If soaring household freezer sales are any indication, then the answer is yes.

While this might sound strange, remember that next to plasma televisions and air conditioning, refrigerators and freezers are the biggest energy-cows in American homes. Even Energy Star certified deep freezers swallow around 500 kWh each year—so the adding one to an average home results in about an 18% increase in electricity use.

According to the NPD Group, freezer sales over the last six months have increased more than seven percent since the same time last year; however, all other kitchen appliances have instead shown a decrease in sales. People aren’t buying new freezers to replace the old. They’re buying second freezers to keep in the garage, probably to stock up on the 64-packs of Hot Pockets from Sam’s Club.

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This is a guest submission from John Addison, Publisher of the Clean Fleet Report and an environmental writer.

The warm summer breeze carried the aromas of ripe berries, almonds, fresh honey, heirloom tomatoes, and exotic mushrooms. I was like the cartoon character lifted by mouthwatering fragrances and carried to the source in a hungry trance. I was soon in the middle of a farmers market, a tradition as old as civilization. The food was local, seasonal, often organic, and at peak freshness.

Thousands sampled and bought 35,000 packages of local goodies. Neophytes learned about the collage of heirlooms displayed in front of their eyes. Regulars traded hellos and stories and recipes with the farmers who brought their food. Free water stations, generously located everywhere, reduced an estimated 100,000 water bottles from being sold and discarded.

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In case you’ve been in a cave for the last two decades, Farm Aid is:

The nonprofit organization, whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land, works with organizations to help family farmers thrive through programs that develop local food markets, training, youth education and food awareness initiatives.

Farm Aid promotes food from family farms, helps grow the good food movement and takes action to change the “system”. How? The most visible of the organization’s work is an annual daylong concert featuring some of the top names in music - headliners Willie Nelson, Mellencamp, Neil Young, and Dave Matthews.

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It’s lunchtime, baby. Panda Garden. Porky goodness. Mooshu style.

The “other white meat” in your takeout container falls behind beef and chicken in American consumption, but we do pig out on pig—on average, each of us consumes 51 pounds of Wilbur annually. That translates to big impact on our water and air.

Due to the high variety of bacteria, worms and other undesirables in pig flesh, and because of the quick-spread disease potential of crowded pig farms, heavy doses of antibiotics are administered routinely. Those same drugs end up in your body via waste streaming into our water supply, and via that Mooshu pork to go. Other side dishes you might not have ordered include growth hormones to encourage meat-heavy livestock and vaccines injected to avoid profit-damaging disease.

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So here’s the simplest route to sustainability: keep a stocked pantry. Save money, time and fossil fuel – not to mention upping nutritional value — by dining chez you. Maybe not as sexy an eco initiative as backpacks with PV panels, but keeping an organized, stocked pantry goes a long way in creating a self-reliant, green kitchen and household.

Stocking the pantry saves time and money – two non-renewable resources and drains on greening our lifestyle. With a little planning and organization, your pantry will never let you down. I recently gushed about my pantry passion in an article for Hobby Farm Home magazine, going into more detail on stocking the kitchen.

Here’s a few starter tips:

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It’s understandable that farmers would want to make sure that deadly contaminants do not taint their crops given that in 2006 three people were killed and about 200 others became ill after eating fresh spinach contaminated with E.coli. That scare ended up costing California spinach growers about $80 million in sales that year.

One of the possible causes for the 2006 deadly outbreak could have been wildlife such as deer or wild pigs who defecated near crops, although the exact cause was never determined. In response to the outbreak, the farmers, the packers, and the shippers created new standards to help head off another contamination outbreak. According to the report, however, none of the standards directly related to wildlife. Many farmers, however, aren’t taking any chances at losing their crops so they are taking measures way beyond the new standards. Measures like:

• taking gun-safety classes to safely shoot animals that could carry bacteria
• removing natural habitat, in hopes of keeping wildlife away, by uprooting native trees and plants
• poisoning frogs that may carry salmonella on their feet who can get caught in harvesting machinery
• trapping wildlife
• fencing in their crops to keep wildlife out

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According to one study released last week, your answer doesn’t matter much: even if you walk to the burger joint, your food will have its own set of wheels—and an exhaust pipe.

