Sunny forecast

It began with a simple search for mayonnaise. Last summer, when I was asked to bring a dish to a family reunion, I decided to make a seven-layer salad. An easy choice because the cool summer meant lettuce was bountiful this year, and I had lots of it. I also had red onions, peas, green peppers, radishes, and celery on hand from my CSA. The night before the party, I washed, cut, and layered the produce in a large pan. But when it came time to dress the salad, I ran into a problem. You see, I wanted the ingredients in the dressing to match the quality of the produce in the salad, but I was out of organic mayonnaise, and it was late.

Off I went to a grocery store that had extended hours. In the aisle, I looked at the jars by the mayo giants, Kraft and Hellmann’s, and read the labels. The first ingredient on each jar of ìreal mayonnaiseî was soybean oil. This is where the problem escalates. You see, I had recently been reading about biotech crops; primarily corn, soybean, cotton and canola — crops that all produce oil for human consumption.

These biotech crops originate from genetically engineered (GE) seeds in which the DNA is changed using the gene insertion techniques of molecular biology. This laboratory manipulation of nature’s genes allows specific traits to be expressed, most often a resistance to herbicide. This particular trait allows a conventional farmer to apply herbicide on the field, directly on plants, and the herbicide kills everything but the plant used for food or, in the case of mayonnaise, oil. Biotech developers, such as Monsanto, patent these DNA altered seeds and prohibit independent research on these ìRound-up Readyî crops. This ban on research stifles a citizen’s right to know what they are eating, and what consequences may arise from doing so.

So, standing in the grocery aisle, I did the quick calculation in my head that with 92% of the nation’s soybeans coming from biotech genetically modified organisms (GMOs), all conventional mayonnaise must contain GMO soybean oil. (One is forced to do these calculations in the grocery aisle when one’s country does not require GMO labeling!) Inevitable as the corporate food giants have made it, I could not purchase any of these products for my family.

The next morning at the co-op, I picked up Spectrum Organic Mayonnaise and read the label. But the thing is, it was also made with soybean oil. But organic on the label assures non-GMO soybeans are used right? Well yes, and no.

The widespread planting of biotech crops threatens the purity of the organic label. Contamination can and does happen through pollen drift and other natural processes. The only solution to GMO pollution may be to find foods not yet engineered by biotech companies. And on a sunny Saturday at the Dane County Farmer’s Market, I did just that.

At the tail end of my circuit around the square, I stopped to check out the offerings from Driftless Organics. Keefe Keeley was behind the booth telling a couple about “Wisconsin’s Olive Oil,” which is actually organic sunflower oil, and I was intrigued. Keeley shared that the variety of sunflower that Driftless Organics grows in Wisconsin is high in Oleic acid, certified organic, harvested seasonally in October, cold-expeller pressed, and bottled unrefined, which keeps the flavor compounds intact.

Impressed, I decided to head out to Soldier’s Grove and see where it was grown. After almost four hours, I arrived at the white frame farmhouse that serves as the office headquarters of Driftless Organics, and residence for owners Josh and Noah Engel and Josh’s partner Teresa Cuperus.

At 27 and 25-years respectively, the combined ages of Josh and Noah Engel add up to less than the age of the average working farmer in Wisconsin, 57. But make no mistake, youth does not a novice farmer make. These young men have been farming since middle school when they started growing potatoes from seed potatoes their mother bought them. By 2005, the Engels, with Cuperus, decided to focus on farming full time. In 2006,  grass-fed beef producer Mike Lind signed on as CSA manager and partner in process. The group wanted a name that not only reflected their sense of responsibility to the land they farmed, but one that represented the place itself, and so Driftless Organics was born.

Driftless Organics speaks of its geographical place in the driftless area of Wisconsin. Working with the fertile but challenging landscape, the Engels chose to plant sunflowers in low-lying flood-prone areas. Sunflowers are not a labor-intensive crop, a good thing if one is worried about putting hard labor into an area known to flood.

After October’s harvest, the flowers’ seeds are cold-expeller pressed in a controlled environment, which prevents oxidation from occurring. Absolutely no solvents or heat are used in the process. The sunflower seed itself is approximately 40% oil and after pressing, the oil is bottled utilizing a pressurizing nitrogen flush. This flush is similar to the nitrogen gas used to prevent the oxidation of wine. Once bottled, the oil is returned from the processor to the farm for labeling.

Since my moment-of-truth in the grocery store when I discovered the only choice in mayonnaise was a narrowed choice between brands, I have been making my own mayonnaise, using Driftless Organics sunflower oil, simply because I can trace it to the source, and it is one I know and trust.