Pre-season bulletin from the Guide to Chodosh

[Y. Herman]

I am reproducing below the Preseason Chodosh Bulletin that is being mailed 
out in the next few days. Please note that the reminder to renew 
subscriptions refers to the printed Guide that will be mailed out by U.S. 
mail. Those of you who have subscribed to this E mail list do not need to 
renew their subscriptions. However I ask very much that if you change E 
mail service providers, please unsubscribe from this E mail list first and 
then resubscribe from your new service. The instructions on how to do this 
are given at the end of this message.


TIME TO RENEW SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE GUIDE TO CHODOSH

The new Chodosh season will start soon (see estimates below.) Now is the 
time to renew your subscription to have the three issues of the Guide 
mailed to your home. The Guide project does not accept any donations. All 
expenses are covered by the sales of the Guides. Postage paid subscriptions 
for the three issues cost $15. Individual copies sold by local distributors 
are $5 per issue.

The first issue of the Guide is due to be mailed out approximately mid 
September, to be followed by the other two issues in December and February.

To subscribe, please send your checks made out to "Project Chodosh" to the 
Guide address given at top of the page.

We have had difficulties in the past because not everyone included their 
full mailing address. Please fill in the renewal form given below. In 
particular, you must supply the Zip code and the apartment number, if 
applicable.

THE AGRICULTURAL SITUATION
The progress of the new Chodosh crops is running about average this year. 
Almost none of the potentially Chodosh crops were planted before pesach. 
Specifically the approximate amount planted before pesach was 1% of spring 
wheat, 2% of the barley and 4% of the oats. In terms of total crops 
available after the harvest, we anticipate that during the upcoming season, 
the majority of spring wheat, oats and barley will certainly be Chodosh. 
However, we do not have specific estimates since the US Department of 
Agriculture has not yet published data from which we calculate the 
percentages of Chodosh for each of the crops in question. We plan to 
publish numerical estimates on the Chodosh Hot Line recorded news and by E 
mail, after mid July, and in the Guide. It is also noteworthy that about 
1/3 of all the oats in the USA will be imported, mostly from Canada. 
Canadian oats are also mostly Chodosh, however, the harvest is considerably 
later than in the US.  This means that those companies that use US-grown 
oats could start Chodosh as early as start of August. However many large 
companies import Canadian oats for their cereals. Their Chodosh starting 
date is usually in early October. In the past, several of the major 
companies that used Canadian oats in their cereals included General Mills, 
ConAgra and Ralston. We have not yet checked on the arrangements of these 
companies for the new season.

ESTIMATED CHODOSH STARTING DATES
The following are preliminary estimates only. Corrections and updates to 
these will be posted  when available on the News section of the Chodosh Hot 
Line and by E mail to those who subscribe to the E mail list (see below.) 
The corrected dates will be published in the first edition of the Guide.

Freshly baked products in local bakeries such as breads, challehs, rolls, 
bagels probably Yoshon if purchased up to: Sept 7 in the East and Far West, 
Aug 25 in the Mid West.
Packaged foods containing wheat, other than pasta probably Yoshon if 
purchased up to Sept 15. After that package codes have to be used.
Packaged pasta probably safe if packed before Sept 30, probably safe to 
purchase up to Oct 15.
Foods containing oats may be Chodosh as early as the purchase date of Aug 
15. However, they are probably safe if packed up to Sept. 15, probably safe 
to purchase up to Oct 8. (The reason for this range of dates is that 
US-grown oats is harvested starting late July, but many large companies use 
Canadian oats that is harvested much later, as explained above.)
Foods containing barley (other than malt) probably safe if packed up to 
Sept 15, probably safe to purchase up to Oct 15.

A NOTE TO OWNERS OF YOSHON-PRODUCING ESTABLISHMENTS
If you are a producer of Yoshon foods, please note that the Guide would 
like to list your products. Such listing, which is at no charge to you, is 
a service to the Yoshon consumer and is free advertising for you. Please 
send full details including name and address of your establishment, the 
telephone number (voice and fax), the name of the person in charge, the 
name of the mashgiach who takes responsibility for Yoshon (if there is such 
a mashgiach) and a complete list of the Yoshon products that you offer. Fax 
this information to 845-356-5999. Alternatively, you can mail it to: Yoshon 
Producer Information, 20 Sylvan Road, Monsey, NY 10952. (It is important 
that the address be specifically to Yoshon Consumer Information. Otherwise 
your letter will be mixed with the many subscription letters that we 
receive and will not be seen in time.)

If you are a Yoshon consumer, you would do us all a service if you would 
make sure that your local Yoshon bakeries, pizza shops, and restaurants 
send us their information updated for this year
THE E-MAIL MAILING LIST
Those who have access to E mail can have important corrections and updates 
sent to their E mail address automatically. To subscribe to this free 
service send a blank E mail message to:
Chodosh-subscribe at jif.org.il
Those who have subscribed last year do not need to renew this E mail 
subscription.


________________________________________

To send an E mail message to the Guide, please address it to: 
yherman at earthlink.net.

Before you discontinue using an E-mail service, please unsubscribe from 
this list by sending a message to:
chodosh-unsubscribe at jif.org.il. Then if you wish to resume receiving these 
messages from your new service, send a message 
to:  chodosh-subscribe at jif.org.il.

You can request several reports by sending an E-mail message to: 
chodosh-request at jif.org.il. Then in the body of the message type the 
command: "get" (without the quotes) followed by the name of the file that 
you want. Type each request on a new line. Make sure that you copy the file 
name exactly as spelled including capital letters. These reports are now 
available:

get Guidelines.txt
This gets a long report on Guidelines to Mashgichim on Chodosh. This has 
not been updated in the  last two years, but is still substantially valid.


get News.txt
This gives the latest news bulletin, such as this note.
__________________________________________
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