Food For Good
From WikiForGood
Eat Local -- takes you to the Eat Local section of WikiForGood
Contents |
Raise it Yourself
My pet chicken is a great place to start if you're looking to raise chickens. Detailed information is provided about breeds, type and number of eggs you can expect, and a wizard that will help you identify what's important for you (is space a problem?) and provide suitable breeds. You can also order directly from the site, order a small number of chicks or eggs, and have the option to select hens or roosters.
Make it Yourself
Make your own yogurt using the simple directions listed at this website. Benefits? You know exactly what's in it (no preservatives, sugar, or chemicals), less waste from individual, non-reusable containers, and making the flavors that you want. Yum!
Vegetarianism
Vegetarian Does Texas! I am a vegetarian and eating my way through Texas. If I can survive college station, I can survive any place in the US (or so I think)! Please visit my blog, where I have restaurant reviews, food articles, recipes, pictures and just "experiences". **Specifically, I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian or one who drinks milk and eats eggs. I do not however, eat fish.
Foraging
Foraging: How Nature Truly Intended It "Wildman" Steve Brill does Wild Food and Ecology tours and talks in the NJ/NY/CT area. A truly amazing experience.
Urban Farming
Growing Power In 1993, Growing Power was an organization with teens who needed a place to work. Will Allen (MacArthur 'Genius' award winner) was a farmer with land. Will designed a program that offered teens an opportunity to work at his store and renovate the greenhouses to grow food for their community. Short video of Will speaking about his work. What started as a simple partnership to change the landscape of the north side of Milwaukee has blossomed into a national and global commitment to sustainable food systems. Through a novel synthesis of a variety of low-cost farming technologies – including use of raised beds, aquaculture, vermiculture, and heating greenhouses through composting – Growing Power produces vast amounts of food year-round at its main farming site, two acres of land located within Milwaukee’s city limits. Recently, cultivation of produce and livestock has begun at other urban and rural sites in and around Milwaukee and Chicago.
Green City Growers We build and maintain backyard farms on people’s private land for the benefit of them and their family. It’s like having a personal CSA. [CSA, as in “community supported agriculture.”
Grass Fed
EatWild.com Provides comprehensive information about the benefits of raising animals on pasture; links consumers with local suppliers of all-natural, grass-fed products; provides a marketplace for farmers who raise their livestock on pasture from birth to market and who actively promote the welfare of their animals and the health of the land.
Food's Role in Climate Change
"Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars? Surprise! According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (29 November 2006), the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation."
Veggies Grown on Supermarket Rooftops Keith Agoda, came up with the idea to grow fruits and vegetables on the rooftops of supermarkets after a trip to Chicago where he witnessed first-hand community gardens feeding local area residents. This led to the idea for Sky Vegetables, the creation of an urban agriculture firm that specializes in the building and managing of rooftop gardens for sale of produce to supermarkets situated directly below. Sky Vegetables works with hydroponics, 4 times less weight than traditional soil, an important requirement considering that weight is a critical factor for a a greenhouse structure designed to fit on a 40,000 square foot rooftop.
Sustainable Fish
The Pocket Seafood Selector helps you purchase sustainably harvested fish by listing recommendations in a format you can print out and carry with you to the grocery store and restaurants.
Fish Wallet Card: You're in a restaurant and you're going to order fish. You've heard horror stories about Chilean Sea Bass being over fished. But what about the other choices? Put your worries to rest by using a fish wallet card offered by the scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The "Best Choices" listed on the card are abundant, well managed and fished or farmed in environmentally friendly ways. Seafood to "Avoid" are over fished and/or fished or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment. You can view the guides online or download a pocket-size version. It's a great conversation piece too! You could even give the cards as gifts, and they're FREE! While you're at it, why not give one to your waiter and ask them to pass it along to the restaurant owner?
Holy Mackerel and Other Guilt-Free Fish: This article in the New York Times offers guidance on purchasing fish that are good for your health and are sustainably fished.
Beverages
FilterForGood is a campaign to reduce bottled water waste.
If you enjoy filtered water when traveling, but don't want to be buying bottles of water (cost of shipping heavy water, plastic bottle waste, etc.) you should check out Pure Water 2 Go. They have BPA-free, portable, reusable water bottles with filtration built in! Fill it with water from any tap and it will get filtered. Important to note is the the filtration device works by being connected to the bottom of the straw, so you must consume the water through a straw.
Soda Stream USA allows you to make your own carbonated water or soda at home. Long-distance transportation of water is heavy, costly, and environmentally unfriendly. By using water straight from your tap, you are able to negate the carbon impact of your guilty pleasure! The reusable bottles also mean that for every liter you drink, you're not contributing to the over-abundance of plastics crowding the environment. All this - and the fun of making your own cola!
