As we quickly approach Food Independence Day, I ask what you’ve considered about your own food consumption habits?

*I spent last weekend in lovely Manchester, TN at the Bonnaroo Festival. Bonnaroo does more than most festivals in trying to lessen its footprint, which got me thinking about what a little citizen action could do at ANY event!

1-Separate bins for trash, recycling, and compost throughout the grounds.
2- A person called a “trash talker” posted at trash stations to help tell you whether you needed to recycle, compost, or trash. (I do wish they’d been dressed like scarecrows so the pointing would’ve been more theatrical…)
3- Water refilling stations throughout the venue that encourage the use of reusable bottles.

How easy would it be to incorporate these small steps into any community festival or even outdoor concert facility? How can we make this happen? Public events are monsters for trash generation, and I would argue the implementation of the “trash talkers” made a significant difference in making sure disposables got placed in the right container… just some thoughts.

**Do you eat soy? (tofu, edamame, soy milk… chances are you eat soy whether you know it or not!)

Our pals at the Cornucopia Institute have provided this guide to help navigate which companies are giving you the goods, and which ones are giving you the runaround. (Personally, I love their use of the word “charlatans.” Grrrr!)

Soy Report and Scorecard

[while you're there I also recommend checking out the "Who Owns Organic?" chart... it will make you choke on your wheatgrass to see how the food system is structured!]

***Want something to look forward to on Mondays?

Sir Paul McCartney (my third fave Beatle) has announced his MEAT FREE MONDAY campaign– just one day a week can help reduce world carbon emissions, your own carbon footprint, and with the recipes provided on his website, your waistline, too!

MEAT FREE? PASS THE TWO VEG!

**** And if you’re just looking for some healthier substitutes in your regular diet, MomCentral compiled this list of easy substitutes that improve your nutrient intake… frequently with yummier substitutions. (Admittedly, I’m biased– most days I’m convinced I could live on sweet potatoes and avocados.)

Mom says eat right!

Be delicious!
BB

Happy Tuesday that feels like a Monday until you realize that Friday is closer than you think. I hope you are filled up from a holiday of delicious eating with delicious people.

This week I’m going to try and focus a little bit on the cost of food– both directly in the store and market as well as the big picture costs affiliated. We’ll see how this goes.

A couple links to help you consider your body’s fuel with as much mindfulness as you do the fuel in your home or your car:

1- The Environmental Working Group has issued a guide to pesticides for shoppers to help make it easier to determine what produce needs to be an organic purchase and where you may be able to buy conventional. It can even be downloaded to your iphone.

Check it out here:

http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php

2- Tom Philpott (who has the best name for someone writing about food issues– i could make “Philpott” jokes all day in regards to food in the recession!) wrote a great article for Grist.com that deserves a read. . He illuminates the similarities between the financial collapse and vulnerabilities in the world’s food system. All the more reason to think about how our investments in our sustenance need to have as much thoughtful consideration as the type of socks we invest in to put under our mattresses.  (I prefer a sensible organic wool.)

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-05-22-financial-collapse-food

Happy eating!

The contest asks you to “place a simple, colorful flier on high mileage cars that you encounter, showing the vehicle owner that she or he has done something worthy by choosing a leading-edge (in fuel efficiency) vehicle.”  Once you have placed the flyer. snap a picture with a digital camera (or cell phone), then upload the pics (free registration required) to Planet Thoughts.

The vehicles on which flyers are placed must be models that achieve at least 40 Miles-per-Gallon, as listed on the High-Efficiency Cars page on Planet Thoughts.  The person who uploads the most pictures of valid car models will win the grand prize of at least $500.

The contest’s “simple rules” can be found here.  The competition has already started, and runs until June 2, 2008 at 11:59pm Eastern (US) Time (GMT -5).  All pictures must be submitted by that time.

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Yet another reason we should recycle everything we can, and find new ways to recycle what, right now, we can’t.  Maybe donate your old computers to schools or libraries or your less-fortunate neighbor, or a homeless shelter, or whatever!  Just keep it out of the landfill – and China!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

Consume less, save more; bring your own bag; drive less; plant more trees – snowman will be happier! 

Words we can all live by…

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

According to Ground Support Worldwide, airlines are pushing their fares in the vertical, upwards direction due to “oil’s latest surge.”

The article mentions that crude futures have crossed the “once unthinkable” $100/barrel mark (unthinkable by those who didn’t understand the term “non-renewable”), causing most airlines to raise fares by $10-$20 per ticket.

United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Air Canada, Air Tran, and Midwest Airlines were specifically mentioned in the article, which also stated that “carriers tried to raise fares 23 times last year.”

United Airlines’ spokeperson Robin Urbanski “acknowledged [that] fares in and out of some cities are higher than they used to be, but ‘are still relatively lower than a few years ago given that fuel is our highest expense.’”

</DejaNews>

<!– Begin Caleb’s Comments –>

As an environmentaslist, I’m always torn about the airlines… aviation is one of my favorite topics, and I’m a pilot as well.  My education is in aviation management and entrepreneurship, so I also understand costs and profit motive – in aviation and in other businesses.  I also know that some environmentalists will just say, “Good.  Higher ticket prices mean fewer people will fly, and flying is a large carbon-footprint-producer.” I don’t necessarily think it’s that simple (nor should it be).

Business-people in general claim to be (and try to act as if they are) future-focused.  More than anything else, that means that they are focused on the future of their company’s profits for the sake of their shareholders.  What I don’t understand is that these same business people generally aren’t thinking about where their company’s future supplies will come from when the current supplies are gone.

Business people “get” supply and demand – it’s basic economics.  If the demand exceeds the supply prices go up.  Guess what is happening with oil prices, folks?  Demand continues to exceed supply… and the market responds.  As prices increase, demand SHOULD decrease – but oil is an inelastic commodity.  In other words, if you have to get to work to survive, you’ll put gas in the tank of your car when the tank is empty no matter the price.  You don’t have a choice.

The airlines survive on jet fuel.  It is their largest expense and it is their life-blood.  Without it, they don’t have a business.  So where will it come from when the jet fuel is gone?  Or when its cost is too high for your customers/passengers to bear any more increase in ticket prices?

Why aren’t the leaders of the airline and transportation industries hot-under-the-collar for alternative fuel?  Or alternative propulsion technologies?  Why aren’t the airlines using some of their estimated 3.5-4.5 billion dollar profits to speed up the research of alternative and renewable fuels?

Frustrated in Fantasyland,
A. Caleb Hartley

Today is a rare day where we have a not-so common combination of all three!  On the Logistics Today website the other day there was an article called “Air Group Pushes Environmental Programs.”  Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said, “The $132 billion fuel bill that airlines pay is the biggest green incentive of any industry to reduce its carbon footprint.”

Since fuel is any airlines biggest expense, it only makes sense for the IATA to try to help airlines reduce the amount of fuel they burn (or, to put a green spin on this solely profit-motivated opportunity, to increase their efficiency), IATA appointed former World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Paul Steele to direct new environmental initiatives of the association.  IATA, under Steele, has built an environmental strategy based on the following four elements: new technology, improved infrastructure, efficient operations, and economic incentives.

The article states that IATA helped reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 15 million tons in 2006, though it does not say how it did so or how the reduction was calculated; however, I will stand by environmentastic!’s policy that any focus on the environment is good – even if just to increase awareness of what is possible!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley