Photo Credit: Andrew Spurgin

Cooks Confab is a group of innovative chefs who come together to promote local, sustainable meals in hopes of bringing people together to support a great cause.Cooks Confab’s latest event School Lunch creates a local Farm-to-School connection in San Diego.

Cooks Confab teamed with Slow Food Urban San Diego and the San Diego Unified School District to make School Lunch a success. The event was centered around creating healthy, sustainable, delicious school lunches and promoted awareness on the importance of serving farm fresh food to kids. The event included a screening of the documentary “Lunch Line”, a panel discussion about how to improve school lunch programs, and of course a whole lot of food! Kids were able to come early to harvest vegetables from the garden and learn about the fresh ingredients that were going into the meals they were eagerly waiting to eat. These meals incorporated healthy twists on some favorites like wheat macaroni ‘n cheese, vegetable lasagna, strawberry “milkshakes”, and baked vegetable chips.

It’s encouraging to see members of our community donating their time, money, and talent to educate people on important issues. I am looking forward to seeing what other great projects Cooks Confab puts on, and am hopeful that what was learned from the School Lunch event will be incorporated into the community and stimulate positive changes!

To learn more click here

Photo credit: Raman Sharma

With huge demands on the world’s global food supply, many are looking to biotechnology to save the day. While supply is certainly a concern, will the path to meeting the demand sacrifice more than we’re bargaining for?

Agricultural innovation has long sustained the world’s masses with an abundance of low-cost food, thanks to the success of the mid-20th century’s Green Revolution, which brought industrialization and high-yield grains.  A booming global population however, has made the way for new mouths to feed that, that by 2050, will nearly double food demand. At the same time, farmers face the challenges of climate change, high oil prices driving demand for biofuels and rising costs of land and water.

Recently, President Obama announced that the U.S. and India would create a partnership to “spark a second, more sustainable ‘Evergreen Revolution’”—a sequel to the Green Revolution.

Former U.S. Department of Agriculture Chief Scientist and Undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics Gale A. Buchanan believes that if the president’s plan is to have any “real, revolutionary” impact, then it must capitalize on the value of genetically modified (GM) crops. Advocates argue that GM crops could also play an indispensable role in addressing the world’s most serious agricultural challenges like climate change.

Thankfully, critics argue otherwise. Environmental activists raise concerns about displacement of biodiversity, jeopardizing native plants through cross-pollination or effects on wildlife. The Organic Consumers Association is concerned about health risks and commodity price manipulation by corporate giants such as Monsanto. According to a position statement from the Union of Concerned Scientists, GM foods may pose harm to human health or the environment. The organization calls for thorough risk assessment before introductions of all biotechnology products.

It’s obviously a very complex and challenging issue.  How can we ensure that enough food is created for the world’s population while also ensuring that we are doing it in a sustainable manner? Unfortunately, it’s a question we will need to answer in the very near future.

To read more, click HERE.

Photo Credit: Paula

Obviously climate change has detrimental effects on the environment, but who knew it could be the cause to an increase in human health problems?

Scientist had already predicted that global warming could contribute to many deaths in animals that live in habitats that are being destroyed, but new studies are showing that humans are at risk as well. Diseases like malaria are showing up in places that it never has before. The change in climate is allowing mosquitoes that carry the disease to thrive in new environments. The expansion of this tropical disease is devastating to populations that do not have the proper vaccinations to handle it. Illness is also being spread through the consumption of seafood that is exposed to the effects of global warming. An algal bloom called “red tide” algae produces poison that accumulates in seafood. When humans eat the poisoned seafood, they have the potential of getting extremely sick and in some cases may even die. In addition, it has been found that bacteria are now able to thrive in different parts of the ocean. This rapidly growing bacteria also accumulates in seafood which is then consumed by humans.

I had never really thought about the health implications that global warming could bring. Maybe people will start realizing that not only the Earth’s wellbeing is at risk, but that their own lives are as well.

Photo Credit: Alexander

We all know how pesticide use and industrial farming changed the landscape of North America, and the world, since it was first used in the 20th century.  Well, third world nations are learning to double the output of their agricultural resources by abandoning pesticides and switching to more environmentally friendly alternatives.

Many farmers in developing nations can double food production within a decade by shifting to ecological agriculture from use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a recent U.N. report revealed.

“Agroecology” could make farms more resilient given the impact of climate change including floods, droughts and a rise in sea levels that this report indicated was already making fresh water near some coasts too salty for use in irrigation.  So far, eco-farming projects in 57 nations had shown average crop yield gains of 80 percent by tapping natural methods for enhancing soil and protecting against pests. Recent projects in 20 African countries had resulted in a doubling of crop yields within three to 10 years. Those lessons could be widely mimicked elsewhere.

“Sound ecological farming can significantly boost production and in the long term be more effective than conventional farming,” U.N. Special Rapporteur Olivier De Schutter highlighted in his report to the U.N.

