Yes, Wolfgang Puck, who leads a multi-million-dollar empire of restaurants and frozen foods. Puck recently had a revolution and said, “I have had a change of heart. I want to be more outspoken about the treatment of animals in all my restaurants, catering businesses, licensed foods and takeout establishments, I’m committed to using organic ingredients and humanely raised meats and fish.” Think of the enormous impact that one man’s decision has made!
-From The Earth-Friendly Food Chain (p. 105)
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.
In light of the grocery store excerpt previously posted, I came across this news story, The Great Grocery Smackdown by Corby Kummer (The Atlantic), which you can read the whole story for yourself to learn the outcome. Kummer orchestrates a blind tasting between Walmart and Whole Foods’ organic products. Amazingly enough Walmart is starting support their local farms that years ago they helped destroy. “To get more locally grown produce into grocery stores and restaurants, the partnership [with Agile Agriculture and Walmart] is centralizing and streamlining distribution for farms with limited growing seasons, limited production, and limited transportation resources.” Walmart has recently committed itself to help rebuild economies and communities instead of destroying them. You know we need to start going for Earth-friendly food choices especially when companies like Walmart are realizing the detrimental effects it’s had on the environment. This corporate giant may not be so bad after all…
I was recently a guest speaker at this event in February, Strengthening the roots: Food and Justice Convergence, in Santa Cruz, CA. It was an event organized by the Real Food Challenge. Between this event and one put on in Montana, these summits:
*Brought together over 300 students, community members, and other real food activists to learn, connect, and take action for real food.
*Connected 50 SCHOOLS to the Real Food Challenge network and campaign.
* Featured 35 WORKSHOPS AND PANELS ranging from regional food sovereignty to popular education to campus cooperatives.
* Celebrated the real food community with 2 CONCERTS–both planned and impromptu.
I was honored to be a part of this movement and will continue to support it!
Weddings are expensive – for the happy couple, their parents, and the earth. It’s a $70 billion a year market. Fortunately, it’s becoming more and more common for brides and grooms to make their happy day a green day. Check out the Green Bride Guide. The owner says, “The goal of my business is to show couples and their guests that there are hundreds of ways to decrease the impact of an event and save money at the same time – without sacrificing style. In fact, I have found that across the board, couples can save up to 40 percent off the cost of their weddings by going green!”
In California, college and high school students got together over a February weekend to further their goals of making their schools’ food services more sustainable and just. Over 200 young people gathered for workshops, presentations, earth-friendly food, and fun. Good networking was had by all. Their mission is “To unite and empower the California community of higher education to collaboratively and nonviolently transform our selves and our institutions based on our inherent social, economic, and ecological responsibilities.” To find out more information click here.
