Green Options

Do you know where your coffee comes from? Next time you reach for your cup of joe, consider these three things before you drink.

• Fair trade. The fair trade certification label ensures that the workers or farmers who produce a product receive a fair price for their goods and have improved labor conditions. The fair trade label also often includes a measure of environmental sustainability and responsibly managed farms.

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Chicago residents who want to get serious about eating local and organic food have a number of ways to get their hands on produce with low "food miles" that is grown in an earth-friendly way. In addition to the scores of different farmers’ markets to be found in different neighborhoods throughout the city, dozens of CSA options are available from organic farms in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. But what happens after

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This local blog first came to my attention via an article in the local paper about a University of Michigan medical student and his daughter who are operating a blog together that is encouraging people to eat vegetarian meals one day a week (on Wednesdays). The Vegetarian Wednesday blog began just this past summer. Originally founded by Josh Mugele and his daughter Eleanor, there are now a few other writers

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Quick question: What are you having for dinner tonight? No plan? You’re not alone. About one third of Americans don’t know what we’re having for dinner tonight. While a dash of serendipity and spontaneity may be good for the soul, when it comes to eating, having a plan helps both the planet and pocketbook.

No meal plan results in – you guessed it – our falling into the

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In the vegan cooking classes I teach and the outreach I do, I am often asked how to incorporate "organic" food into our diets without breaking the bank. Since I rarely have a simple answer, I usually start off by saying what I think is a really important thing to keep

Keep in mind that the typical consumer is NOT paying the true cost of food. The meat, dairy, and egg industries, in

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I must admit, I’ve never been much of a fashionista. In fact, if Garanimals came in adult sizes, I’d probably check them out. OK, that’s an exaggeration, but you get my point.

However, I do find the innovations in green clothing fascinating, and for that reason I plan on attending EcoNouveau this Saturday. Billed as LA’s definitive EcoLifestyle experience, the event is a precursor to LA Fashion Week, which begins October 14th.

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Time management gurus advocate going after "low hanging fruit" first: identifying and going after your most obvious opportunities. This same "go after the low stuff" theory also applies to edible activism: "Eat low, use more."

Basically this means eating as much as possible lower on the food chain, using a core staple of whole grains, beans and generally less processed food. Grains and beans pack a nutritional wallop — a single serving of

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I’ll admit it, I was one of those little kids who patrolled gutters during rainstorms to save drowning worms. All these years later, I have a new appreciation for them. Honestly, what’s not to love about critters that reduce global warming, help you garden, and will eat most things that you toss their way? As pets, they may not be much to look at, and they’re decidedly bad at playing fetch. But compare them

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Over the past few years fair trade products have expanded into many new markets. With this trend we inevitably have to reevaluate the micro and macro systems involved in producing and providing fair trade products.

There is a rather large difference between fair trade products and fair trade companies, says Mary Morison, executive director of the Fair Trade Resource Network. Large corporations that sell or promote individual

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Don’t call us the Grinches of Halloween just because we eat our pumpkin rather than prop it up as a doorstop decoration. Actually, we’re on a mission to resurrect the reputation of the poor pumpkin. Once a meaningful Fall mealtime staple, pumpkins epitomize seasonal autumn eating with hearty flavor that have, unfortunately, been relegated to craft supply.

For those wanting to incorporate more local and seasonal foods into their diet during the fall

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Editor’s note: We’re very happy to welcome Lisa Kivirist to the Green Options writing team! Lisa, along with husband John Ivanko, is the author of Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life (which we reviewed), and Edible Earth: Savoring the Good Life with Vegetarian Recipes from Inn Serendipity. Lisa and John own and run Inn Serendipity, a central

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