Food Choices for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet

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SF Green Festival 2010 Review

In Food, Food to Try, Recommended Company,
  • Posted on April 21, 2010
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Hi! In case you were wondering, I’m Veronica, Linda’s assistant, blogger, and lead publicist for the Earth-Friendly Food Chain. If you see posted by: vjchung, that’s me! Anything by the EFFC is written by Linda.

Recently I attended the Green Festival in San Francisco for the first time! If you’ve never been before, it is definitely a life-changing, motivating event that you should experience. It’s a large festival dedicated to promoting different products to help create a more sustainable earth. It is also where we sold “The Earth-Friendly Food Chain” at the bookstore! Anyways, there are about 10 mentionable companies that I found unique, interesting, and revolutionary. Here are some that you should definitely check out:

*I tried Hemp milk!: This company Hemp Bliss has created a line of milk products created with hemp. It is better for the environment as well as people. Definitely an interesting experience… it tasted somewhat like flowers in my milk… It has plenty of calcium, 10 essential amino acids, and full of “good fats” Omega-3 & Omega-6.  It is great for allergies and 100% vegetarian. It comes in original, unsweetened original, vanilla, and chocolate. Jointheblissrevolution.com and manitobaharvest.com to compare flavors.

*Funniest Company: Mr. Ellie Pooh Paper – All of their paper products are actually made from elephant poop! (yes, feel free to laugh. I did!) It is actually helping prevent the hunting of elephants and creating a use for the surplus of elephant poop all over the jungle. And if you were wondering, no it doesn’t smell like poop! Visit www.mrelliepooh.com to find out more about their products!

*Cutest bags: I found a highly fashionable grocery bags created by June 15. One of their bags was actually featured in last month’s InStyle magazine! They have a variety of bags made from cotton and jute with different functions. My favorite was the Palette Bag because it had a convenient pocket and separator built in the bag. However, I bought the more popular one and went with the blue bag.  http://www.june15collection.com/

*Best Baby Line: I found the cutest organic baby line created in SF with blankets, toys, stuffed animals, and burp clothes by Apple Park! All of their products are made with organic materials and the items are so plush and cute! Check out  www.applepark.com to see all their little animals!

*Most Innovative Company: Rentalic is a service that helps you rent and rent out items in your household. So instead of buying a new tent when you want to go camping, or a lawnmower you use twice a month, you can borrow from your area. Also it’s a way to help you earn a bit of cash by renting out to your local community anything from movies, video games, and household appliances. I thought it was a wonderful idea seeing that Americans tend to consume an abundance of goods. Eventually they end up sold on ebay or craigslist, given to goodwill, or put into storage. This will hopefully help eliminate the problem of clutter and junk!  Visit www.rentalic.com to start renting out your items or borrowing ones you need!

*Prettier then Paper Plates: Leafware has created a line of dinnerware made from fallen palm leaves in different shapes and sizes. I loved the heart shaped ones and the fact that they can be composted. www.leaf-ware.com Also, since you need silverware to eat from, To-GoWare is the best way to go! These utensils are made from bamboo! The local Berkeley company also makes stainless steel tiffins for plastic free foodware! www.to-goware.com

*Away with Paper Towels!: I have been debating since the Festival on whether or not I want these… I think I have decided to invest in a set of People Towels!! These are thin towels that you carry in your purse and use instead of paper towels or the hand blower machines in public restrooms. They are made out of 100% organic cotton.  They come in a bunch of cute designs and colors with a nice little eco-sack to store them in. What’s not to love? You save some trees & reduce waste, not to mention they’re soft and cute! www.peopletowels.com

*Old Invention Reinvented: This product is available for SF residents only, but I am sure there are other companies alike that offer this product in your area if you research. Basically it is a device that harvests rainwater! The city of San Francisco has made it possible to participate in rainwater harvesting to prepare for a sustainable future. It’s taking an old practice of catching rain water to use inside your home. For more information check out http://stormwater.sfwater.org or www.urbanfarmstore.com

