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RESULTS		Results 101 – 123 of 123
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Beyond organic: A new label	David Roberts	15 May 2006	Gristmill
If you haven't been following the discussion under this post about Wal-Mart selling organic food, I recommend you catch up. It's quite insightful, with a range of views well-expressed. One note of consensus seems to be this: "Organic," at least as denoted by the USDA label, falls well short of genuinely sustainable agriculture. Tom is better qualified than I to give a comprehensive description of the latter, but one important element is locality. Food that ...
Topics: agriculture, food, local food, organic food, Wal-Mart (all these topics)

100-mile diet website and book Check 'em out.	Chris Schults	26 Apr 2006	Gristmill
Last year, I tried to keep up with Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon and their campaign to follow a 100-mile diet. I failed, by only blogging about parts one through five. Since then, parts six through eleven have been published, which can now all be found on the 100-mile diet website:On the first day of spring 2005, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon made a commitment to live for a full year on food and drink drawn from within 100 miles of their home in Vancouver, British C ...
Topics: books, food, local food, Vancouver, websites (all these topics)

Let's Make a Meal Michael Pollan digs into the mysteries of the U.S. diet in The Omnivore's Dilemma	Tom Philpott	13 Apr 2006	Arts and Minds
In The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan diagnoses the national attitude toward food: angst. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, 320 pgs, 2006. Channeling the modern middle-class shopper wandering vast supermarket aisles, Pollan asks: "The organic apple or the conventional? And ...
Topics: agriculture, books, food, green living, local food, organic food (all these topics)

The Sweets Hereafter On dorm snacks	Umbra Fisk	13 Mar 2006	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, As a hall adviser at a college where social activism is valued, I find myself stuck when it comes to entertaining en masse. Sure, I buy from local farms when buying snacks for myself, but when leaving goodies for my hall, putting the ever-enticing winter squash outside a resident's door does not say "midnight snack." Basically, I want to have my candy and eat it too. How can I appeal to the green in me while appe ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, food and agriculture, local food, organic food (all these topics)

In London, no more cooking with greenhouse gas Once the global capital of bad food, London shows the way forward.	Tom Philpott	24 Feb 2006	Gristmill
Since I started writing for Gristmill, I've tried to make the point that our food system amounts to an ongoing environmental disaster, and deserves much more attention from greens. Over in London, Mayor Ken Livingstone is putting that idea into action. As the Guardian reports, Livingstone recently declared that 'The energy and emissions involved in producing food account for 22% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.' Ponder that number for a minute. Rather than obse ...
Topics: agriculture, food, local food, London, United Kingdom (all these topics)

Iowa grows local In the heartland of industrial agriculture, a county goes local and organic.	Tom Philpott	24 Feb 2006	Gristmill
Nestled in the heartland of globally oriented commodity-food production, Woodbury County in Iowa has made a bold move away from industrial agriculture. Last summer, the Kellogg Foundation's Food and Society (FAS) website reports, 'the County passed an 'Organics Conversion Policy,' offering up to $50,000 annually in property tax rebates for those who convert from conventional to organic farming practices.' And then in January 2006, FAS continues, the county ... .. ...
Topics: agriculture, food, Iowa, local food, organic food (all these topics)

Turn the Eat Around Forgotten by many, a Brooklyn neighborhood nourishes its own	Tom Philpott	22 Feb 2006	Main Dish
Wander into Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood on a Saturday morning in summer, and you'll see a sight not uncommon in New York City these days: a thriving and diverse farmers' market. Neighborhood denizens cluster around stands offering free-range meat, fresh cheese, cream-on-top milk, and a whole array of fresh fruit and vegetables, many of them grown right down the block. An Added Value ...
Topics: Big Ag, Department of Agriculture, environmental justice, gardening, grassroots activism, industrial ag, local food, New York, placemaking, Poverty and the Environment, sustainable ag (all these topics)