While it’s now common knowledge that activities like driving conventional cars cause global warming, the environmental impact of what we eat continues to slip under the mainstream radar. The study, performed by Germany’s Institute for Ecological Economy Research, could change this with its comprehensive and comprehensible findings.

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As I’ve commented on in the past (see What is Sustainable Cuisine? - Part Two), one tenant of sustainability and sustainable cuisine is social responsibility. The problem that many of us have is motivation and the need for good examples. I know that there is no lack of causes but how can we go green by doing good?

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This diet, known worldwide for its positive effects on health and its preventive effect, is increasingly left alone right in our country: six out of ten families have changed over the years their habits. In declining consumption of bread, fruit, vegetables and olive oil while increasing the consumption of fat and calories.

Cause of price increases? Perhaps, but not alone. This shows a recent survey of FAO in the last 45 years the Mediterranean diet was gradually abandoned precisely in places where originates. “A great pity - comments the professor Ferrari - because healthy eating is the most effective way to stay healthy.”

It’s the winning weapon of prevention ‘

In Italy it is estimated about 15 million hypertensive, 3 million to 4 million diabetics. A citizen on 5 presents cholesterol values too high. Just to improve the level of awareness of citizens on this issue is born in Italy the first observatory to the enhancement of the Mediterranean diet. “A permanent structure, with a home made available by the Region of Sicily, a partner in the project which will involve the most relevant disciplines,” continues Professor. Ferrari, which is of the Scientific Committee chairman.
In addition to cardiology, are also involved oncology and diabetes, but also the metabolic diseases and paediatrics. “Why this diet - insists Ferrari - is really the weapon winning for the prevention of diseases daughters so-called welfare.

The Centre, which will have a dedicated site (www.dietamediterraneaesalute.org), will be operational from mid-September.

THESE FOODS TO MAKE THE TABLE IN
The Mediterranean diet type is formed to 15% from protein, 60% from carbohydrates and 25% from fat.
There is no iron diet, but experts recommend using:

DAILY: whole cereals and tubers: bread and whole wheat pasta, rice, corn, etc.; pulses and green beans, peas, chickpeas etc.., And all types of fruit, pulp and shell, all the vegetables and vegetables; condiments: extra virgin olive oil, fresh herbs: basil, thyme, garlic, oregano etc..; whole milk or cow’s and goat cheese; wine.

THREE TIMES A WEEK: meat: predominantly white, and then poultry like chicken and turkey. Or rabbit, pork and veal; fish: Predominantly blue as anchovies, sardines, herring, aguglie, mackerel, spatulas, etc..; Eggs.

WITH LESS FREQUENCY: sweet, red meat.

From dispel the idea that pasta is a high-calorie food: are the condiments fats, which often are added in excessive quantities, to raise the caloric intake of pasta dish. In itself, however, this product, suited to form the backbone of a meal, provides about 350 calories per 100 grams, a perfectly reasonable if one considers that 80 grams of a good ration is only 280 calories.

As condiment is good rather avoid using excessive quantities of fat (butter, lard, margarine, etc..), Bacon, cheese, cream, instead giving preference to sauce and tomato in olive oil. There are few fried, remembering that olive oil was considered safer fat for frying.

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I’m not one to usually pile on the sarcasm when someone is down but it’s no holds barred when it comes to the cult of celebrity. Instead of seeking virtues or talents we have bought into the artificial importance being created by the media in order to promote a product, a person - or in this case a “yummo” catch phrase.

