scleaver's blog

A Delicious Sampling of Great Green Food Stories of 2008

scleaver — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The holidays are behind us now, and reflecting on 2008 (and what a year!) here are my top ten headlines from the RiverWired food blog (posted in order of appearance, starting in January):

1. Creative and ultimately delicious, Apple Farmer Uses Pigs Instead of Pesticides in January.

2. At last, help at the grocery store in Finally! A Guide to Eating Green.

3. The downer cow scandal breaks as Hallmark/Westland Goes to Congress.

4. Fish headlines started with Where Have All the Salmon Gone? back in March. The headlines continued in June (SOS: Save Our Salmon) and October (Seafood Delight).

5. Looking to the future, in the spring we were Building The Doomsday Vault -- Seeds to Save the Human Race. The seed bank is still growing and, according to the Chicago Tribune needs help with funding heading into 2009.

6. You know green is big when fast food companies join in: The Golden Green Arches?

7. This year, we learned about the impact of our food choices, from soup to nuts: Saving The World One Plate At A Time.

8. From organic to hormones in milk to hamburger meat, labels were big this year (see September’s: A Real Hamburger Helper).

9. But, once the bad financial headlines started rolling in, saving money at the grocery store became increasingly important. Hence November’s The Economics of Organics

10. And, our opinion was solicited again and again this year, on milk, corn, and more. The latest: The Department of Ag Wants Your Opinion on GE corn.

What headlines do you think were most important? Did I miss any?

Image from Stephanie Cleaver.

New Year's 101

scleaver — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

To ring in 2009, I plan to be sitting on my couch in Chicago with a glass of champagne in hand, watching the ball drop in New York. Then, I’ll wait an hour to officially ring in my new year in Central Standard Time. Whatever your plans to ring in 2009, get a green start to your new year with these New Year’s Eve necessities:

Of course you need organic champagne. Fill a flute with a bottle from DiamondOrganics.com or head to your local party store and pick up a bottle of organic NV Pascal Doquet Premier Rose (a pink champagne from pinot noir grapes) or the biodynamic ’97 Vilmont Coeur de Cuvee, both recommended by TreeHugger.

Serve appetizers using organic ingredients with recipes from: Henry's Farmers Market, Organic Valley, or Delicious Living.

And, ring in 2009 the right way, with a noisemaker or two.

Happy New Year! Now for those resolutions…

Image from the Triple Tri Blog.

Slow Down in 2009

scleaver — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

If you’re anything like me, you’re head is spinning heading into 2009—it’s been quite a year. Which is why, in 2009, one of my resolutions is to slow down already.

Slow started to gain traction in 2008 with Slow Food, Slow Homes, Slow Cities, and the whole Slow Movement. True, a lot of this has been around for a while, but, hopefully it’s finally catching on. The Slow Movement (which includes Slow travel, schools, cities, living, and money) focuses on addressing “time poverty” through connections to ourselves, our family, our community, our food, our places, and our lives. Not surprising that we’ve lost some connection in the fast-paced modern world.

For foodies, slow cooking was a trend in 2008, from crockpot cooking to trendy slow-cooked menus to the Top Chef contestant who wowed the judges with his 14-hour brisket (it’s now on his menu at his Home restaurant). A recent article in The Atlanta Journal Constitution explained how to cook slow and includes recipes that benefit from the gift of time.

Let’s all go slow and make it one of the top headlines of 2009.

Learn more from these articles from CNN.com and ABC News.

Image from UrbanSeed.org.

Stuff A Green Stocking

scleaver — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:12:07 -0500

Stockings are one of my favorite parts of Christmas. When else do you get a sock full of little goodies and things you absolutely do not need?! So, how to create a green stocking?

First, the stocking. Love love love these green stockings, made from organic cotton, from Amenity.

A few quick ideas for stocking stuffers:

Shoppers at ThisNext.com, a site where online shoppers give tips and recommendations, have reviewed stocking-sized eco-starter kits that includes how-to info and a cute little animal to inspire the giftee to create a greener world.

Piggy Paint is eco-friendly nail polish for kids that promises to be non-toxic, odorless, and as “natural as mud.”

Also on ThisNext.com, eco-friendly play dough with play dough sets (rolling pins, etc). I like how the colors come two to a pack, like eye shadow.

For more ideas, check out a list of other green stocking ideas for adults from the Fit+Sage 2008 stocking guide or Great Green Goods, and for kids from Inhabitots or MamaDivas.com. And, no stocking is complete without candy. Order from The Natural Candy Store and don’t forget my favorite Terry's Dark Chocolate Orange.

Image from DesignPublic.com.

Sleep Tight

scleaver — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:06:10 -0500

As winter nights get colder, check out the new bedding from OurBabyBedding.com. Their new organic bedding by Cotton Monkey comes in seven collections, including Casablanca, Sweet Jane, and pure white. All the bedding is made with cotton that’s chemical and pesticide free, and the batting isn’t treated with formaldehyde or chlorine bleach. And the dyes are non-toxic and water based. Sleep tight!

