figuring out how to sell more calories, whether we need them or not.  This explains why we can buy food virtually all day and anywhere.  As an expandable consumable, food has become the growth vehicle that is driving ever expanding waistbands and obesity rates.

So while I’m disillusioned, I expect I’ll attend future shows with an eye out for the interesting developments in real food (and eating my way around the world of dark chocolate).  As for hydration systems, I’m happy to fill my reusable bottle from the tap.

Access to better-for-you food matters to us.  That’s why last year, with the help of our Facebook friends, we  delivered more than 5,000 bowls of oatmeal to food shelves.  This year, we’d like to double that number and give the gift of breakfast to thousands of people in need.

As part of our commitment to make organic foods accessible to everyone, we’re asking people to “like” us on Facebook and help us send organic oatmeal to food shelves which desperately need the help.  For each new fan between today and January 5, Country Choice Organic will donate five bowls of organic instant oatmeal to Hope for the City.

Become a Country Choice Organic fan on Facebook today and help others start the new year hunger-free.

Happy holidays,

Your Friends at Country Choice Organic

To participate (and earn a chance to win a year’s supply of Country Choice Organic products), oat fans can submit a picture that shows how oats fuel their active lifestyle.  Whether it’s a photo of a power-packed recipe or a pic of you and your friends refueling with an Oatmeal on the Run bar after a long run, we want to know how oats help you stay active and healthy. 

Submit your photo before September 10 for a chance to win. A panel of Country Choice Organic employees will select the winning entry.  To enter, visit: http://www.facebook.com/CountryChoiceOrganic

It’s a shame that Earth Day has been relegated, along with Christmas and Back to School, to an annual sales event.  Earth Day is a secular, multi-generational opportunity for everyone to contribute to a greater good.  The message for Earth Day is simple: the little contributions we all make add up to big changes for the environment. 

Here’s the ad I’d like to see:  “Happy Earth Day…Buy Less Stuff”.  I know there’s a recession and we’re a consumer-driven economy, but do we really need a new phone every two years or a 4WD Bushwhacker for our 3-mile paved drive to the mall?  Here’s another thought: align yourself with companies that do the right thing every day, not as a marketing gimmick once a year.  Chipotle, Patagonia and 7^th Generation are all examples of mission-driven organizations having built sustainable, low-impact businesses.

So happy Earth Day.  Celebrate.  Eat a burrito or plant a tree.  Just don’t buy the car.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (February 2010)

Country Choice Organic FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal makes it easy for kids to eat a heart warming breakfast every morning by making whole grain, high fiber cereal taste delicious to the pickiest of children.   “At Country Choice Organic, we constantly review our products to find ways to improve our nutrition profile”, says Sharon Herzog, Research and Development Director at Country Choice Organic. “Reducing the sugar in FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal is a perfect example of tweaking a formula to improve nutrition while still delivering the great taste kids want at breakfast.” 

Country Choice Organic FIT KIDS Instant Oatmeal is made with whole grain organic oats and fortified with calcium and iron, and available in kid-friendly flavors including, Chocolate Chip/Cinnamon Toast and Caramel Apple/Berry Blast Variety Packs. Found in organic food aisles nationwide, each package contains eight servings for a suggested retail price of $4.29. Every serving is a good source of fiber, protein and iron and contains no trans fat.   Find more information at www.countrychoiceorganic.com

Notables^® by Mission Nutrition, creates a grab ‘n go breakfast that kids eat at their desk.  There are NO TABLES involved (get it?).  Each Notables breakfast, when paired with milk, exceeds the minimum federal School Breakfast Program nutrition requirements by pairing shelf-stable whole grain foods and fruit products in a fun bag. 

They are committed to offering only the highest quality foods in a convenient, kid-friendly manner…which is where we come in.  Notables is currently using specially formulated Oatmeal on the Run bars in two of their bags, meaning kids get all the nutrition of a bowl of instant oatmeal right at their desks.

Our teams are busy looking for other healthy ways for kids to eat and will update you with our progress.  In the meantime, make sure your kids start their day with a notable breakfast…no matter where they eat.

You’ll find more information at http://www.notables.com.

All that changed on November 2 when we introduced Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats.  Same whole grain goodness; same nutty, chewy texture, but with a 5-minute cook time puts Steel Cut Oats on your daily breakfast menu.

Look for Country Choice Organic Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats in your favorite store.  The name’s a mouthful, but worth remembering.  After all, you’ll get to enjoy a steaming bowl of steel cut oats everyday…just like Oprah!

However, the growth of the organic industry has created a new commitment to product quality.  Driven by consumers’ unwillingness to sacrifice taste in their quest for better health, organic foods today taste as good as—and often better than—their mainstream counterparts.

This leap in quality and taste is linked to the involvement of mainstream manufacturers and retailers.  The dynamic growth of the organic industry has attracted most major food companies, who bring advances in development, manufacturing and quality control for improved products.  In many instances, organic products are manufactured on the same line as conventional brands, so it’s not surprising that product quality is comparable.

Organic industry growth has also attracted major food retailers, including club stores and mass merchandisers.  With retailers stocking only the most-appealing products, organic manufacturers, including small private producers like Country Choice Organic, need to create products that can compete for discriminating palates and tight budgets.

So, next time you think you know what to expect with organic food, think again. Bad taste has gone the way of the carob chip spelt cookie. And that, as they say, is a good thing.