The people over at SeriousEats alerted me to the latest parody book in the genre of Is Martha Stuart Living? Run, don’t walk and get yourself a copy of Every Freaking! Day with Rachell Ray by Elizabeth Hilts, author of the popular Getting in Touch with Your Inner Bitch. This “64-page full-color parody is jam-packed with laugh out loud takes on the things that make her (in)famous, like”:

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Legend has it that mozzarella was first made when cheese curds accidentally fell into a pail of hot water in a cheese factory near Naples. For this recipe, use fresh, high-moisture cow’s milk mozzarella that contains more than 52% moisture, or Capriella (half goat’s milk, half cow’s milk mozzarella) from the Mozzarella Company in Dallas, Texas. Paula Lambert founded the business in 1982, using the same exacting methods for handcrafting fresh mozzarella that she witnessed while living in Italy.

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When Mary calls me every year at the end of August with her annual message of “The tree is ripe – come pick,” I turn into the Bubba Gump of pears, gratefully using the four bushels of pears I harvest off her abundant backyard tree.

As the country whines about escalating food prices, there’s often rotten apples falling from some tree near you. Or pears, plums – name your fruit. You know the tree I’m talking about – the one you pass by every day in someone’s yard that is practically falling over with ripe fruit and you think to yourself, “Someone needs to do something with that.” How true – and that “someone” is you.

Talk about a sustainable homerun: By connecting with and harvesting a local fruit tree, you not only garner more organic, fresh, local fruit booty than you know what to do with – and put something to use that would otherwise have gone to waste. You build community by connecting with others. We’re talking community at its core, most sustainable essence, sharing abundance with others, relishing the gifts of the land.

Step up to the plate – or bushel – and tap into these unwanted fruit on trees in backyards across the nation that could be making the world a better place through more pie – or jam or cobblers or muffins – you get the picture.

Here are three tips for foraging a fruit tree near you:

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However, one essential aspect of our human lives that often does not receive much attention is our diets. This is rather shocking, too, because whatever else happens, whatever we stick in our lamps or drive, we always need to feed. And as more and more of us pop up on the planet, Mother Earth is going to have a lot of hungry human mouths to feed.

Your dietary habits–what, where, and even how you eat–are profoundly important when it comes to sustainable living. I am not an accredited expert on economics, agriculture, or nutrition, but I have done more than my fair share of research on these and other topics (especially the latter two) related to sustainable food choices. In what follows, then, I share some ingredients I have come across in a recipe for an eco-friendly diet.

1. Eat simply. Packaged foods that have ingredients lists spanning several sides of the box, with words you cannot pronounce and substances you never thought could exist, are obviously not “natural” and can do funky things to your body. Plus, the more things in your Frankenfood, the more resources required. Simple eating gives your digestion an easier task and reduces your exposure to potential toxins, too, which ultimately helps keep you healthy.
2. Choose organic. Although an organic label does not guarantee good farming or business practices by the company/producer, you can at least be sure that an organic product will have required less chemicals and toxins in order to go from field to table. Besides reducing pollution going into the biosphere, you also reduce pollution going into yourself with organic foods.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/27/change-your-diet-change-the-world-a-recipe-for-eco-friendly-eating/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/26/the-hidden-cost-of-40-bling-water/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/26/the-hidden-cost-of-40-bling-water/#comments Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:58:00 +0000 Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/26/the-hidden-cost-of-40-bling-water/ Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh are writing a series on the impacts of everyday things.They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post. Here’s the low-down on how we’re quenching our thirst.

   We’ve been seduced by the beverage industry into believing only they can quench our thirst with colored, caffeinated, vitaminized, electrolyted water. We have become so parched that we can’t walk down the street without toting a single-use plastic bottle touting the magical effects of its water source.

   Apparently, Kabbalah Water will heal us and Bling Water will define us. At the Bling H20 website, Bling Water “creator” Kevin Boyd describes noticing on Hollywood studio lots that “you could tell a lot about a person by the bottled water they carried.” First of all, didn’t god create water? Secondly, the water is bottled in Dandridge, Tennessee - since when is Southern Tennessee a spring of L.A. status? Yes, Dandrige’s water ranks very highly on EPA’s water quality index, but why are we spending so much money ($40 for Bling’s “Go Green” 750ml bottle) on cross-continental water instead of cleaning up our local waterways? Tinseltown’s water is so polluted with run-off and industrial contamination that perhaps water by way of Tennessee does make sense.

