While my family and I make every effort to eat local and lower on the food chain – mostly vegetarian – when we travel, we occasionally become “flexitarians” and enjoy a seafood dish or two when we’re at the edge of a vast ocean, perhaps with a wharf at the end of the street. At Passionfish, a restaurant nestled in the scenic Monterey Peninsula just a mile from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we connected with the Pacific Ocean by both its salty breeze and through the food we savored.

Opening in 1997, Passionfish is the brainchild of Chef Ted Walter and his wife Cindy Walter. Besides being restaurateurs, the Walters’ might as well be called “marine activists.”  This dynamic duo have ambitions of changing the world by educating people about what they eat, especially if what they eat comes from the sea. Using their restaurant as the alluring (and delicious) platform, the couple promotes sustainable seafood as well as locally sourced, fresh, organic vegetables and fruits. Even their meat products are pasture-raised.

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New findings from the Cassini mission to Titan — Saturn’s largest moon — show that its atmosphere contains about 29 billion gallons of propane.

Given that the average new car fuel economy in the US is currently about 20 miles per gallon, and that propane-converted cars get about the same mileage as regular gas cars, there’s enough propane on Titan to take one average car more than 23 million times around the Earth’s equator.

Wow! So what you say? Even though that may sound staggering, you still aren’t convinced that it really means anything to you? What if I told you this: that’s only enough propane to satisfy the propane needs of the US for 18 months.

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Tierra Sana, which is located at the corner of 67th Ave. and Queens Blvd, will be offering “Pay What You Want” pricing every Tuesday during lunchtime hours, starting on Feb. 3. After eating, you get decide how much the meal was worth, according to an article by the NY Daily News.

The special includes an array of appetizers, entrees, salads and desserts that are all health-conscious but still savory.

“Health food doesn’t have to be expensive or tasteless,” said owner Vic Fiallo, who began the “Pay What You Want” special to introduce Queens diners to cheap, healthy cuisine.

Alcohol is not included as part of the free pricing, but they do have a selection of organic wins available. Many of their meals are vegetarian and vegan options. Fiallo says that he’s confident that the food is so good that he’ll still make a profit during these lunchtimes specials.

Picture via sxc.hu.

A lobster, thought to be up to 140 years old, is to be released into the Atlantic Ocean, after briefly becoming an unconventional mascot at a New York City restaurant.

PETA found out about the plight of the 20 pound crustacean when a diner at NYC’s City Crab & Seafood called to say it was being kept in the diner’s tank. PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk praised the restaurant, saying, “We applaud the folks at City Crab and Seafood for their compassionate decision to allow this noble old-timer to live out his days in freedom and peace.”

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SC:  The list of eco-credentials that you have achieved at Pizza Fusion is impressive.  Could you describe a few of your initiatives just to give readers an idea of just how far you’ve gone?
VL:  We wanted our food to be green, so our ingredients are mostly organic and locally sourced if possible, but not just to stop there.  Our buildings are LEED certified, our delivery cars are hybrids, all our uniforms are organic cotton, all cleaners used in the restaurant are earth friendly, natural pest control is used, we buy countertops made from recycled bottles, we have heat exchange units on top of our stoves that heat our water, and the stores up north will also get their heat from there.  All of our paper products are 100% post consumer paper, and we use soy inks, and alternative papers are used when possible.  Our menus, for example, and on sugarcane pulp paper.  Water consumption and energy consumption are key, as in the restaurant business, these are chronically wasted, so we opt for energy star certified appliances when possible.  We also provide health insurance for employees with 25 or more hours worked per week. 

SC:  That’s incredible.  You’ve really covered your ground, not just as a green business, but as a Blue business, as advocated by Adam Werbach and others, pushing into the social, economic, and cultural issues around business as well as the environmental.  What led you down this path?

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Source: Founding Farmers

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Dear Readers,

Some of you have inquired about how I’ve been spending my time since wrapping up production (and living) on the Sust Enable project at the end of July.  As I wrote in my post “Voyage to the Center of the United States,” my August was spent travelling the country, experiencing its still awe-inspiring natural beauty.

Since mid-September, I have taken work waitressing nearly full time at a restaurant.  And no, that isn’t sustainable.

Sust Enable, my three month foray of 100% sustainable living, taught me a lot of things.  The first thing I noticed after the project concluded is that I was hopelessly broke.  Trying to innovate a radical new eco-conscious way of living doesn’t pay… rather, it sapped money, as I watched my planned resources for feeding and housing myself in a “100% sustainable” way fall through.