Image from OurBabyBedding.com.

Wrap It Up

scleaver — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:58:22 -0500

Depending on how organized you are, you’ll be spending your Christmas Eve relaxing with a glass of mulled cider and a good book, or you’ll be frantically wrapping presents. Either way, present your presents in eco-friendly ways by using the familiar adage: reduce, reuse, recycle.

1. Reduce: Consider wrapping more than one presents in one box, or finding other, creative ways to reduce the amount of wrapping you use—decorative and re-usable bags and huge bows on larger presents come to mind.

2. Reuse: Rummage through old boxes and see what you can find to use as wrapping paper and, on Christmas Day or Hanukah night, instead of tearing into your presents, unwrap them carefully and you can save bows and paper for future gifts.

3. Recycle: Natural Health Magazine (www.naturalhealthmag.com) featured a wrapping paper company, Earth Presents (www.earthpresents.com) that sells recycled wrapping paper, tags, bows, and ribbons, a good way to encourage green innovation and the spirit of giving.

Image from Earth Presents.

NYC Water Gets Tap'D

scleaver — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

We all know that bottled water isn’t the best for the environment, partly because of the bottling, partly because of transportation, and partly because of all the hype about water sources (waterfalls in the rainforest cascading into bottles just for you, etc). But a new company in NYC, Tap'd, is tackling the clean water issue in a new way. Instead of importing water from flowing rivers that trickle down the mountains of Fiji, or wherever, Tap’d works with the NYC water department to purify the city’s tap water through reverse osmosis, bottle it, and sell it blocks away, cutting out transportation and giving New Yorkers a new water option.

Read more about the new company on Slashfood. Or, read the Tap’d Manifesto. Image from Tap'dNY.

Have Yourself an Eco-Friendly Christmas

scleaver — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:54:58 -0500

Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanza are fast approaching, so as Santa gears up to deliver toys, menorahs are lit, and kids get increasingly giddy, here are five ways to have an easy and green holiday.

Buy a real green tree. The Scientific American reports that artificial trees may last longer, but they’re often made in China from nonbiodegradable plastics and ultimately end up in landfills. A real tree not only smells good, but it’s recyclable and biodegradable. Get your tree from as close to home as possible, and buy organic if you can. After X-mas is over, recycle it via a recycling program through Earth911. Or, take it a step further and get a tree with a bulb that you can replant after the holidays. The Living Christmas Tree Company “rents” trees for holiday revelers in Portland, OR, and will pick them up and plant them in a park after Christmas.

Light the tree with LEDs. LED lights last longer than your average lights and save energy, but according to EnviroMom’s experience, you’ll want to test them out first and find a brand you really like.

Go Online for Holiday Greetings. Either send online greetings this holiday or choose a waste-less holiday card.

Reduce outdoor lighting. In order to see your starry night, take a tip from the International Dark-Sky Association and use low wattage (40-watt) outside, add shields to point light downward, and add motion sensors.

Toast the season with cardboard. According to Scientific American two million tons of carbon dioxide emissions could be saved each year if 97% of us switched to boxed instead of bottled wine. That’s the same as the carbon emissions from 400,000 cars.

Happy Green Holiday!

Image from All Things Christmas.

Shop Sustainable Seafood

scleaver — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:11:37 -0500

GreenPeace released the supermarket rankings on their seafood sustainability. As reported in The Food Section, Greenpeace graded 20 supermarket chains (national and regional) on their seafood purchasing and sales policies and practices.

Of the national and regional chains, none earned a “good” grade. Four supermarkets earned a passing grade: Whole Foods, Ahold, Target, and Harris Teeter. Right after the “passing” supermarkets, however, was Walmart. And, the lowest ranked four were Price Chopper, H.E. Butt, Meijer, and Trader Joe’s. Find your favorite supermarket on the Scorecard.

But, perhaps of more importance, Greenpeace also published a list of their favorite sustainable seafood retailers. (See the full list here.) On that list: Andronico’s Market in San Francisco, Hanover Co-op Food Stores, Davis Food Co-op, and my old favorite when I lived in the DC area, My Organic Market.

To find Greenpeace’s rating of a supermarket near you, use their Supermarket Search tool.

Image of an albacore tuna from Greenpeace.

Green Style

scleaver — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:59:55 -0500

Want your kids to send off positive messages? Check out the baby onesies, t-shirts and more at CoolGreenAttitude.com. Your little one will be sending off cool green vibes with t-shirts that have sayings like “I am infinite potential” or “I am love & happiness.”

There’s something for everyone at CoolGreenAttitude.com, though. For toddlers: “I am learning” and “I am kind & caring.” For three to seven-year-olds: “I am strong & brave” and “I am unique.” And, for the super cool 8 to 16 year olds, “Dream It, Believe It, Do It” and “Cool: Don’t follow the crowd.”

There are also tees and shirts for men and women, and accessories if you don’t want to announce your potential via t-shirt. But, the best message to send, all the clothing is 100% organic and sustainable.

Image from ReallyNatural.com.