The Grazing Mind

As of late, our farmers across the country have been struggling to make ends meet, due to the sharp increase in what they pay for their input costs, including grain and fuel. We’ve been carefully reviewing what we pay our farmer partners in light of these mounting cost pressures as we want to ensure that they make a fair and competitive wage and are incentivized to produce the highest quality organic milk on the market.

At the same time, Horizon, like many other organic dairy brands, has seen a sharp increase in demand for our milk, resulting in reduced availability.  Because of this, you may have read or found that it’s harder to find organic milk on store shelves.  This increased demand resulted, in part, from shortages from other organic milk suppliers, as well as from last year’s unprecedented heat, humidity, rain and flooding, which negatively impacted the entire organic milk industry.

In light of these conditions, today we announced a short-term pay price increase and extension to all our Horizon farmers beginning Feb.1.

We believe this action will ensure the most sustainable livelihood possible for our organic dairy farmers and the overall organic dairy industry. As always, we’ll continue to monitor this situation and take additional action, if needed.

What’s the most challenging thing you’ve ever done? Think about it… the absolute hardest thing you’ve ever done? While rewarding and gratifying in the end, it probably  wasn’t much “fun” during that actual process, right?

Well here’s a challenge that’ll bring those same feelings of reward and gratification, only without all that miserable work. Introducing our Silk brand’s newest campaign – The Least Challenging Challenge.

It’s simple. All you have to do is replace your regular milk, with Silk, whenever you eat a bowl of cereal. That’s it. Potential benefits include fewer calories, higher calcium intake and a great taste that results in a challenge that is not even remotely challenging.

And accepting the challenge doesn’t mean you have to give up milk. All you have to do is use Silk instead of milk when you eat cereal. It’s the best of both worlds, it’s easy and it’s delicious.

So if you’re up for the “challenge”, (again, it’s not going to be much of a challenge) head on over to our Facebook page for more details, and a coupon to help get you started.

New Year’s resolutions have been a hot topic around the office these past few days. And not surprisingly, the most popular resolution revolves around the waistline. New year, new diet.

No doubt you’ve been hearing or saying the same thing so in keeping with that theme, here’s a healthy recipe courtesy of our friend Dr. Greene and our Horizon brand to help keep you (and us) on track. Enjoy.

Grilled Salmon Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Horizon Organic fat-free plain yogurt
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh mint, minced
• 1-1/2 teaspoons flax oil*
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1-1/4 lbs fresh boneless, skinless salmon
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 2 green onions, minced
• 3 tablespoons lowfat feta
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 egg white
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

*Find flax oil in the natural section of your grocery store.

 Directions:

To make the sauce, line a colander with a coffee filter, place over a bowl and strain the yogurt 30 minutes. Line a second colander with a coffee filter. Combine cucumbers and salt and strain for 30 minutes to remove moisture. Rinse cucumbers to remove much of salt and squeeze dry. Combine strained yogurt, cucumber, garlic, mint, flax oil and lemon juice in a small bowl and chill 30 minutes while you prepare the salmon burgers.

Cut salmon into 1-inch cubes. Place salmon, mustard and green onions in a food processor and pulse 4-6 times until salmon is minced to the consistency of ground beef. Put salmon in a bowl, add feta, breadcrumbs, oregano and egg white, and mix until well combined.

Form the salmon mixture into 4 burgers. Brush each with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Preheat and oil the grill according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Cook burgers 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve with tzatziki sauce.

Nutrition Facts/serving (includes sauce):

Calories 345; Calories from Fat 150; Total Fat 17g; Saturated Fat 4g; Cholesterol 88g; Sodium 887mg; Total Carbohydrates 12g; Fiber 1g; Sugar 6g; Protein 35g; Vitamin A 9% DV; Vitamin C 9% DV; Calcium 22% DV; Iron 12% DV.

Omega-3s 3.813g [3813mg]

There’s always a lot of focus on pie recipes during the holiday season, so we’re gonna go ahead and ride that train a little longer. I give you, Pumpkin Pie, International Delight style…

Pumpkin Pie isn’t just for Thanksgiving, nor is it just for dairy lovers. Check out Cathy’s quick and delicious dairy-free recipe…

The National Organic Standards Board voted today to continue to allow plant-based DHA that is not hexane extracted to be used in the production of organic foods. We applaud this decision, as Horizon has used plant-based DHA in our Horizon Organic milk with DHA Omega-3 since 2007.

This is a clear victory for the millions of consumers who have purchased our DHA Omega-3 milk products over the past four years due to the added health benefits they are thought to deliver, including support for brain, heart and eye health at every stage of life.

As a result of this decision, consumers can continue to feel good about purchasing Horizon organic milk with DHA Omega-3 because it affirms that our plant-based DHA Omega-3 is a safe and effective non-synthetic additive, as well as non-GMO and extracted without the use of hexane. Unlike DHA from fish oil, it is also free from any possible ocean-borne contaminants, does not contribute to overfishing and is vegetarian.

Consumer demand for these products has helped us grow Horizon’s network of more than 600 family farmers. In fact, we’ve been able to double the number of family farmers we work with over the past five years.

This decision paves the way for the type of future innovation in organic dairy that will help grow the category. That’s good for the organic movement, good for people and good for the planet.

We know we’ve got a long way to go, but we’re sure proud of what we’ve achieved so far…

A classic dessert with a little holiday flavor…

Early American settlers used to settle disputes via pie eating contests on Thanksgiving Day… these contests served as the inspiration behind many of today’s popular organized eating events.

Mashed Potatoes, or Smashed potatoes? Early Americans fought many a battle over what to call the classic Thanksgiving potato dish.

Which side are you on?