Partly, I am okay that the Sust Enable project didn’t pay me at all–it was an educational experience to me about how money works from an outsider’s perspective.  On the other hand, I was teetering near the brink of not being able to provide for myself–literally!  As much as I loathe the fact, nearly all systems for providing for one’s basic needs exist within the money-exchange system.  The ones outside of such a system and potentially sustainable, as I learned, are either insufficient, unavailable, or sabotaged at every possible opportunity by the capitalist system–by business owners, managers, policies, laws.

So, come September, I decided I really would like a place to myself.  I really would like to be warmed in freezing weather.  I really would like to have food readily accessible to me.  Basic ideas, no?  Certainly, each of these systems in their current states are unsustainable in terms of the environment.  But at the very least, I now have a perspective on how that might be different in the future, and can hopefully work to create a society that doesn’t have to trade the health of our air or water for our immediate stability and livelihood.

Working as a server in a restaurant has been a difficult situation for me.  I know I need the money… but holding that thought aloft every day above a sea of swirling, conflicting passions has been challenging.  I watch perfectly good food go uneaten and thrown out–but paid for–because of the sentiments that day of the purchaser.  I see inordinate amounts of cruel and unsustainably-harvested meat–from steak to seafood–served with enhancing garnishes on plates to carefree consumers, who will never feel or see the horrors of a meatpacking factory.  Money accounts for all.  I see servers, some of the hardest working people I have ever met, go untipped (our main source of income) by a table of cheerful business people.  But most of all, I see a continuous flow of garbage–paper, plastic, glass, and food–into the trash bins.

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Recently, I wrote a piece for Eat.Drink.Better about culinary greenwashing, titled Just Add Eco-Friendly Detergent and Rinse. Just when you thought it was safe to good back in the water again, I’ve found another prime example of a local, independent restaurant with the nerve to manipulate us.

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The menu’s specialty salads, especially the Antioxidant Orchard and Lemongrass Chicken salads, are incredible and are quick making the chopshop a favorite among celebrities, like LeAnn Rimes and her husband, Dean, who I spied in there while in line. If you don’t come for the amazing and reasonably priced fare, come in for the cute chef and friendly staff or just to support a company that is running their business responsibly.

The dishes have such complex flavors, in combinations I’d have never thought up. One of my favorites was a lemon basil sorbet we had for dessert that was outstanding. They sell several cookbooks, but I’ve always shied away from it, as I’ve heard (and would have to imagine) that the recipes would be too complicated.

Instead during our meal this weekend, I tried to guess how some of the dishes were made and see if I could emulate them myself. This recipe is based on an appetizer we had, but I paired it with a side salad as a full meal.

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But I’m forever reformed and now proudly flaunt my Midwest roots after bonding with The Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook: Local Food, Local Restaurants, Local Recipes. A new release from Renewing the Countryside, a Minnesota-based non-profit organization that champions the positive stories of rural revitalization, this photography rich book is a love song for local food. Through narrating the stories of 31 of Minnesota’s chefs and restaurants, the Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook offers 100 recipes that celebrate locally grown, organic and sustainable cookery.

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But recycled grease represents a source of cheap energy to some, one that can be converted to biodiesel or used directly as a substitute for diesel fuel. Having collected waste oil for both of these ends, I can tell you I’ve always had a nagging suspicion that one day the ‘free’ ride would come to a screeching halt. It just wasn’t clear how soon it would end.

Some parts of the country are now facing fierce competition over this generally unknown but ubiquitous local resource. The Associated Press has dubbed it the “Grease Wars”:

Recycled cooking oil has traditionally been sold for use in cattle feed and cosmetics. But the segment going to biofuels has grown in recent years to account for about 20 percent of the used oil market, said Tyson Keever, co-founder of Sequential Pacific Biofuels, the state’s largest manufacturer of biodiesel.

Portland’s oil peddlers are now fighting over grease worth as much as $1.20 a gallon. “You have processors now in the metro area who are looking at using that grease for biodiesel primarily,” said Mike McCallum, president and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant Association. “There are restaurants who are being solicited for the use of the grease and are getting some money for it.” The result in the long run may be more expensive biodiesel at the pump.

