Chodosh Bulletin 29 Jul 03
The new Chodosh season has officially begun with the announcement from the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that as of Jul 27 03, 20% of the US oats crop has been harvested. This means, that in theory, Chodosh oats could be entering our newly produced food at any time now. However, it is hard to gage the significance of this because only 1/3 of the oats used in the US is domestically grown. Most comes from Canada where the harvest is much later, mostly starting in September. In the past we have found that some US companies do use domestic oats. These do tend to have early Chodosh dates. However many major ones use Canadian oats with later Chodosh dates. Company specific information will not be available for at least an other 2-4 weeks.
Based on crop progress reported by the USDA, we expect spring wheat and barley harvest to begin within the next 14 days.
Our updated estimates on the fraction of Chodosh in next years crops is a follows:
Hard red spring wheat (breads, chalehs, rolls, pizza, some cereals) 76% Chodosh.
Oats 68% Chodosh. Barley 79% Chodosh. Durum spring wheat (noodles and other pasta) close to 100% Chodosh, the exact number can not be calculated accurately.
We hope to publish the first issue of the Guide soon after the start of September. The Guide is undergoing a major format revision, in an attempt to make it more user friendly. As in the past, versions of the new Guide will be made available free of charge to be requested by E mail. However, with the significant format change, it is not clear now how the new format will affect the E mail distribution of the Guide.
To order printed copies of the Guide to be sent to you by US mail, send a check for $15 for the three issues per year. Make the check out to Project Chodosh. Mail it with your name, address including zip and apartment number, as well as your phone number to: Project Chodosh Subscriptions, PO Box 297279, Brooklyn, NY 11229-7279.