I'm Hatin' It How the feds make bad-for-you food cheaper than healthful fare	Tom Philpott	22 Feb 2006	Main Dish
If you're going to talk about poverty, food, and the environment in the United States, you might as well start in the Corn Belt. So good, and so good for you -- until it's turned into soda. Photo: stock.xchng. This fertile area produces most of the country's annual corn harvest of more than 10 billion bushels, far and away the world's largest such haul. Where does it all go? The majority -- a ...
Topics: Big Ag, Department of Agriculture, environmental justice, gardening, grassroots activism, industrial ag, local food, New York, placemaking, Poverty and the Environment, sustainable ag (all these topics)

In Farm's Way Sustainable-ag legend Joel Salatin can farm -- but can he write?	Tom Philpott	29 Nov 2005	Arts and Minds
Over the past 20 years, Joel Salatin has emerged as a sort of guru of the sustainable-food movement. His 500-acre Polyface Farm in Swoope, Va., is legendary among a small circle of foodies for its robustly flavored beef, pork, chicken, and eggs. Among farmers, Salatin has won cult status for his innovations in multi-species, pasture-based animal husbandry. But readers of his new book, Holy ...
Topics: agriculture, food, green living, local food, slow food, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Good Bite, and Good Luck On freezing local foods	Umbra Fisk	17 Oct 2005	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I am lucky enough to live across the street from a farmers' market, and I shop there all summer. But when summer's done, the market closes and I am left to buy produce from California. Would it be better for me to buy a small freezer and freeze farmers' market veggies for winter, or to forgo the freezer and buy from the grocery store? Which is worse: long-distance transportation or the juice used by a freezer? ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, farmers markets, food and agriculture, green living, local food (all these topics)

Soy You Want to Be a Vegetarian? On soy vs. meat	Umbra Fisk	12 Oct 2005	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I finally went vegetarian several months ago, and one of my main reasons was the environmental impact of meat production. The other day, however, a friend pointed out that soy foods take a great deal of energy to produce too. So is there really that big of an environmental difference between TVP [textured vegetable protein] and free-range beef? And how does dairy compare? Should I just try to stick to nuts and ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, food and agriculture, green living, local food, vegetarianism and veganism (all these topics)

The hundred-mile diet goes north And why we pay too little for well travelled food	Chris Schults	08 Sep 2005	Gristmill
Speaking of eating locally, I've neglected to keep you apprised of the latest developments of our heroes to the North, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, who are living on a hundred-mile diet. In part four, Alisa and J.B. write about the hidden costs of food, China's agro ambitions, and Vancouver's bright spots. In part five, our dynamic duo heads oustide of their comfort zone to northern British Columbia, where they discover that following the hundred-mile diet isn't a ...
Topics: British Columbia, food, local food (all these topics)

What's your major? Universities considering adding organic-farming to curriculum.	Chris Schults	26 Jul 2005	Gristmill
Recently in Daily Grist we reported how locally grown foods are catching on at college dining halls. Now wouldn't it be nice if the students knew the in's and out's of how that food was produced? Well, they may get their chance, as several universities are offering (or are considering offering) organic-farming majors. But as KATU 2 in Portland, Ore., reports: ... starting up such a major can carry an implicit critique of traditional programs, said Matt Liebman, dire ...
Topics: education, food, local food, organic food (all these topics)

The hundred-mile diet Sustainable, yes. Possible, not so sure.	Chris Schults	15 Jul 2005	Gristmill
So you want to make sure your eating habits are not contributing to global warming, but aren't ready to go veg. You like the idea of eating only organic food, but worry about the long trek much of it makes to get from producer to grocer. So you're thinking about consuming only locally produced fare. But is it possible? Well, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon are giving it a go and sharing their experience with our friends to the north, The Tyee. In part one, we get the b ...
Topics: food, local food (all these topics)

Jug or Not On the perennial packaging dilemma	Umbra Fisk	23 May 2005	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I was recently elected the social chairperson of my subdivision's swim/tennis/social club. Now I'm in charge of party planning for a group of about 150 families. While shopping at Costco, I wondered which is better for the environment: several 128-ounce jugs of apple juice plus many plastic cups, or lots of 6.75-ounce juice boxes that would equal the same juice volume, or the equivalent in 10-ounce plastic bottle ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, food and agriculture, green living, local food, organic food, waste (all these topics)