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1. Be Specific. Not everybody knows what it means to eat "vegetarian" or "vegan," and it’s important for vegetarians/vegans to be specific about what their needs are. I know plenty of people who think chickens are plants with wings or who think "chicken broth" is vegetarian. They think as long as there are no chickens floating around in it, it’s acceptable for those who don’t eat birds. So be clear and ask for exactly what you want.
Scenario Suggestion: When eating out, or when invited over a friend’s for dinner, it’s helpful to state specific foods. So you can say to your server "This dish/menu sounds wonderful. Just to be clear, I’m vegan, so please tell me if I order something with eggs, meat broth, cheese, milk, or cream." I’ve never had a server unwilling to accommodate me, and this takes care of any potential misunderstandings.

2. Be Positive. Most likely, you made the choice to leave animals off your plate because it makes you feel good — physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. If that’s your truth, then that’s exactly what you should express to those around you. Your attitude will influence the perception and attitude of others about what it means to be vegan.
Scenario Suggestion: When ordering in a restaurant, of course it’s polite and appropriate to thank the server for accommodating you, but try not to apologize to the point of being self-effacing. If you had a food allergy, you would just explain to the server and move on. Your food preferences are just as valid when based on ethical reasons. And remember, you’re paying them – they should accommodate you if they want to keep your business. So thank them, but then just move on.

3. Be Confident. Food is a personal as well as political subject that has been known to bring up people’s defenses, and vegetarians have found themselves on the receiving end of ridicule, criticism, interrogations, jokes, and plain old rudeness. Remaining confident that the attack has nothing to do with you personally will help you take the encounter in stride. Also, don’t feel you need to carry the weight of defending all the benefits of vegetarianism. If asked why you make the choices you do, speak from your heart and tell your truth. That is much more powerful than trying to espouse all the latest nutrition research that supports vegetarian eating (and of course there’s lots of it!).
Scenario Suggestion: You are at a party, and someone – rather hostilely – says to you, "I just finished a book by a prominent anthropologist, and he provides a lot of evidence that humans were never pure vegetarian at any point in our evolution." Many might be tempted to respond with the fact that early humans actually gathered more than they hunted, that we’re physically designed to eat vegetarian diets, etc., and if your goal is to win an argument, then argue away. But, consider an alternative response that diffuses the attack, speaks to the real issue, and enables you to remain true to yourself. You could say something like "I don’t know much about anthropology, but I do know that I feel really good about eating this way. It’s better for my health and certainly better for the animals. And besides, isn’t being human about doing things better than the way we did them before, especially as we learn more?"

4. Be Generous. Co-workers, neighbors, clients, friends, and family all appreciate the gift of homemade goodies, and every vegetarian knows the power of delicious food. Anytime non-vegetarians try your infamous meatless chili or your decadent dairy-free cookies, they are exposed to dishes they may have never chosen on their own, and often they’ll walk away with a new perception about "vegan food."
Scenario Suggestion: Bring muffins in for your morning office meeting, leave cookies on your neighbor’s porch, make a cake for a special occasion and share it with co-workers. You can visit www.compassionatecooks.com to get lots of delicious recipes.

5. Be Assertive. I’d be lying if I said that healthful plant-based options are available in every restaurant, but they are available in almost every restaurant whose focus is not "American cuisine." Every other cuisine, from Italian and Thai to Indian and Mexican, offers plenty of healthful vegan dishes. But for those times when you don’t have a say in choosing the restaurant, at an employee lunch or office party, it’s worth calling the restaurant in advance to find out which menu items can be made meat- and dairy-free or what they can make special to accommodate you.
Scenario Suggestion: Most people don’t like having their food choices be the center of attention, especially when people may already perceive veganism as "different" or "difficult," but anytime I’ve asked for something "off the menu," everyone else at the table has coveted my meal. They had no idea you could suggest something different than what’s on the menu, and they will wish they followed your lead!

6. Be Attentive. The stereotype that vegans talk all the time about being vegan is, well, true, but only because once a meat-eater learns you’re vegetarian, you become their Confessor, counselor, and sounding board. They often proceed to tell you how often they eat meat or how they’ve become vegetarian except for the chickens and fish they still consume. Though you’ve heard it before, be respectful, be attentive, and be sensitive. They clearly want to identify as a "vegetarian" and are trusting you with a bit of information about themselves. What they are saying may be more important than what you have to say in response. Ask them questions instead of simply responding.
Scenario Suggestion: A non-vegetarian tells you she tried to be vegetarian but it was too hard. Ask her what was hard about it. She tells you she doesn’t want to know about how the animals are treated. Ask her what she thinks might happen if she knew. The point is to create a dialogue and to realize that it is not "me against you," the "vegetarian against the meat-eater," but rather us against cruelty, us against violence. For those of us who are vegan, it’s also important to remember our own stories so we don’t become self-righteous. At one time or another, most of us ate animals and their secretions and some of us relied on silly excuses to continue eating them.

