“The kitchen is the best room in the house for teaching green values.” -- Laurie David Last night I attended an enjoyable talk by Laurie David -- best known as the producer of An Inconvenient Truth -- whose new book The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids,... Continue reading

Late one afternoon this fall I drove into the vast, all-but-empty parking lot of a local community college. My contact had called an hour earlier to say he was running late, and now the sun was sliding toward the western hills, washing the scene in citrine light and streaking it... Continue reading

The jury is still out regarding the relative GHG emissions of conventional vs. grass-fed beef, but the most recent studies indicate that all the variables are considered, including the role of pasturelands in carbon sequestration, grass-fed has a slight advantage. And even aside from the effect on the climate, there are plenty of good reasons to go the grass-fed route. Continue reading

“Don’t complain about being unable to afford high-quality local food when your grocery cart is full of beer, cigarettes, and People magazine.” -- Joel Salatin, “Rebel with a Cause: Foodie Elitism,” Flavor, June 14, 2010 Apropos of my last post, I just stumbled onto this article by farmer and author... Continue reading

These days, the terms “local,”’seasonal,” and “organic” are now unavoidable. Chefs and restaurant menus deploy them relentlessly, while food magazines and newspaper food sections sprinkle them like salt. Meanwhile, books such as Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, both of which argue for a sustainable... Continue reading

Feeding our families is a parent’s most basic job. But most of us would agree that we have another job that is equally important, and that is to do our best to ensure that the world our children inherit from us is at least as healthy, peaceful and fair as the one we grew up in - hopefully a lot more so. And it turns out that what we feed our families can make a big difference to whether or not we do that job well. Continue reading