With oil prices and food costs rising, developed nations may actually be at a disadvantage.  Developed nations would be unable to make a quick shift to agroecology because of an “addiction” to an oil-based model of farming. However, a global long-term effort to shift to agroecology could possibly be accomplished.

For instance, Cuba has shown that such a change is possible.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 cut off supplies of cheap pesticides and fertilizers; Cuba had to innovate through agroecology. Yields actually rose after a downturn in the 1990s as farmers adopted more eco-friendly methods.

So how will our food be grown in the future?  That will be up to us and how hard we push for more sustainable agricultural practices.  To read more, click HERE.

Photo Credit: Deepwater Horizon Response

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are looking for 55,000 relief workers who helped clean up the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, reports CNN.com. They will study how being exposed to the oil and the chemicals used to remove the oil may have affected the health of workers and volunteers.

Dubbed the GuLF Study (“Gulf Long-tern Follow-up Study”), it begin with the researchers contacting people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida by sending letters of invitation to participate in the trial. When 55,000 participants have been located, the first part of the trial—a phone interview including questions about the work they did—will take place. At that point, 20,000 participants will be asked to partake in the study’s second phase, which involves home visits, taking a variety of samples (including blood and urine) and measuring blood pressure and lung function.

A press release issued by the NIH reports that among the 40 known oil spills in the past 50 years, only eight have been studied for health effects. The study’s lead investigator, Dale Sandler, Ph.D. says, “The goal of the GuLF Study is to help us learn if oil spills and exposure to crude oil and dispersants affect physical and mental health.” The result of the study is likely to be big green news so stay tuned.

Read more at CNN.com.

Photo Credit: Kevin Lim

We’ve all heard the story.  Recently, the Frito Lay corporation released a 100% compostable bag for its Sun Chip product line.  While this was a big step forward for the company’s sustainable initiatives, the noise the bag made seemed to be loud for consumers.  The bag was subsequently pulled off the shelves.  Well…..the bag is back!

As of Feb. 25, Google search results showed that more than 225 stories had been published relating to Frito-Lay’s news that it has heard consumers’ request for a quieter compostable bag for its SunChips brand snack chip. While the company has not offered an official release on the new package, its Facebook page shows a picture of the new pack, with the words, “We heard you. Introducing our new quieter 100% compostable bag.”

In April 2010, Frito-Lay, launched the first 100% compostable snack bag made from PLA.  Unfortunately, Frito-Lay sales of the snack fell nearly 11% due to consumers’ concerns that the bag was too noisy. In fact, consumers were so annoyed by the 85-decibal snack-bag crinkling that they launched a Facebook group called “Sorry But I Can’t Hear You Over This SunChips Bag,” that amassed 44,000 followers.

Due to this decline, Frito-Lay pulled the bag off the shelves and returned to its traditional petroleum-based packaging for all but one of its SunChips flavors.

After going back to the drawing board and developing a new bag structure that dampens the sound, Frito Lay thinks they have the answer.  The solution, rubber. “A rubber-like adhesive sealing the two parts of the bag together acts like a noise dampening agent.”  The new construction is now on store shelves for the plain-flavor version. Based on the initial Facebook comments posted, consumers are pleased that Frito-Lay is continuing its compostable experiment and are looking forward to getting feed back on the new bags.

So head to your local grocery store and check them out.  See what all the noise is about and be sustainable doing it! Click here to read more.

Photo Credit: Xiaohei Black

Most of us cringe at the thought of having to go to the dentist for a check-up, filling or dare I say ….. braces.  While you’ll probably still not going to look forward to that upcoming checkup, you may be more inclined to get in the chair now that green dentistry is on the rise.

Roughly eight years ago, attorney and eco-entrepreneur Ina Pockrass, and her dentist husband, opened the first green dental practice in the U.S.  After seeing the need for their profession to become more environmentally friendly, the Pockrass’ business in Berkeley, Calif., has become a model for environmentally responsible dentistry.

The industry group the couple founded, the Eco-Dentistry Association, brought the first “green lounge” to the ADA’s annual meeting. The exhibit gave attendees a first-hand look at how an environmentally responsible dental practice works. It also provided an introduction to an organization that has 600 members in 48 states and offers certification programs for green dental practices and products.

In creating an environmentally sound dental practice, including the materials and procedures in the wellness-based practice to the office itself, “we created a business model that placed our dental office in the top 5 percent of the nation,” she said.

Through their work, Pockrass and her husband outlined the risks posed by conventional x-rays, certain sterilization practices and the use of barriers (millions of which get tossed into landfills annually), suction machines (one of which can consume as many as 360 gallons of water a day), and mercury waste from fillings. To combat these threats to the environment, green dentistry works to reduce waste and pollution, save energy and water, employ high-tech solutions and support a wellness lifestyle.

