Green Orange

Via the NY Times we read that Tropicana orange juice, of all things, is calculating its carbon footprint! I'm impressed... now they just have to figure out what it means and what to do with it. It sounds like the best thing they can do is look at the number and then try to make it better (after all, more efficient = higher profits). “If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it," says Bryan Lembke, a PepsiCo manager on the project...

Food Secretary

Oh, if only he were called the Food Secretary maybe he would work out all right... The new Secretary of Agriculture is seen as a good guy by such organizations as the National Pork Producers Council, which means, I think, that we aren't going to see as much change in the food system as we might have if the Food Democracy people got one of their Sustainable Dozen up in the house... Apparently the foodie people are now looking at Tom Vilsack's choice for Under and Deputy Secretary. I have to say, too, it's really a bummer to see another white guy in office. I was hoping for a lady! Or at least someone different-looking.

Bicycle Boom in the midst of a bust

Bicycle stores are trying to guess whether this year will be a slump like the rest of the economy, or a boom, like it was in the 70s when people were trying to use less fuel... I am rooting for a boom! Read the NY Times article... As they say, "When people ride bikes, lots of good things happen."

Walking without buying

An article in The New York times really struck me tonight, after a walk with my favorite man and the passing-by of a wine bar I've been wanting to try. The night is beautiful here in San Francisco—warm and cozy and a good presage to the chill that is coming. We walked by the bar because only one of us wanted to go in tonight, and now I am glad for a couple of reasons. I think I need to tuck in for the long haul on the money thing. I mean, I need to be more serious about saving money than I have ever been before.

And then for the planet it is also necessary to reduce. Maybe the wine bar will have to be saved for the really Special Occasion rather than the Passing Fancy. As Margaret Atwood said in her op-ed, now that the economy seems to be in the tank (at least for the time being) the bright side is that, "Perhaps we’ll have some breathing room — a chance to re-evaluate our goals and to take stock of our relationship to the living planet from which we derive all our nourishment, and without which debt finally won’t matter."

And finally I am glad because we have just made a good feast instead of drinking wine! Freshly shelled beans (cranberry beans and Italian butter beans both from Iacopi) were laced with olive oil and rice vinegar and sea salt, and then we kept adding more things! Carrots of all colors, a radish, golden cayenne chili (from Tierra Vegetables!!) and two kinds of green onions from two different growers (Heirloom Organics and Marin Roots Farm). And I thank also for the daily bread, which is from Full Circle in Penngrove and couldn't be more delicious.

My Review of REI Camp Cup with Clip Grip

Originally submitted at REI

Clip this mug on your backpack and you're ready for an outdoor adventure accompanied by your favorite tasty beverage.

REI Camp Cup with Clip Grip

replaceable lid?

By seedlingproject from San Francisco, CA on 10/21/2008

 

2out of 5

Gift: No

Pros: Easy To Clean

Cons: Not durable

Best Uses: Regular living, Car Camping

Describe Yourself: Avid Adventurer

What Is Your Gear Style: Minimalist

I bought this to reduce the amount of paper cups I use for coffee, and I had big plans to use this for ten years. After a month, however, I dropped the cup and the lid broke. I would be psyched even to pay another $18 to just buy a lid, but is that an option? I don't want the energy/carbon footprint of an indestructible steel insulated cup on my conscience!

just a little crack! Please just sell me a lid!

Tags: Picture of Product

(legalese)

Shooting again

I shot something for this project again. It is a tradition in the highlands that the people who help a farmer with their planting are given any leftover seeds, and in this way I received some. Lee James of Tierra Vegetables is willing to plant the seeds I was given in Perú. Mine looked a little dry and aged when I gave them to her, but she thinks a few of them look likely to sprout. They are planting them soon and they are going to call me to come film when they do.

I got a secondary story today while I was filming. A man came to visit Lee James; he had given her seeds three or four years ago, and she has been growing them for several seasons. They are called Paradiso, after his ancestor who brought the seeds over from Italy in the early 1900s; all his family recipes include this pepper. Now he only has one plant of his own, but Lee is keeping the seeds going.

Glory in genetic diversity. Hurrah for heirloom plants.

Candidates

I have been trolling the internet, trying to get a sense of the difference between McCain and Obama in terms of food policy, since it's the issue I feel I know the most about to begin with. It turns out this isn't so easy to find out... From Marion Nestle's blog I was directed to a posting by a graduate student at Cornell, Alexandra Lewin. I was surprised at what I learned, for instance that Clinton was the top recipient of food industry donations, Obama was fourth, and McCain was ninth. It seems to me from looking at the differences between McCain and Obama's vote that Obama is only slightly more in line with my foodie values. I still want to vote for him, because I like his tax policy and his restraint from hyperbole.