SHARING THE LOVE

I thought I might highlight a couple of nonprofits that we have donated to for their recent events. One is called Precious Life Animal Sactuary, who just had their Grand Opening on September 16th, 2006. They are located in Sequim Washington and are doing the work it takes to make life for animals a little better by giving them a safe and healthy place to live and recover. You can check out their website at www.preciouslifeanimalsanctuary.org. Though we were not able to attend their event, they were gracious enough to invite us. As a vegan food company, we do not use any animal products in our food, and we like supporting the efforts of other companies and organizations that give what they can to all beings. Much thanks to Kim Koon for giving us the opportunity to be part of their efforts and journey.

We also would like to commend Pasados Safe Haven for their years of service to the mistreated or abandoned animals that are rescued every year when tragedy strikes their owners and communities. They recently had a dinner event to thank the volunteers who rescued some 1200 animals caught in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Their efforts are successful because of the caring individuals who give their time and hard work to the cause. Check out their website at www.pasadossafehaven.org , they provide courses on building your own animal sanctuary, spay and adoption services as well as have many great stories about rescued animals...like Louise the pig who escaped from the slaughter truck!

ALL PRINT AND NO PLAY...
So here at the Field Roast Grain Meat Company we are going through some growing pains. I think that the most affected members of our team are the computers and our bohemeth of a printer. Between the 2 thousand sheets of labels I print each week, along with the marketing materials, the invoices and UPS labels, Betty is getting a little testy. Today her thing is to say that her output tray is overfull and she stops printing until I trip the little piece that "accurately" reads when the tray is full of completed printed materials...Last week she was picky about the exact measurement of the piece of paper that she was to print on...and here and there she will print out about 20 sheets of random jibberish for no apparent reason, I believe it is code for "All words and no play make Betty a dull girl..." I will continue to sing her praises, we are at her mercy after all!

I'VE BEEN HAACP'D
As posted below, I recently had the pleasure of attending a three day intensive course in all things HAACP. For those uninitiated, HAACP was created as a preventative group of procedures intended to minimize as much as possible the occurances of hazardous chemicals, pathogens, etc. in food products. The class was geared mainly towards seafood producers, but excluding a few obtuse (to me) fish references and examples it was pretty straight-forward, and HAACP plans work the same no matter what a person happens to be making.

After becoming officially HAACP certified and finishing the class I brought my new-found knowledge back to HQ and am proud to say that David, Malcolm and my HAACP plan and revamped sanitation procedures are on their way to being finished and implemented on the production floor. Because Field Roast is already such a low-risk food our HAACP plan is a bit more concise than that of, for example, a fish processor or dairy plant, so hopefully we will soon have the already fine-tuned machine that is production running even smoother.

TENZIN!

Whole Foods Boulder is a rock'in store. Their deli is huge and filled with delicious veggie foods. I was walking around the deli area and ran into an old friend, Tenzin Mclain.

I first met Tenzin many years ago (9?) when he was working the deli at the Whole Foods San Rafael store.

In all the years that I've worked in the food biz, I've had the priviledge to meet some really special people. People who devote themselves to the food business for the love of it, the food of it, the meaning of it....I think Tenzin and I are in the same tribe?

Every time I've met Tenzin he is always smiling and is calm amidst the hussle and bussle around him. The last time I saw him was in San Rafael probably 3-4 years ago.....we were talking he must of though I was stressed out cuz he pulled a tincture bottle out of pocket and asked me if I wanted some kava.....which he promptly squirted into my mouth...I felt calmer.....

Legend has it that Tenzin was the chef for illustrious and musically wonderful people who became quite popular playing guitar and singing songs....

Nowadays it's the dharma (our practice) that hopefully calms both of us...


Here's to you Tenzin...it's an honor and priviledge.

TO DENVER!

I had to go to Denver last week as we are getting ready to work with United Natural Foods. UNFI is a national natural food distributor that is broken up into regions. We recently "got picked up" by UNFI West (formally known as Mountain Peoples Warehouse) and now UNFI Denver. We are jazzed because a lot people have been bugging us for a long time to work with UNFI. It seems like most stores do business with them.....so anyway...onward to Denver......

Here is the picture of the delicious product I brought with me, replete with TSA tape. They always like to take a look at what I'm bringing to town. I brought mostly sausages but also 'BRANG' some Chao Cheese and White Truffle Pate....CR = Celebration Roast.

I had meetings with BIG customers and many little stores. I camped at the Cherry Creek Campground with was wedged in between super highways in South Denver. It's not what you'd call a naturalists type of campground but it sufficed. The highlights were the Nile Virus, which, while sounding exotic kinda freaked me out a bit as i had a previous run-in with a little tick while camping in North Boston this summer giving me some LymeFun....!!!! The price of camping...and oh not to have to stay at some hotel in a strip mall, going "home" each evening to star at the ceiling, listen to the air conditioner, etc. I have a little suitcase that contains everything I need; a small tent, pad, sleeping bag, etc. It's a cool way to go.....I'd always prefer it...the only downgrade is refrigeration for sample product (usually stored a nearby customers store)....i bring earplugs to deal with loud campers and highways. The campgrounds always have showers and no...I don't have campfires or do any cooking. This trip, as most, I enjoyed the Whole Foods salad bar for my main meal...and then a little soup for dinner at Panera, while using their wifi...