The Pockrass example is just one of the ways that new innovations are popping up in business and industry to improve society’s overall sustainability.  So don’t put off your next visit to the “tooth doctor”, instead smile wide knowing your contributing to a more sustainable industry by choosing a green dentist.

To read more about sustainable dentistry and the Pockrass’ story click HERE and HERE.

Photo Credit: Time

Will Allen grew up as a farmer and promised himself he would never farm again after he left home. He became a professional basketball player but could not repress his passion for farming. So breaking his promise, Allen bought a small farm with the intentions of growing and selling produce. What he didn’t expect, was to become founder and director of the nonprofit organization Growing Power, that does a whole lot more than grow and sell produce.

Growing Power educates local communities about how to maintain their own local, healthy food supply. By providing necessary tools and educational demonstrations, communities are able to grow, process, market and distribute their food at Community Food Centers (CFC’s). Not only does this offer job opportunities for lower income residents, it also cuts down the cost of food by eliminating the cost and pollution of transportation since everything is local. The CFC’s are all modeled after the Growing Power Facility in Milwaukee. At this two-acre farm in a space no larger than a small supermarket, live thousands of fish, 20,000 plants, vegetables, and herbs, chickens, goats, rabbits, and even bees! The small farm is partially solar powered and the greenhouses are heated by compost allowing the vegetables to be grown year round. Will Allen has always believed that space should not be a constraint and not having a yard is not an excuse, that “two feet of compost is enough to turn asphalt into a cornfield”.

Allen wants to be sure that anyone can have access to healthy, fresh, good food, regardless of income. With plans of building a five-story vertical farm and continued education of local community members, Growing Power is truly doing their part in creating a cleaner, greener, healthier world.

To read more click here!

Carbon isn’t the only element effecting climate change, although it might seem like it to many mainstream environmentalist circles. Indeed, “carbon emission” has become the key phrase in reference to most issues surrounding atmospheric change, pollution, temperature shifts, and more. But please don’t forget about other potent ingredients included on the list of elements that have already exceeded the “planetary boundaries” is, such as our longtime helpful friend, Nitrogen.

After being discovered in the 20th century as a world-class fertilizer, Nitrogen has been coating crop fields for decades. In the US, as much as 40% of reactive nitrogen is wasted by being washed into nearby waterways, and even worse in China where the farms use 2x the amount of nitrogen fertilizer to yield the same harvests. Vehicle emmissions, power-plant fumes, and factory farm operations are all sources of nitrogen emissions.

But most nitrogen doesn’t stay in the atmosphere. Instead, it is mostly rained out in the form of ammonia, altering ecosystems worldwide depending its concentration which can be mild to “acid rain”. Perhaps even more harmful are the “coastal dead zones where excessive nutrients in the water – fueled by runoff of fertilizers – has suffocated or driven away ocean animals. In the Gulf of Mexico, fish and shrimp have been eliminated in an 8,000-square-mile dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River”.

Nevertheless, there is dramatic hope on the horizon. If new EPA clean-air standards are passed, the US will cut about 90% of its nitrogen emissions by mandating power plants to have nitrogen-removal equipment. Efforts to change the ways of heavy applicating farmers are being rolled out too. Through education, observation, and better efficiency, farmers are learning they can cut their nitrogen use without effecting their yield.

And with nitrogen playing such an important role in feeding our human population, it’s high time for us to figure out how to harness it’s force without leaving a legacy of destruction.

Photo Credit: Jay-P

In our efforts to be more sustainable, we sometimes set our sights on the big issues and can ignore the clear and obvious choices to be more sustainable.  One choice that most people can make, is to choose more sustainable options for food and drink. For those that drink more than eat, choosing a sustainable wine can have an even bigger impact on reducing your environmental footprint.

Organic. Sustainable. Earth Friendly.  A number of terms get used when talking about “green” wines. Believe it or not, these types of wines are actually big green news and so its important to understand the lingo to make the best possible choice.  The official definition of sustainable wine is: “A product that has been made in such a manner that it will allow the vineyards and environment to continue to produce an undiminished product for all future generations.” As well, it is important to understand what makes a wine organic.  Organic vineyards are managed without the use of fungicides (fungus control), insecticides (bug control), herbicides (weed control) or synthetic fertilizers.

In an effort to improve the sustainability of the wine industry, one country in particular has made significant efforts to improve the environmental performance of their industry.   Some of the best wines in the world are produced and bottled in New Zealand.  There sustainable winegrowing was developed in order to: Provide a best practice model of environmental practices in the vineyard and winery; Guarantee better quality assurance from the vineyard through to the bottle and address consumer concerns regarding products which are made taking care to respect the environment.

The changes the industry is making in New Zealand is leading the way for other wine producing countries to change their growing, production, packaging and shipping habits.

So the next time you reach for a bottle of wine to go with your culinary creation, make sure you choose a sustainable brand.  While your letting the bottle breathe, you’ll be able to breathe a little easier know you made a difference.

Click HERE to read more about New Zealand’s sustainable wines.