I have a problem with consuming products that are more well-traveled than I am. I don’t want to be jealous of the places my lettuce has been, or the things my pillow has seen. I want to know where these products came from, and what they’ve been subjected to.  I would like very simple life stories from the things I buy, please.

I don’t know why I didn’t come to this conclusion sooner, but after reading extensively about the issues, I am now a reformed “locavore.” Local foods and other products are better for me, better for the planet, and better for my community.

I trust American organic industry, and I want to support it. I consider my dollar to be like a vote; the businesses and products people are willing to pay for will stay around, while those they don’t support will disappear. I personally want the organic farmers and producers in my community to stay, so I’m going to vote for them by buying and using their products.

There are so many reasons to buy American-sourced products: decreased fuel consumption, a stronger economy, more support for local farmers, better personal health, a better knowledge of where and how your products were made, greater biodiversity…the list goes on. So why not?

Apparently I’m not the only person asking myself this question, as I recently read that the local farming industry in the United States has increased by 20% in the past 6 years. That, to me, is amazing news. So here’s to spending money conscientiously and shopping locally!

I’m sure many of us share treasured childhood memories, and one of mine is when my mother would tuck me in at night and say, “Sleep tight.” I now often hear myself repeating that phrase, which leads me to wonder where “sleep tight” actually originated.

History shows that the phrase “sleep tight” has always been used in the English-speaking world, and is associated with the rhyme “good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” The “sleep tight” part may refer back to when mattress foundations were made from ropes, which needed to be pulled tight to provide a well-sprung bed. The ropes were spread across the bed frame in a criss-cross pattern to form a sleeping platform. They would sag with time and weight, and had to be tightened periodically, hence the phrase “sleep tight.” This brings to mind why it’s important to know what type of foundation your mattress is on.

Most of us have had common commercial mattresses at one time or another. We may have told by a salesperson, “This price includes the set,” which we assume means we’re getting a box-spring foundation. I’m here to tell you that that’s not always the case. I speak to customers all day long who assume that the foundation they have now is a box spring, when actually it contains no springs at all – just thin wood. I call this a “faux” or “impostor” box spring.

Innerspring mattresses are designed specifically to be supported by a box-spring foundation. With a “faux” foundation, the innerspring mattress will lack proper support, which in turn will not provide the sleeper with the proper support. It becomes a vicious cycle. Some people try placing plywood between the mattress and the foundation, hoping it will do the trick. When it doesn’t work and the mattress becomes increasingly uncomfortable from lack of support, a chemically-laden memory-foam pillow top may be added. It goes on and on as the mattress dips and sags in an unusually short period of time. It’s only when the entire situation becomes unbearable that we’re forced to pay attention and purchase a new mattress. Sadly, if the underlying problem hasn’t been recognized the first time, the pattern is often repeated.

On a more positive note, we’ve come a long way in terms of technology from using a rope foundation that needs to be tightened to prevent sagging. We now offer platform-slat bed frames, which require no maintenance and allow natural rubber mattresses to have the air circulation they need without using a foundation. Yet when it comes to traditional innerspring, steel-coil mattresses, my biggest concern is that the general mattress buyer is often still unaware of the need such mattresses have for a steel-coil box-spring foundation to support them. Think of the two pieces as a team, working together to provide the perfect, comfortable support.

So when you find it’s time to replace that not-so-old, sagging mattress set, remember to look inside the potentially empty “box spring” that came with your mattress to see what’s inside.

I hope you always will “sleep tight”!

I took a trip with a friend last month to the Central California towns of Monterey and Salinas to attend the 29th annual Steinbeck Festival. Afterward, we drove 100 miles down the Salinas Valley, mostly on old River Road – the original El Camino Real – to visit the Paso Robles wine country.

Born in Salinas in 1902, John Steinbeck set some of his best-known stories along the massively fertile valley. During college breaks he lived and labored alongside migratory workers in the sugar-beet fields near Soledad, and their experiences inspired The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men – tales of fierce compassion for agricultural workers living on society’s margins, struggling to overcome exploitation and brutality. Steinbeck was accused of being a communist agitator and “un-American” in the 1930s for daring to suggest that the dispossessed be treated with dignity; Grapes was burned in front of the Salinas public library. It wasn’t until the 1960s that public opinion began to catch up with his thinking. In 1969, the year after he died, the same library was renamed after him.

Steinbeck loved the rugged, undeveloped beauty of the Santa Lucia coast range and its valleys. He traveled the River Road countless times. As we drove, we talked about what he might think of his home turf today. Some things haven’t changed much: the green fields in neat rows sweeping up to the foothills, the looming mountains, the old barns and adobes and frame houses. He might be surprised to see winery tasting rooms springing up in former lettuce fields or to hear Highway 101 buzzing in the distance, but for the most part we guessed he’d feel right at home.

Near the Soledad mission we were jarred from our reverie by the sight of leafy greens growing along the highway, a bilingual skull-and-crossbones sign at the end of each row reading DANGER – POISON. According to the EPA, this particular sign is reserved for pesticides with “acute toxicity,” including some that can kill humans through skin contact or inhalation. Someone down the line is going to eat that kale or spinach or radicchio, I thought, with no clue about its past. The heaviest exposure would be experienced by the workers who applied the poisons. (When another sign came along later that read “Organic Farm — Do Not Spray” it was comforting, though gale-force winds made me hope that neighbors weren’t applying anything with acute toxicity that day.)

As in Steinbeck’s time, those most affected by unethical agricultural practices are the men and women who work long hours for less-than-subsistence wages planting and tending and harvesting crops. While conditions may have improved overall since the Great Depression, we’re moving in the wrong direction when it comes to toxic exposure. Pesticides put workers’ lives at risk, and when exposure leads to illness, basic health benefits are usually lacking.

Synthetic pesticides were just starting to be developed when Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath. Since then they’ve become big business, but their stranglehold can be broken. When consumers buy organic – including products containing cotton, the most heavily pesticide-treated crop – it reduces demand for the toxins that compromise the health of our land and its people.

When we as a society stop purchasing conventionally-grown products, the market for agricultural toxins will dry up and blow away like a tumbleweed along the River Road.

What could be more American than that?

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To take a stand against agricultural poisons, visit panna.org. To learn more about farm working conditions, go to ufw.org.

-Sylvia, Sales Supervisor

I’ve been thinking lately about the differences between the ways our great grandparents lived compared to how we live now. My great-grandmother used to take salt baths and rubbed oils on her hands to make them smooth. She used vinegar as hair conditioner and as a softener for clothing in the washing machine. She bought all of these ingredients at the local market. My grandparents even had a horsehair mattress that was made by a merchant in town.

Why is it so common in this day and age that we go shopping for other countries’ products when ours are time tested and proven to be effective? I say, when your health and well-being are involved, support American workers and buy U.S. manufactured mattresses. I know my great grandparents would have never imagined there was any other option.

If you aren’t supporting your neighbors, then who will be there for you when you need it?

Sara, Product Specialist