Get to Know Your Farmer

Five Farms is a combination of audio stories and photographs produced by Wesley Horner Productions and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and distributed by Public Radio International. It shares the stories of five different farming families throughout the country in an effort to connect the food on our tables with the people who worked hard to grow it. Through a series of five one-hour radio documentaries and accompanying photos, you will get to know the individuals in each of these five families - hear about their stories, their struggles, and their triumphs - as they provide others with sustenance. I'm pleased to say that one of the families showcased is a hard-working couple in North Carolina - Eddie and Dorothy Wise from Wise Family Farm near Whitakers. Their farm is home to about 250 hogs raised from brith without hormones or antibiotics and even sold to a local pork processor. Their story is inspiring, as their journey to own their own farm was a long and hard one. Find out more about this amazing family and four others through Five Farms: Stories From American Farm Families.

Saving the World...One Cow Burp at a Time

This story was just too crazy not to share! The folks at Stonyfield Farm have been looking at their carbon footprint for some time. Stonyfield, the world's leading organic yogurt company, knew that the biggest carbon contributor in their overall footprint was the milk production itself. While they had worked to decrease carbon emissions from transportation, farm energy, etc., they figured they couldn't do much about their largest source of farm emissions - methane from cows. I mean, you can't green a cow...can you? Well, it turns out you can! Stonyfield learned about research from it's global partner, Groupe Danone, that indicated a diet higher in natural omega-3 sources would reduce the number of burps coming out of their cows. That is how the Stonyfield Greener Cow project was born. The result? Fewer methane emissions from the cows and milk with more omega-3s and lower saturated fat content. A win-win-win, for poeple, cows, and the planet!

A Fair Trade

Most of us are familiar with the term "fair trade," but do you really know what it means? If you are interested in learning more about it, a great resource is Green America's Guide to Fair Trade. Do you think the fair trade label only applies to coffee? Not true...find out about the people behind fair trade chocolate, tea, fruit, sugar, fashion, jewelry, home decor and even sports equipment. Learn about what the term means and why it matters. Explore some of the places where fair trade is in action. Finally, learn about how you can get involved. It's all in Green America's Guide to Fair Trade!

Cucumbers are Liberal and Zucchinis are Conservative...Food Politics!

I just finished reading Food Politics by Marion Nestle, and highly recommend it. She provides an extremely thorough explanation of how our nation's food and political systems are intertwined and interact. Do you know...

• How nutrition guidelines get developed?
• Where the food pyramid came from?
• Why we all learned about the 4 food groups growing up?
• Why some sugar cereals are labeled as "heart smart" and others are not?
• Why dietary guidelines never say to "eat less" of anything?
• That there is a Western Pistachio Association? (who knew??)
• How olestra got produced?
• That enough soda is produced in this country for every person (man, woman, child, baby) to drink 556 12-oz servings a year?

If any of these topics and issues are of interest to you, Food Politics is definitely worth the read!

Raise a Green Glass

There is a line that divides this country. It's not between red states and blue states or between the north and the south...it separates those for whom it is more carbon efficient to drink wine from California from people for whom it’s more efficient to drink wine from Bordeaux. That is according to Tyler Colman, otherwise known as Dr. Vino. You may be hesitant to trust someone who calls themselves Dr. Vino, but this guy actually did his Ph.D. dissertation on the politics and economics of wine! Check out his research findings on calculating the carbon footprint of wine for more on how farming practices, distance traveled, packaging and more help determine the carbon footprint of your favorite bottle. Plan on raising a pint instead of a wine glass? Then check out How to Choose Green Wine and Beer from Yahoo Green. Cheers!

Turns Out That Local is Sexy...Who Knew?

Let's face it...those of us focused on environmental issues aren't used to being on the "What's Hot This Year" lists. Well, times are changing! The National Restaurant Association conducted a survey of more than 1600 chefs to find out "What's Hot in 2009." Eco-minded readers will be pleased to know the following made it on the top-20 list - #20 free-range poultry/pork, #18 organic wine, #10 sustainable seafood, #3 organic produce and #1 locally-grown produce. How's that for a new year to look forward to?

No More Sushi Blues

Now you can be a sushi aficionado AND an environmental aficionado at the same time! Thanks to a collaboration between the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Blue Ocean Institute and the Environmental Defense Fund, it's easy to make sushi choices that safeguard ocean wildlife and human health. The folks that brought us the easy-to-use seafood wallet cards have a new pocket guide dedicated to sushi. As with the originals, the new sushi guide takes into account fishing and farming practices as well as mercury and PCB contamination that could be harmful to human health. So, pile on the wasabi and go for it!

Food Fight!!!!

Producer-Director Chris Taylor brings us Food Fight, a documentary about how American agriculture and food culture developed throughout the 20th century and the California food movement that has developed as a response. The film shares the story of the anti-corporate protesters, led by Alice Waters, who emerged in the 1960s and 1970s to create their own food chain of local, organic and sustainably-raised foods. They rejected what they saw as trading taste and nutrition for money and shelf-life. Food Fight was recently screened at the American Film Institute's AFI Fest in Los Angeles and continues to receive high praise.

My Beer's In Trouble?...Now I Care About Global Climate Change!

Jim Salinger, a climate scientist with New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, recently shared some bad news with attendees at the Brewing and Distilling Convention. It turns out that global climate change will likely reduce the amount of malting barley that can be grown in New Zealand and Australia. This could mean more expensive beer or no beer at all, and these changes will likely occur within the next 30 years. Salinger only spoke about New Zealand and Australia, but similar changes could happen worldwide. This is the kind of climate research I can see researchers jumping on. You could be the one who saved the world one beer at a time.

Seafood Watch Pocket Guides

It's hard to keep up with which seafood is sustainably harvested and which isn't. You don't have to, because the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program does it for you! Just order one of their FREE handy-dandy pocket guides so that you can make smart seafood choices. The guides are meant to empower consumers and businesses to make choices for healthier oceans. Options are broken down into three categories - GREEN - best choice, YELLOW - good alternative, and RED - avoid. But don't harvesting practices, aquaculture techniques and species populations change? Yes, and that is why the cards are updated twice a year! But aren't different options available in different places? Yes, which is why Seafood Watch offers guides specific to your region! But shouldn't health concerns also be considered? Yes, which is why the cards indicate which choices have health concerns associated with them! Quit asking questions and order your card already so that you can make smart, sustainable seafood choices. Go to http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp to learn more!