Green Options

Ask the average kid where milk comes from and he might very well say a jug. Bread? The grocery store. According to research by Kingston University in London, kids need more farm visits to dispel the ignorance and misconceptions about farming and where food comes from. Scientist Frances Harris, the author of the report, wants schools to take action to organize these visits.

Even if your child knows that milk comes from a cow, does she know that there is more than one variety of cow? A hands on approach at the farm could also help kids understand which foods are real and which ones are processed. They won’t see any Pop Tarts or red, blue and green grains that could make up their Fruit Loops on the farm. Showing your kids where food comes from could set them up for a lifelong, healthier lifestyle. And actually being able to reach out and touch a cow is invaluable compared to watching a farm DVD or playing a video game.

Healthy school lunches the key to a sustainable future, lower health care costs, and happier citizens?

This fall, Congress begins reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which dictates the National School Lunch Program in the U.S. Even before food prices started to rise, a USDA study found that the program covered only 82% of the cost of school lunches, which are full of processed foods. Meanwhile, vending machines packed with sugary sodas and junk food are becoming the norm in school cafeterias. This is in stark contrast to other countries’ school lunch programs, such as in Japan where school lunch is part of an education program emphasizing healthy eating. Now is the time to get heard if we want schools to serve our kids real food and Slow Food USA is planning a National Day of Action to do just that!

Slow Food USA is a group working to change food policy and attitudes in the U.S. Their mission is:

…to create dramatic and lasting change in the food system. We reconnect Americans with the people, traditions, plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food. We seek to inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices and market forces so that they ensure equity, sustainability and pleasure in the food we eat.

Chapters across the country organize events where folks can learn about the Slow Food Movement.

On September 7th, slow food groups around the country are planning eat ins to send a message to Congress: it’s time to get the junk food out of our schools and fund real, healthy school lunches. Slow Food USA president Josh Viertel explains the campaign:

ABC news’ Brian Hartman has reported what many have been wishfully waiting to hear for months: the Obamas will soon plant an organic vegetable garden on the White House South grounds.

Following a 60 Minutes interview with Chez Panisse chef, renowned slow foodist and activist for improved national eating habits in the US, Alice Waters, on Sunday March 15th, wherein she called with continued clarion for an organic garden at the White House, First lady Michelle Obama talked of her plans for the garden in an interview for Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine that will feature in its April issue.

Chicago’s health commissioner recently urged Windy City denizens to give up meat for the entire month of January, in a bid to improve locals’ health. Getting residents of Chicago—a city famed for its sausages—to go vegetarian for a month, or even a week, may seem like a tall order. Heck, I’m a vegetarian-leaning omnivore and it seems a bit challenging even for me!

However, the guy’s got a point.

For me, eating ‘healthy’ used to mean one stick of butter instead of two.  But for the sake of my arteries (and wardrobe!), I decided to ditch fatty foods in favor of an all-natural diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and any other low calorie, high protein substance that typically had a distinct flavor, resembling cardboard.

Needless to say, it wasn’t long before I returned to the comforts of creamy comestibles, luxuriously languishing in lardaceous liquids, where I’ve been happily indulging ever since.  That is, until Behind the Burner nutrition expert and author of The Little Black Apron, Jodi Greebel, came along to open my eyes to a lifestyle of healthy — yet satisfying — morsels that don’t require me to go cold turkey on tempting treats.

So, when I had Jodi captive, I picked her brain about nutrition, dining out, being a vegetarian, and how to eat healthy and delicious. 

Want to eat well but while keeping an eye on your budget? Not to worry—you don’t have to empty your wallet at Whole Paycheck Whole Foods in order to do so. Here are some tips on how to parlay your greenbacks into more affordable green eating.

Prioritize your purchases. Buying organic makes for healthier, tastier food, but it can come at a steep price. However, The Daily Green has published two helpful guides to navigating this dilemma: a list of 12 key foods to buy organic, as well as of the 10 safest non-organic grocery purchases.

Know which aisles to shop. The bulk section of health-food stores is a goldmine of good buys: grains, cereals, dried beans, nuts, flour, sugar, and herbs and spices. Buying in bulk is less expensive than buying packaged goods and allows you to get just the right amount.

Congratulations to Will Allen, whose work with the urban farming organization Growing Power has just won him a no-strings-attached $500,000 award from the MacArthur Foundation.

One of 25 MacArthur Fellows for 2008, Allen will receive the $500,000 over the next five years. The financial award is designed to give Fellows a level of financial independence so they can “accelerate their current activities or take their work in new directions,” according to the MacArthur Foundation.