Food

Want to Green Clean Your School? Here's How

Susan — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:15:10 -0400

Operating on the belief that “children learn best through experience. If their schools are green, children will learn to live that way,” the Center for Environmental Education is an online resource for students and teachers at K-12 schools, bursting with information and how-to’s for greening their environments. Available on its Web site is “Blueprint for a Green School,” which gives suggestions for three levels of action in ten categories: curriculum, energy, environmental health, food, green building, maintenance, procurement, recycling and waste, transportation, and water. Students and teachers can also learn more about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change issues here.

In addition, there’s a searchable collection of reviewed environmental curricula, and a soon-to-come section on demonstration schools, with profiles of schools that are in the process of change. read more »

First 100% Organic, Green Restaurant Opens in NYC

Mike.Delponte — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:45:47 -0500

I love that today companies are competing to be the greenest. Isn't it amazing how the tides have shifted? We're now at the point where people are seeing environmentalism as added value, rather than a costly hindrance.
Gusto Grilled Organics in Greenwich Village is a great example.

Gusto Grilled is the first 100% organic, green restaurant. It serves Latin-inspired cuisine for eat-in, takeout and delivery. read more »

What Happens When Vegas Tries to go Green?

Mike.Delponte — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:22:07 -0500

So we all know that on average, the things we buy from the grocery store have traveled about 1,500 miles to reach us. The solution: buy local. But is building a 30 story skyscraper-turned-farm in Las Vegas the solution? Should we be growing 100 varieties of agriculture in that city if most of them do not belong in the desert? Hasn't climate change shown us that diverging from natural ecosystems is the problem, not a solution? Check out this story and decide for yourself.

Vegas to Build Vertical Farm

Organic Rx - A Prescription for Planet Earth

Susan — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:08:06 -0500

Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician on the faculty of Stanford University’s School of Medicine and on the board of directors of The Organic Center, Boulder, Colorado, has developed an “organic prescription” of ten foods and crops you can buy that, in a single dose, can purify both your body and the planet: milk, potatoes, peanut butter, baby foods, ketchup, cotton, apples, beef, soy, and corn.

Dr. Greene bases his guide on his assessment of which pesticides are most harmful to humans, along with the negative effects of antibiotics, synthetic hormones, and chemical fertilizers. His choices are also based on how growing these crops organically reduces greenhouse gas emissions and toxic chemicals in air and water, and stems the depletion of non-renewable resources and the uncontrolled spread of genetically modified organisms. read more »

France Bans Genetically Engineered Crops

Mike.Delponte — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:15:59 -0500

France has announced a ban on the planting of genetically engineered crops until the safety of the crops can be further assessed. French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicted that the decision was based on the desire to err on the side of safety. "I don't want to be in contradiction with EU laws, but I have to make a choice. In line of the precautionary principle, I wish that the commercial cultivation of genetically modified pesticide GMOs be suspended," he said.

Learn more at organicconsumers.org.

What the World Eats

Mike.Delponte — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:58:51 -0400

Everyday we make choices about the food we eat. How much money do we spend on food? Is it healthy? Was it grown and processed in a way that damages the environment?

This TIME Magazine photo slideshow gives a glimpse of the the similarities and differences between different cultures in terms of food. Some spend less than $2 a week, others spend over $500. Some eat mostly fresh produce, others eat mostly pre-packaged food. What I like about this slideshow is that it challenges our notions of what a "normal" diet is. read more »

Beyond Whole Foods: Whole Body

Mike.Delponte — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:34:46 -0400

Conscious Lifestyle was founded on the idea that we don't have to wait for elections to make a change. Everyday we have an opportunity for vote for kind of world we want through ordinary actions: eating food, investing our time, choosing how to dress, talk, etc. In this globalized world even small, sometimes overlooked actions, can have a ripple effect that can be felt around the world. In a word, it's about living a lifestyle in which we are aware of how our decisions affect other people and the environment.

Whole Foods' Whole Body campaign reflects the philosophy behind Conscious Lifestyle. read more »

Consumer Rights Victory: Activism Leads to Reforms at Kellogg

Mike.Delponte — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:46:39 -0400

The Organic Consumer Association (OCA) reports:

"Caving to the threat of a lawsuit over the company's marketing practices, Kellogg has announced a new sweeping policy that will shift the company's nutritional guidelines and set a new standard for the food industry. Under the new guidelines, all products marketed to children under the age of 12 must contain a maximum of 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, 230 milligrams of sodium, 12 grams of labeled sugar and 0 grams of labeled trans fat per serving. Currently, 50 percent of Kellogg products marketed to children fail to meet their new criteria. The company says implementation will begin immediately. Twenty-seven percent of Kellogg's advertising budget goes to marketing to children under the age of 12."

To read the whole story, go to the OCA web site. read more »