* A Quest for the Perfect Products: I had the pleasure of listening to one guest speaker after browsing the entire festival. I decided to check out a representative for Alter Eco, Mathieu Senard. Not only did he allow us to sample fair trade, delicious chocolate (my fave was Dark Velvet Chocolate), but he informed us of what Alter Eco strives for. They look for quality goods, promote fair trade, take a sustainable stance, and seek superior taste for their products. I will most likely go more in depth about fair trade and this company in particular at a later date seeing this entry is getting rather lengthy. To learn more about the company go to http://www.altereco-usa.com/main.php



Your Tax Dollars at Work

In Food, Good News,
  • Posted on April 5, 2010
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Finally! The US Department of Agriculture is putting more resources into increasing access to local, healthy foods at affordable prices to residents of low-income communities. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “The Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, will provide training, technical assistance, and funding to community organizations, entrepreneurs, and small businesses working to build local and regional food systems across the country. Promoting the production and distribution of food within a local foodshed opens new markets to small- and mid-sized farmers, fosters social connections between urban and rural residents, and can improve health in inner-city neighborhoods where fresh fruits and vegetables are often scarce.” I’m sure we can all applaud the creation of food equality.


School Lunches Get a Reeducation

In Food, Good News, In the News, Recommended Company, Salute to You,
  • Posted on March 31, 2010
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Reevaluating and revamping school lunches so that they are not only nutritional but are earth-friendly as well has become a popular topic in today’s society. Our nation’s lawmakers have taken a huge step in providing children with basic nutritional needs. This week the Senate Agriculture Committee voted to pass the Heathy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which is a bill that will revamp school lunches to be healthier and sustainable for the environment. Hopefully this bill will pass the full Senate to become a law. But in the meantime, Berkeley schools have become the pilot for not only California schools, but the nation. The School Lunch Initiative provides “delicious, healthy, freshly prepared meals using seasonal ingredients from sustainable farms to all of Berkeley’s public school students.”  If you also look at the big picture this will benefit this generation because children will learn to take the basic essentials of eating healthy Earth-friendly foods and apply them in the future benefiting our environment! To read the full article feel free to click here.

Also applying to our children and school meals, recently ABC aired the TV show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution where the chef has made it his mission to help transform the way schools are currently feeding our children. Many schools have filled their lunchrooms with processed, unhealthy meals contributing to epidemic of obese children. Here’s Jamie’s main message on the issue:

“I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It’s time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!” To learn more about Jamie Oliver’s stance and help out by signing a petition to improve school food, please check out his website.


Nestlé Products Taking a Bite Out of Rainforests

In Food, Food to Avoid, Take Action,
  • Posted on March 24, 2010
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Nestle products takes a bite out of rainforests

When you’re biting into some of Nestlé’s most popular products – like PowerBar, Butterfinger, and Nestlé Crunch Crisp you could be taking a bite out of precious rainforests. A new report , click here to view, we released shows that Nestlé has purchased palm oil linked to Paradise Forest destruction in Southeast Asia.

Growing global demand for palm oil is fueling the destruction of rainforests in Indonesia to make way for expanding palm plantations. Fire is often used to clear forests, causing massive, polluting blazes. Illegal canals are cut into ancient peatlands, draining water and releasing methane and other potent greenhouse gases.

We need your help to tell Nestlé to stop destroying rainforests for palm oil! You can do so by clicking on this link from greenpeace.org.


Honey, Splenda is not so splendid!

In Food, Food to Try,
  • Posted on March 16, 2010
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This article from Emagazine “The Sticky Truth: Weighing the Sugar Alternatives, from Agave to Yacon” explains that natural sweeteners such as honey, are better for the environment as well as ourselves. Next time you reach for the Splenda for your cup of coffee or tea, think twice and choose an alternative if you can.


To Eat or not to Eat? The question is more about ethics

In Food, Food to Try, Recommended Reads,
  • Posted on March 15, 2010
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This recent survey Beyond Organic: How Evolving Consumer Concerns Influence Food Purchases, showed 69% of consumers are willing to pay more for “ethical” food. To read more on the survey and the findings, click here for “Survey Shows Consumers Care About Ethical Food Claims: Where Do You Stand? One way that you can help out by supporting animal welfare would be to try to eat vegan, vegetarian, or make sure your eggs are cage-free. Just taking a few simple steps in your eating habits would help make a difference for your earth.


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