Due to consumer demand, organic agriculture is now growing faster than any other sector. It is finally starting to be taken seriously by researchers who are doing studies comparing yields and nutritional analysis of foods grown with modern synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and those grown organically.

For example, a ten year study from 1994 to 2004 by University of California-Davis showed that 2 flavonoid nutrients (antioxidants that reduce high blood pressure and are linked with reduced rates of cancers and dementia) were 79 and 97% higher in organic tomatoes than in conventional tomatoes. Scottish biochemists found that soup made using organic vegetables contained six times the level of salicylic acid linked in other studies with a protective effect against heart attacks, cancer and strokes. Two other studies have found that organic vegetables contained higher levels of vitamin C, magnesium and iron.

Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming in developing countries and holds its own against standard methods in developed countries according to a recent study by US researchers. They say their findings contradict arguments that organic farming, which excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, is not as efficient as conventional techniques.

"My hope is that we can finally put a nail in the coffin of the idea that you can't produce enough food through organic agriculture," said Ivette Perfecto, a professor at the University of Michigan's school of Natural Resources and Environment.

She and colleagues analyzed 293 different examples in published studies on yields from organic farming. "We were struck by how much food the organic farmers would produce," wrote Perfecto in their report, published in the Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems journal.

"Corporate interest in agriculture and the way agriculture research has been conducted in land grant institutions, with a lot of influence by the chemical companies and pesticide companies as well as fertilizer companies, all have been playing an important role in convincing the public that you need to have these inputs to produce food," she added.

Sierra Vista Farmers Market

New Vendor: Stout's Cider Mill with apple pies, cakes, apple cider, jams, pecan pies and apple butter. To eat at the market try their pocket pie, an apple or cherry turnover. Stout's newest product is their "Apple Pie in a Jar." In 1985 Ron and Corinne Stout planted 8,000 apple trees on their Bonita farm which provides apples for their Willcox Cider Mill store. Stout's began as a family operation and remains so today with 3 generations growing and making their products and bringing them to events all over Arizona, southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. Their flagship "Classic" pie, made with 10 pounds of Granny Smith apples has been featured in Sunset and Arizona Highways magazines and on NBC TV. (Also weekly at Bisbee Farmers Market.)

New Vendor: Welcome to Stewart Loew of Agua Linda Farm, a 63 acre historic family farm with huge cottonwood trees located near Tubac off Hwy 19. Stewart will bring green beans, bags of baby and heirloom summer squash, raw and filtered local honey and gourds. Check their web site www.AguaLindaFarm.net for information on their U-pick and farm store which also features their grass fed beef, lamb and pork, eggs, honey, jams, and seasonal vegetables. Ask him about the annual harvest festivals or booking weddings, receptions, birthday parties or field trips at the ranch which can include a petting zoo, a pumpkin patch, a maze, hay and pony rides and farm-raised burgers.

Grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured chicken, natural pork and farm eggs are brought to the market each week by two local ranchers and their families, the Watkins and the Moroneys, who raise their meats without hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. (At both markets.)

Douglas beekeeper, Ray Simmons and family, will be back with desert honeys, honey products and a full line of home-style pickles, jams and jellies.

Come early to the information booth to get home-grown blackberries by Jenny Kolar of Hereford. Stop by to check out specialty produce grown by small local growers and to sign up for a free weekly e-newsletter which lets you know who and what will be at the market. You can also subscribe by sending your e-mail to me at vallimac@cox.net.

Bisbee Farmers Market

Event: Solar Power. Find out about sun powered electricity and solar hot water from a licensed solar contractor who will give a presentation with demonstrations at the special events tree. If the sun cooperates there will also be demonstrations of solar cooking and sun pickles as well as information on building or buying solar ovens. County music will be offered by new-to-the-market musician Chris Dunwoody.

The Bistro at the Market will offer breakfast burritos, lunch burritos including a small salad, lasagna with garlic bread and fresh coffee, juice and water as well as jello cups with fresh fruit.

Fiore di Capra will return with their raw, unpasteurized goat's milk and gourmet goat cheeses.

Mule Mountain Mama Alli Bodkin has great fruit popsicles and fresh-squeezed orange, lime or lemonades. Her peach and strawberry popsicles were both great last week.

English baker Valerie Stephens and the Cookie Lady will be back with pasties, scones, homemade cookies and sweet breads and more next to Alli under the central tree.

Master hooper and hoop maker, Melissa Gethin, will be back from her hoop workshop to demonstrate and sell her sturdy decorated hoops.

Get to Produce Row early for purple and green cabbages lovingly grown by Vernon Smith as well as tomatoes, summer squash, onions and the Ochoa's red chile powder, chia and gourds.

New crops: Dried garbanzo beans or chick peas grown by local farmer, Chad Koehn, are now for sale at the Produce Wagon. Pastured poultry rancher Joshua Koehn also has pullet eggs from his young chickens at a reduced price as they are smaller than eggs from grown chickens. All his eggs are from chickens that roam a fresh strip of green grass every day so have orange yolks that mean lots more beta carotene and omega 3's than caged chickens.

Get a pick up load of cow manure for $10 from Cinstar Farm in McNeal. Make arrangements with them at the market where they also sell their premium "organic" alfalfa hay which is hand weeded and unsprayed, farm eggs and cypress trees.

Recipes

Pesto

2 cups packed basil leaves with stems removed

2 to 4 cloves garlic

? tsp salt

? cup parsley (optional)

? to ? cup olive oil

? to ? cup grated parmesan cheese

? cup pine nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Laura Smith's Secret ingredient: 1 tsp to 1 tblsp mayonnaise

Place basil and parlsey in food processor or blender. Pulse until well chopped. Add garlic, salt, nuts and cheese and blend. Drizzle in olive oil to form a thick paste. Pesto can we served over pasta but it is also great over chicken and fish, steamed green beans or zucchini or even spread on corn on the cob!

Market Fruit Salad

(with all the fruit abundant at the markets now)

Watermelon

Golden honeydew melon

Cantaloupe

Blackberries

Peaches

Fresh mint leaves

1 tblsp or more Chia seed

Cut up melons in chunks into a large glass bowl. Slice peaches. Sprinkle with chia. Decorate with fresh blackberries and chopped or whole mint leaves. Chia has more omega 3's than flax and doesn't have to be ground or refrigerated. It has a slight gelling effect, stabilizes blood sugar and promotes hydration and stamina during hot summer days.