Green Options

Today’s news is ablaze with stories about the recent swine flu outbreak, an outbreak that may have been fully preventable through the use of green farming practices. At the time I write this post, 50 cases of swine

flu have been reported in the US alone, with one death attributable to the mutated virus. Although most cases have been mild, the fear factor alone is leading to school closures and cancelled vacations across the world.

Got another wonderful email from Willie Nelson today . . .

I really love and appreciate the work Willie Nelson is doing with Farm Aid and the letter he wrote to our new president elect, Barack Obama, which beautifully articulates the need to pay attention to family farmers. While there are so many urgent issues looming and competing for airspace for our new president, I can’t agree with Willie more that support of family and smaller local/regional farm systems is at the heart of the solution for many of the challenges that plague our country. 

Family farms and regional farming systems help reduce the food production carbon footprint in so many ways, not the least of which is that it travels less of a distance if it is supporting a defined regional area.

If you visit your local farm stands and farmer’s markets and have ever belonged to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, you have come to respect if not love your local farmers - and for good reason!

Thank you Willie for continuing to make noise (and great music) on this issue!

Read Willie’s letter . . .

In Part 1 of this series, I discussed how the demand for inexpensive olive oil in large quantities is causing environemental problems in some of the world’s largest olive oil producing countries including Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal.

It’s estimated that 95% of the olive oil in the country comes form the Mediterranean region. For those of us in America who are trying to incorporate more local foods into our diet, this causes a problem. The U.S. isn’t known for it’s olive oil. At least, not yet. But it seems that many regions in California are stepping up their olive growing and their olive oil producing. According to a news brief on oliveoilsource.com

Olive oil is a rapidly growing industry in California, with volume projected to increase by 1000 percent in the next five years. California also produces 99.9% of the olive oil grown in the U.S.

and recently

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 634 to provide stronger support to domestic olive oil producers nationwide by giving further clarification and quality control over olive oil sold in the United States.

So it looks like there will be a lot more olive oil being produced in the U.S. and steps are being taken to ensure the quality of that oil. In fact, the article says that

the new law finally gives regulatory weight to how olive oil is labeled and marketed and substance to quality control issues that have plagued the industry involving lower-grade oils fraudulently marketed as extra virgin.

Higher fuel prices means more than taking a beating at the pump—it also affects the prices of the foodstuffs you buy. From Brazilian bananas to Moroccan couscous, the price of food is directly related to the energy it takes to cultivate, harvest and transport it.