Tag Archives: Eat In

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No Impact Week Starts Today

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The Huffington Post and Colin Beavan, No Impact Man, have announced a No Impact Week, starting today. A lot of folks are taking a pledge to go on a week-long “carbon cleanse” in order to reduce our individual impacts on the planet, both for its sake and for ours. According to the HuffPo:

The week is not about strict rules or precisely replicating No Impact Man (unless you want to!) it’s about thinking about your environmental impact in a new way and picking the goals that are right for you.

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You can download a terrific guide to No Impact Week, or any week. It’s packed with simple suggestions that will really get you thinking about small changes you can make immediately to lower your impact on our planet’s store of natural resources and help your own budget and health in the process.

Ideas include: Making your own cleaning products to cut down on toxins and packaging waste, kicking bottled water and getting involved with the Take Back the Tap campaign, driving less and also differently with the Hypermilers to reduce fuel consumption, and following specific ideas to help you shop less and eat sustainably and locally, including ways to make the food you do buy last longer.

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To that last point, the processing and transporting of food around the globe uses tremendous amounts of water, energy and chemicals. By eating organically and locally, when we can, we each can shrink our own carbon footprint in this area, and probably eat more healthfully (and support local farmers) in the process.

The National Resources Defense Council has created a terrific and fun-to-use site that lets you plug in your state and one of 24 times of the year to find out what you can eat that’s relatively local. Some cold-weather states offer a surprising amount of food choices for year-round eating. In other cases, there’s not as much grown locally, but there are fresh offerings in neighboring states.

This Planet Green site on 50 Ways to Reduce Food Waste is another practical site that will not only get you thinking, but offers ways to change your habits today.

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I signed up for the No Impact Project. I didn’t sign a big, intense pledge. I just volunteered to give it a go and receive updates about the project. I committed to myself that I would follow the guide for the week, which will take me through gradually making some changes — perhaps strengthening or deepening practices I already have. If you’re inclined, join me, and we’ll talk about how it’s going.

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Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman: Pedal-powered smoothies at the Mill Valley Eat In for healthy school lunches, Rainwater harvesting at Fairfax EcoFest and Parade, salad at M.V. Eat In, sign at San Francisco Ferry Building, composting and plastic waste display at Fairfax EcoFest and Parade, produce at City Market in Portland.

Mill Valley’s Slow Food Eat-In a Bountiful Success

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Slow Food’s national Eat-In day was a huge success. According to the Slow Food Time for Lunch web site, there were more than 300 Eat-Ins in all 50 states, and more than 20,000 participants:

“From schoolyards to backyards, on farms and in gardens, we told Congress it’s time to fix school lunch.”

The event I attended in Mill Valley was exceedingly special. We joined thousands of others in signing a petition to Congress to improve the quality of school food. We also enjoyed the efforts and company of neighbors who are gardeners, chefs, food preservationists, terrific cooks, and really nice people, and we did so in a beautiful park at the end of a Labor Day weekend. I found it very inspiring and am grateful to Hilary Jeffris, Kathy Ziccardi and the other organizers of Mill Valley’s Eat-In.

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There was an array of beautiful homemade food from people’s gardens, kitchens, dehydrators and juicers. Everything was bountiful and delicious and fun to share in community.

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At the Operation C.H.E.F. station, we learned about ingredients in different foods, and enjoyed smoothies made from bike-pedal power. Operation C.H.E.F. is a fun camp that helps kids learn to cook and enjoy healthy meals.

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The Marin Open Garden Project, which hosts wonderful local plant exchanges, harvesting and networking, had a display of seedlings. We chose a lettuce one from Open Garden’s Julie Hanft to give a new home.

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Other demonstrators included Wendy Johnson from Green Gulch Farm, whose “Plant-In” illustrated how to grow food in the smallest of spaces. Helge Hellberg, director of Marin Organic and Slow Food proponent, spoke, as did Carole Mills, representing State Senator Mark Leno, who was attending an Eat-In in San Francisco. Here are Hilary Jeffris and the organizers introducing the invited guests.

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Our friend, Gaspar Hauzy, really enjoyed making butter from cream.

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The result:

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What a delicious day!

Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman

Slow News Day: Attend a “Time For Lunch” Eat-In

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Slow Food USA has been busy on its Time for Lunch campaign, which advocates for healthy, local, quality food to be served in our nation’s schools, as an investment in children’s health and nutrition education, as well as in green jobs and reduced waste.

On Monday, Labor Day, Slow Food has planned a National Day of Action, and participating couldn’t simpler. All around the country — in picnic spots, parks, restaurants, farms, and backyards — people will be participating in Eat-Ins. Eat-Ins are simply potluck gatherings of those who wish to slow down, enjoy one another’s company and good food, and at the same time support improving the quality of food in our schools. More than 300 Eat-Ins are in the works, in all regions of the U.S. Some have arranged to have speakers from the Slow Food Movement and elected officials; others will offer chef demonstrations and games.

Slow Food and other advocacy groups hope to use the day to bring more attention to the issues, as the group is lobbying Congress for change, coinciding with the fact that the Child Nutrition Act is due for re-authorization this month.

Best, yet, who wouldn’t like a moment to embrace the end of summer vacations and reconnect with those around us for a couple of hours in the late afternoon — over food. Eat-ins offer the perfect combination of community, activism and food. And they have struck a chord. This article in The Atlantic points out that they are attracting tons of folks who have not previously been involved with the Slow Food Movement.

I’ll be at the Eat-In in Mill Valley’s Boyle Park, which will run from 3-5 pm. Representative Lynn Woolsey is expected to appear, as is Green Gulch gardener Wendy Johnson, who will be leading an educational “Plant In”.

The Slow Food site makes it easy to find an Eat-In near you.

Photo by Susan Sachs Lipman

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