Local food	David Roberts	27 Jan 2005	Gristmill
Here's a great AP story about colleges buying more food from local farmers. Students love it because it tastes better. School officials love it because it adds to the 'quality of life' that attracts applicants. Cafeteria workers love it because they get to cook and prepare food again instead of just ripping open packages. Farmers with small- and medium-sized farms love it because it helps them stay above water. And environmentalists love it because it encourages the or ...
Topics: agriculture, education, food, local food (all these topics)

Icebox, Icebox, Baby On when to retire a fridge	Umbra Fisk	15 Jul 2004	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I love to freeze fresh veggies at their peak of ripeness during the summer. Then, in the winter, I don't have to buy commercially frozen veggies or long-distance transported ones. In order to do more of this, I'd like to move my 1985 refrigerator to the basement and use its freezer entirely for this purpose. I would buy a new one designated Energy Star. Would this end up being environmentally a plus, a minus, o ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, food and agriculture, green living, local food (all these topics)

Bake Your Cake and Eat It Too On getting a job in the 'eco-field'	Umbra Fisk	14 Jun 2004	Ask Umbra
On getting a job in the "eco-field" By Umbra Fisk 14 Jun 2004 Dear Umbra, I'm a conscientious baby boomer who would like to do things to help the planet. I'm simultaneously enjoying a midlife crisis. I have spent more than eight years in college, studying to be a psychologist/chef. Where in the eco-field is there a place for a reformed business owner/computer teacher/chef with years and years of experience in the psychology of women? Dr. Thom Jacksonvill ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, food and agriculture, green jobs, green living, local food, organic food, sustainable ag (all these topics)

No Joshin': Keep Washin' On washing produce	Umbra Fisk	11 Dec 2003	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, Does one really need to wash produce off the shelf or out of the bag? I've been eating vegetables as they are for years. Does it really do any good to wash them? If they are contaminated internally, then washing the outside won't help, will it? Jane Steubenville, Ohio Dearest Jane, Please wash your veggies. Internal contamination from pesticides, herbicides, waxes, and the wages of sin won't be washed away, but so ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, food and agriculture, health, local food, toxics (all these topics)

In the Flesh On eco-friendly meat	Umbra Fisk	11 Dec 2003	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, While I'm not a vegetarian, I try to choose my foods based on their environmental impact. For me, most non-organic meat doesn't make the cut: It uses too much water, land, and other resources, and it pollutes our land and water. I know this because I know about CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), which are the sources of the bulk of the chicken, pork, and beef that Americans eat. But what about lamb? I've never s ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, food and agriculture, green living, industrial ag, local food, ranching, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Food for Thought At Yale Dining Hall, A New Food Ethic Emerges		18 Aug 2003	Daily Grist
Food for Thought At Yale Dining Hall, A New Food Ethic Emerges The word "cafeteria" does not exactly bring to mind healthful, organic, and delicious dining -- but Yale University is setting out to change all that. The ivy league institution has teamed up with Alice Waters (the chef who changed the face of American cuisine through Chez Panisse, her California restaurant) to create the Sustainable Food Pr ...
Topics: Alice Waters, education, food, local food (all these topics)

The Organic Verses On organic food and farming	Umbra Fisk	26 Nov 2002	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, I try to buy organic food where possible, but I notice that there is often a tradeoff with other factors. For example, organic food has often been shipped further and/or is more heavily packaged. How do I assess those tradeoffs? Ellen Watertown, Mass. Dearest Ellen, As I've mentioned before, the USDA national organic standards came into effect last month, an event that has caused both rejoicing and concern in t ...
Topics: advice, agriculture, Ask Umbra, CSAs, farmers markets, food, food and agriculture, green living, local food, organic food, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Strawberry Field Endeavor A former stock trader learns how to really pick 'em	Brian Lavendel	21 Oct 1999	Main Dish
It's an overcast day outside of Stoughton, Wis., the village that claims to have invented the "kaffee break." But a warm cup of java seems far, far away from Pleasant Hill Market Garden, where farmer Rob Baratz fights off the early morning, chilled wind with gritted teeth and a hand-rolled cigarette. Baratz, up on the farm. Brian Lavendel. I find him out harvesting a few late str ...
Topics: agriculture, CSAs, food, local food (all these topics)

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