7. Be Prepared. There may be times when a work or family event centers around meat (like a barbecue) or takes place in a restaurant that is unfavorable to vegans (such as a steakhouse). At such times, it might be worth eating something before you go and/or bringing your own food to eat when you get there. It may be inconvenient, but it’s better than not eating at all, and once again, the food you bring will most likely inspire others to try something new. To be perfectly frank, BBQs – when they’re not vegetarian – are the one event I refuse to attend. It’s just much too painful and offensive to witness the ravenous gluttony of this meat-fest, but I don’t want to make it seem like being vegan isolates you. I don’t not attend because there wouldn’t be something for me to eat – I don’t go because I don’t want to; it’s just too upsetting.

8. Be Equipped. There are numerous occasions that offer the opportunity to bring a dish. Bringing your favorite vegan lasagna or chocolate cake is a surefire way to ensure that you’ll enjoy the fare, and it’s a wonderful way to introduce people to delicious and nutritious veg food.
Scenario Suggestion: If you are attending a dinner party where guests were not asked to bring a dish, you might want to call to find out if it’s okay that you bring something. Or, better yet, ask the hostess if you can alleviate some of the cooking burden for her and bring one of the dishes. It would also provide you with an opportunity to clarify what you eat (see #1).

9. Be Humorous. Non-vegetarians as well as vegetarians can get a little uptight around such a sensitive subject. Humor has a way of diffusing tension. Always keep in mind that whatever jokes non-vegetarians might make at your expense, it really has nothing to do with you. Passive aggressive though these people are, it will help to respond with humor and levity.
Scenario Suggestion: I try to keep things light while at the same time telling the truth. So, for instance, when I’m around non-vegetarians and one might say something about the chicken sandwich they had for lunch and then they turn to me to apologize, I usually say something like "look – don’t apologize to me. Apologize to the chickens." It’s a good way to get people thinking without being judgmental; besides, this has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with the animals. Responding with levity to hostility is always a good way to go.

10. Be Vocal. One thing some non-vegetarians don’t understand – I don’t think I really understood it before I was vegan – is that to sit in a restaurant watching everyone chewing on animals is an incredibly painful experience. Eating at a vegetarian or, better yet, vegan restaurant is so wonderful – not just because you can choose anything on the menu – but because it’s a nonviolent atmosphere. There’s kind of a feeling of serenity when you look around you and know that no animals were (intentionally) killed in the making of the meals and everyone’s just munching on wonderful plant-based food.
Scenario Suggestion: So, when you can speak up and ask your friends or family or co-workers to try a vegetarian restaurant, I encourage you to do so. If you’re a non-vegetarian, extend an invitation to your vegetarian friend to go to a veg restaurant. That way, everyone can eat and experience the abundance!

The Holidays: I want to say a quick note about the holidays. Many of these suggestions will help, I think, but here’s another sure-fire way to ensure all the food is vegan: host a holiday dinner yourself. You can make it potluck style, guiding non-vegans about what to bring, giving them recipes, etc. It will inspire them to make something vegan, although they’ll probably realize they cook vegan all the time but never called it vegan. There are times I’ve gone back East for the holidays and cooked the entire holiday meal (with some help from my hubby, of course) for our families. They were happy to have someone do all the cooking, and the meal was something everyone was able to enjoy. Yes, it means more work, but whatever. A few hours in the kitchen is nothing compared to what the animals endure.

Although there is a loss of product (read: waste) inherent in mass food production and preparation, it is the food not consumed by customs that accounts for most of the waste. As consumer are pushed into buying more food, or bigger portions, the problem of waste is only exacerbated.

While food waste breaks down in landfills more easily than Styrofoam and other synthetic products, it still takes up landfill space. Further, the problem of food waste is not necessarily about the end product of the waste, but a more accumulative measurement.

