Ask MOFGA

Q. How can I locate organic growers directly so that buying organic foods isn’t so expensive?

A. The list of MOFGA-certified organic growers is posted at www.mofga.org by county and is printed in The MOF&G in the June-August and Sept.-Nov. issues. You can also visit your local farmers’ market and get to know growers and their practices. The Maine Department of Agriculture (www.maine.gov/agriculture) lists farmers’ markets, farmstands and pick-your-own farms.

Board member Eric Rector notes that MOFGA helped create the Maine Foods Network (www.mainefoods.net), the most complete listing of Maine farms and their products, noting which are certified organic. Many farms can add stories and pictures to their listings on the Network.

Another way to buy reasonably-priced, organic food, says MOFGA staffer Heather Fisher, is to join or start a buying club and order through a mail-order food distribution warehouse, such as Associated Buyers (P.O. Box 399, 5 Commerce Way, Barrington, NH 03825; Phone 603-664-5656; Fax 603- 644-2299; info@assocbuyers.com). Associated Buyers is a small, natural, organic and specialty foods wholesale company serving the Northeast with a diverse product mix, including many ethnic foods, bulk goods, regionally-made specialties and natural foods. Many of its products are raised or made by small New England vendors

Q. More and more color is being used in newspapers, so it’s getting harder to find paper without colored ink to use as mulch in the garden. Is it safe to mulch with newspaper pages that have color, or is the ink toxic? Along the same lines, should I burn colored newspaper pages in my woodstove, and if I do, can I still use the ashes on my garden?

A. MOFGA’s technical director, Eric Sideman, says that the danger with colored inks is that they contain heavy metals. Since these metals are found naturally in soils at low levels, the goal is to not increase the level by adding lots more. He suggests not burning and using the ash from, or using paper with, lots of color in the garden. "But my opinion is that a little bit of colored ink on a page is probably not going to change anything in the soil."

Mary Yurlina, certification coordinator for MOFGA Certification Services, LLC, points out that certification standards [NOP Section 205.601 (b) (2) (i) and ( c)] specify that newspaper and other recycled paper can be used as mulch and compost feedstocks, respectively, but without glossy or colored inks.