Organic Food

Over the Fourth of July holiday, I spent a lot of time in the grocery store--note that I said "store" in the singular. Thereby hangs a tale. You might be surprised to hear that the Earthwatch columnist, often a strident promoter of organic and un-chemically grown food, didn't trek all over the county to little health food stores. He found everything he needed at Ralphs.

Most of us are too plump and are overly fond of snacks, fast food - and food in general. So why did two lean young women who dine on smoothies and organic fruits and vegetables (how unimpeachable does that sound) seek help cleaning up their act? May Haduong, 33, and Frances Motiwalla, 34, just had this sense they were slaves to each passing fad (greens! organic! flaxseed! gluten-free!) and were building up their eating rules in a haphazard, unscientific way. "We've sort of made it up in our heads," Haduong says: whirring up slurries of kale, beet greens, frozen fruits and celery in the blender in their pint-sized kitchen twice a day (down to once a day when Motiwalla couldn't take it anymore)

That's one high-hopping bunny: Shares of Berkeley-based Annie's Inc. are up more than 70% a few hours after the organic food company's public debut. Trading under the BNNY ticker symbol -- a reference to its rabbit logo -- Annie's stock is currently at $32.85 a share. It opened at $31.11 a share -- a 63.7% spike after being priced late Tuesday at $19 a share. That's after the macaroni-and-cheese maker set a target range of $16 to $18 a share, itself a boost from an original range of $14 to $16. Of the 5 million shares sold on the New York Stock Exchange, Annie's offered up 950,000 and stockholders sold 4,050,000, with the option of also releasing an additional 750,000 shares if demand stays steady.

That's one high-hopping bunny: Shares of Berkeley-based Annie's Inc. are up more than 70% a few hours after the organic food company's public debut. Trading under the BNNY ticker symbol -- a reference to its rabbit logo -- Annie's stock is currently at $32.85 a share. It opened at $31.11 a share -- a 63.7% spike after being priced late Tuesday at $19 a share. That's after the macaroni-and-cheese maker set a target range of $16 to $18 a share, itself a boost from an original range of $14 to $16. Of the 5 million shares sold on the New York Stock Exchange, Annie's offered up 950,000 and stockholders sold 4,050,000, with the option of also releasing an additional 750,000 shares if demand stays steady.

Those of us who go out of our way to shop for and pay higher prices to purchase organic food are very particular about the food we eat. We do not want irradiated food, genetically engineered food or food fertilized with sewage sludge. If allowed to include such food, the term "organic" will become meaningless. KATHRYN S. TARBELL Fountain Valley

Increasingly each year, humans foraging in American supermarkets select organically grown food. Not so with wild songbirds searching for sustenance in the gardens of England. Given a choice between organically and conventionally grown wheat, they opt for the conventional stuff — which is higher in protein — 55 to 60% of the time, a study has found. The findings, which were published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture on Tuesday, raise yet again the question of which is healthier: organic or conventional food.

Target Corp. said Thursday that it had introduced its own line of organic foods, countering Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s move into the fast-growing market. Target is offering juices and whole-grain pizzas under its Archer Farms label along with organic produce in stores with full supermarkets, the Minneapolis-based company said. Target and Wal-Mart are helping to boost sales of organic foods by offering them to discount shoppers. Wal-Mart plans to carry more than 400 organic items.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman strongly implied that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will not permit food irradiation, genetic engineering and the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer in organic foods. Those practices have met a flood of criticism since December, when the agency proposed national standards for the booming organic food industry. In an interview, Glickman said the public comment period for the rules will not end until April 30.

Organic farmers on Tuesday urged federal regulators to uphold high standards for production of such food, not to weaken them. The Organic Trade Assn. joined 130,000 consumers, trade groups and agribusinesses in submitting formal comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture about its proposed rules for labeling food "organic." The flood of public comments was a record for any USDA rule-making, officials said. The comment period is scheduled to end Thursday.

Under a deluge of 200,000 angry letters, the Agriculture Department will scrap proposals that would have allowed organic food to contain sewage sludge or bioengineered material, congressional and industry sources said. Opponents ranging from singer Willie Nelson to a bipartisan group of 48 members of Congress had joined organic farmers in attacking the controversial proposals. USDA is expected to announce today that it will start over in setting organic food labeling standards.

