By Nick Chambers •
August 8, 2008
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Rotting, leftover fryer grease has turned into gold in the race to our energy future — and thieves have taken notice.
It’s early in the pre-dawn dark hours of the morning. A group of Northern California pseudohippies just finished a game of Zonk — or rather, the game just stopped because somebody quoted a line from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and everybody forgot what they were doing.
Yet, by a stroke of luck, the conversation about Harold and Kumar reminds the group of their real reason for staying up so late. They pack into a truck and head down to the local fast food joint looking to load up — but it’s not the food they’re loading up on, it’s the nasty, half-rotted, leftover fryer grease.
Editor’s Note: This post was provided by one of our paid sponsors, Earth Cinema Circle, the only DVD club dedicated to increasing social & environmental awareness through entertaining films. Written by Ariellie Ford.
Behind America’s 99-cent hamburgers and 72-ounce sodas is a key ingredient that silently fuels our fast-food nation — Corn. In KING CORN, we meet two college buddies, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who move from the east coast to the heartland to really learn where their food comes from. They relocate to northern Iowa, home of their great-grandfathers, with a mission. They will plant an acre of corn, follow their harvest into the world, and attempt to understand what all of us are really made of — Corn. This entertaining and informative film is now available from Earth Cinema Circle. The following is from an interview with Curt Ellis, co-producer of the film.
By Lisa Kivirist •
April 16, 2008
And you think you’re busy? Zoë Bradbury has three thousand strawberry transplants to plant, two acres of row crops to sow including a diversified mix of everything from carrots to beets to lettuce, thirteen and a half tons of lime to work into the soil for organic fertilizer and a team of draft horses galloping in any day now. And don’t forget the experimental celeriac patch. Add in the role of accountant, office manager and marketing chief and you cook up the range of farmer responsibilities resulting in their annual crazy spring schedule.
The farmers’ market season may not yet be in full swing so we don’t see — nor appreciate — the flurry of farm activity going on across the country as growers get ready to keep us freshly stocked all summer. But Bradbury, a fledgling Oregon farmer starting her growing venture this season, along with thousands of small-scale, family farmers across the country, have been putting in long work days for weeks.
By Beth Bader •
January 25, 2008
There are times when I wonder if I am raising my child so different from the norm that her friends are going to think she is a geek. If she has friends. Usually these thoughts occur to me just as our lifestyle choices slam us up against typical American habits, especially food.
Like this moment from a couple years back. We’re at this petting zoo, like an educational farm. We still go there often. The kiddo gets to walk a lot and see lots of animals and plants that you find on farms, feed baby goats, ride a pony, drive little tractors … It’s fun, actually. Alright, I am a bit too tall for the tractors, but I get to push and make engine noises at least. The baby goats like me.
(recipe after the jump)
By Amy Stodghill •
August 1, 2007
Do you really need all of those napkins, straws, forks, or packets of ketchup? Probably not. At least not that many. While convenient and hygienic, these small things add up to a lot of waste. The next time you stop in for a quick bite, cut back on the take-away of your take-out.
Reduce what you grab. Instead of taking handfuls, take just a few. One
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