   Here’s what the less blingy among us do:

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/26/the-hidden-cost-of-40-bling-water/feed/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/26/turkey-in-august/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/26/turkey-in-august/#comments Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:00:06 +0000 Stuart Stein http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/26/turkey-in-august/ Too early to be thinking about Thanksgiving? I don’t think so. It’s heirloom turkey time. Order now before you miss out.

   Factory farms have been producing most of the meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products in the United States for decades. Although the food is cheap and convenient, this method can create a host of problems, including the loss of small family farms, pollution and animal stress.

   Numerous varieties of livestock—Bourbon Red turkeys as well as Red Wattle pigs, Tunis sheep and Barred Plymouth Rock chickens—are endangered and disappearing from our farms and more importantly, from our dinner tables. What’s a localist like myself supposed to do?

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   ]]> http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/26/turkey-in-august/feed/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/26/lovin-fresh-cold-summer-soup-recipe/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/26/lovin-fresh-cold-summer-soup-recipe/#comments Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:00:41 +0000 Jennie Love http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/26/lovin-fresh-cold-summer-soup-recipe/

   Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes designed to showcase produce gathered from local farms or grown in my own garden.

   It’s almost here and I thought I’d better prepare all of you for it.  It’s the ying to the yang of vegetable gardening.  Those of you that are fortunate enough to have a little piece of ground to grow your own food will be very familiar with it.  And those of you that visit farmers markets and can’t resist the siren song of all those amazing late summer vegetables know it too.  Perhaps you shudder a bit just to think about it.  Or, if you’re like me, you lie in bed, eyes wide open, conjuring up ways to creatively sidestep it.  

   

   “It” is that deluge of fresh produce that starts to haunt every corner of your kitchen, entryway, and basement, taunting you as it slowly deteriorates while you fret over and hunt out ways to use it up.  By late summer, you’ve grown a tad tired of zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, peppers, and even tomatoes.  Actually, I never tire of tomatoes, but I do get full before I can finish each new batch that comes off my prolific vines.  That’s where this recipe, appropriately named Use ‘Em Up Cold Summer Soup, comes into play.  How full of promise is that title?  Question is, does it live up to the hype?

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   ]]> http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/26/lovin-fresh-cold-summer-soup-recipe/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/25/the-shocking-statistics-of-food-waste/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/25/the-shocking-statistics-of-food-waste/#comments Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:50:33 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/25/the-shocking-statistics-of-food-waste/ Last year at my twice monthly morning mother’s group, we were treated to garbage bags full of day old bagels, breads, cookies, and other baked goods courtesy of a local Panera Bread. How did we get them? All we had to do was ask. There was so much that  I would bring reusable bags and take home bagels, loaves of Italian, ciabatta, and focaccia bread, and often a few cookies. Many of the woman did the same. If our group hadn’t taken them, chances are they would have been thrown in the trash.

   Before you get all self-righteous about the waste of food by restaurants, think back to the last time you cleaned out your refrigerator. What did you throw out? How about the last time you ate in a restaurant? What did you leave on your plate?

   Last week at World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, some shocking food waste statistics were presented. What place does food waste talk have at a water conference? It takes a lot of water to produce the food that is ultimately wasted.

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   ]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/25/the-shocking-statistics-of-food-waste/feed/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/22/eco-vodka/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/22/eco-vodka/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:00:04 +0000 Stuart Stein http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/22/eco-vodka/ 360, Square One, Purus, Sunshine, Fourteen, UK5, Ocean, CapRock, Prairie, Crop, and Rain. Not all household names when thinking about a vodka martini- yet.

   While organic and biodynamic wines have been around for decades, organic and sustainable spirits have just started to come on board.

   

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