Little bistro, huge impact. Like a different sort of miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, Chez Panisse, the landmark Berkeley restaurant, and its founder and guiding spirit, Alice Waters, have leveraged a small temple of slow, local and organic food into a massive force in the culinary world. Now that appetite for a new/old food culture has begun to register on the public's consciousness, if not always on its plate. Waters is clearing her table of most everything but the Edible Schoolyard Project : If we are what we eat, she wants children in class, on the playground and in the cafeteria kitchen to change their identities by the forkful.

Donny Lavrenz set a Rose Bowl record Monday, piling up an estimated 17,694 all-purpose yards. Never heard of him? Now you have. From the time the Wisconsin junior stepped onto the bus at his downtown hotel in the morning, to the start of the parade, to the end of the parade, to a pep rally on Brookside golf course, to a toasty pregame show, to a mercifully shady halftime show, that's the mileage the band member racked up - in a wool uniform...

It was the first New World Festival of Eco-Friendly Science and Technology and quite possibly the last. The event near the beach in Santa Monica, which had been scheduled to run through Sunday, was shut down abruptly Saturday afternoon. Its website had promised robots, a petting zoo, six stages of live music and more than 150 exhibits. But the gathering on Saturday looked more like a medium-sized, eco-friendly farmers market. Howard Mauskopf, the festival's organizer, said he needed to shut down because so few people had shown up. "We're in a position where we don't have the financial ability to continue," he said, adding that he would have needed eight to 10 times the crowd that was present to make ends meet.

At a glance, it is clear this is no run-of-the-mill farm: A 6-foot spiked fence hems the meticulously planted vegetables and security guards control a cantilevered gate that glides open only to select cars. "It is for officials only. They produce organic vegetables, peppers, onions, beans, cauliflowers, but they don't sell to the public," said Li Xiuqin, 68, a lifelong Shunyi village resident who lives directly across the street from the farm but has never been inside. "Ordinary people can't go in there.

When Gabriel, a 10-year-old rescue cat from Chinatown, tucks into his morning meal, you won't see any Friskies or Meow Mix in his bowl. Ahi tuna and duck are more the ticket. "I think there's more than enough pesticides and chemicals and that kind of stuff in human food," says Gabriel's owner, Jason Lanum, on a recent expedition to the Urban Pet, a Los Angeles specialty pet store. "I eat natural food, and I don't see any reason why I shouldn't give it to my cat. " These days, our pets may be eating better than we are. Big-box pet stores and precious pet boutique shelves are increasingly stocked with gourmet edibles that are corn-free, wheat-free, locally sourced, byproduct-free, free-range, minimally processed and raw. Many come with homey, inviting labels, and some look palatable even for humans.

Blue Heron Farm Bed & Breakfast, just a two-hour drive south of L.A. in Fallbrook, is an organic farm with three charming rooms, each with a different theme. Unusual and savory breakfasts are prepared by the owner, who incorporates the farm's produce in her cooking. Fallbrook and the adjacent towns of Oceanside and Carlsbad have interesting activities waiting to be explored. Blue Heron Farm Bed & Breakfast, 5910 Camino Baja Cerro, Fallbrook; (760) 643-0092, http://www.blueheronfarmbandb.com . Weekday room rates from $150 to $200.

Organic, raw and even gluten-free food choices aren't just for people anymore. These options are showing up at local pet shops that are looking to distinguish themselves from big-box competitors. After a slowdown in sales of premium-priced food during the recession, independent pet shops said the sector was recovering. At the Modern Dog, a boutique in a Venice bungalow, co-owner Lance Castro was looking to add two new brands of freeze-dried raw food and premium kibble to the seven he already sells.

To the connected diner, it may seem that Erika Nakamura and Amelia Posada arrived in Los Angeles ages ago. The larger-than-life personas behind Lindy & Grundy are practically household names among local foodies, though their butcher shop selling locally sourced, pasture-raised organic meat on Fairfax Avenue has yet to open. This tweeting team of cleaver-wielding butcherettes, as they call themselves, has been tapping into the city's technologically engaged food culture, making the presence of their shop known well before it sells its first beef cheek.