The steps that go into producing each plate of food require a large amount of energy. Just think about it is terms of fuel use: to get the food on the plate we need the gas that goes into the tractors to harvest the wheat, the gas that fuels the trucks that brings the food from the farm to the distributor then to the restaurant, to the gas used to power the grill the food is cooked on. Now, if you add the amount of energy it takes to keep all the food at the proper temperatures, as well as the amount of energy needed to run the stove, the oven, and the deep fryer, you can begin to visualize the enormity of it all.

While consumers can object to bigger portions until they turn blue, it is the restaurant owners that can really make a difference in reducing the amount of food waste generated by their restaurants.

In order to fully understand how much food is being wasted at your restaurant, there is an easy, and temporary, procedure you can put into place that will accurately measure restaurant waste. While a ‘food audit’ may sound a little scary, the process is quite painless. The only materials needed are three garbage cans (or six pickle buckets), a scale and a dedicated dishwasher.

The first thing you have to do is to educate your staff about why you are performing a food audit. Not surprisingly, when you bring the topic of food waste up with a group of servers, they often have a lot to tell you about how many half-eaten sandwiches and barely touched desserts they are forced to throw away daily. The point is, servers can offer you an insight on wasted food that you might otherwise miss when dealing with the upper-management of the restaurant.

Next, you need to enlist your most trusted dishwasher. This process will be for naught if the dishwasher does not do exactly what s/he is supposed to do. Think of this process like a scientific experiment: everything has to go according to the rules, or the end result is not reliable.

Lastly, you are going to have all your staff bring each plate of uneaten food to the dishwasher. (Many times, a restaurant will have a ‘dumping station’ where they clear the dishes before taking them to the dish well. This can not happen because you will need ALL wasted food to be handed over to the dishwasher.) The dishwasher will then separate the food into three categories: meat, veggie and dairy waste. Sometimes food will become mashed together somewhere along the line, so just pick the categories that represents the majority of the food on the plate.

At the end of the night, the dishwasher will weigh the contents of each bucket. The final numbers will show you how much of each product is being wasted. The breakdown of product can show you the areas where you should decrease portion sizes. For example, if you have an abundance of veggie waste, it probably means your salads are so big that people are unable to finish them.

I suggest that you continue this process for an entire week, and then calculate the averages of each for categories. The most important step of a food audit is the conclusion. If you are armed with the knowledge of how much food your restaurant wastes, it will be hard not to want to make changes in your portion sizes.

Besides being an environmentally-conscious step in the right direction, a food audit is a good way to save a ton of money. If your restaurant wastes 17lbs of dairy every week, imagine how much money is thrown in the trash each year!

To learn more about food waste, check out these fascinating facts!

Think about the last time you ate a piece of organic fruit. Do you know where it came from?

Born from the desire to support and connect with local organic farmers, Bay Area start-up I Heart Organic is currently distributing sweatshop-free, and 100% organic American Apparel t-shirts at green festivals around the Bay Area. With 10% of all net profits to education and local organic farms, you may have also seen them at your local farmers market, on myspace, or on Earth Day at the Digital Be-In.

Recently meeting up with co-founder Rian Bedard for a chat about green living in San Francisco, I learned that I Heart Organic SF is as much a vehicle for green information and awareness as it is a really sweet American Apparel t-shirt.

Fully launching in the summer of 2007, www.iheartorganic.com will be a portal and an education tool for all local Bay Area organic businesses and organizations in the city. With an emphasis on organic farms, natural health, and green building, I Heart Organic will also feature documentaries from cutting edge filmmakers and a section of reviews on local green restaurants. With the latest from seasoned green and restaurant critics, this section will eventually grow to become more of a
wiki/yelp-style review portal for everything organic and green in the city.

"When you go to your local farmers market, you are looking people in the eye who cultivated the food you'll be eating," says Rian. "How many times can you say that when you walk into a supermarket to buy your groceries for the week? It's important to support your local farmers, and we aim to educate people as to why it is so important, and why eating organic is better for you and better for the Earth."

Be on the lookout in the near future for Eco-friendly tote bags sporting the "I Heart Organic SF" that both supports and shows support for your local organic farmers.

For more information, or to get your very own I Heart Organic tee, stop by and say hi every Saturday at the Ferry Buiding farmers market, or visit www.iheartorganic.com and tune in every Saturday at 10am to 90.3 KUSF for the "I Heart Organic SF" radio show dedicated to increasing awareness about local people, projects, and happenings that are helping to make the world a greener place.