Where Does Our Food Come From, Really?
Do you ever grab a (reusable) cup of Starbucks and wonder about the lives of the farmers who harvested the coffee beans that make your caffeine fix possible? Have you ever taken a bite of a banana and pondered a typical Costa Rican banana farmers day to day work that allows Americans to enjoy this oh so versatile fruit?
It’s okay if the answer is no. In Kelsey Timmerman’s latest book Where Am I Eating: An Adventure Through the Global Food Economy he addresses these issues and more.
We talk a lot about organic food, the local food movement, avoiding GMOs and farm to table dining these days. I often feel optimistic that our country is making strides towards an environment in which we can identify where what’s on our plates came from. But the reality is America imports twice as much food now then it did ten years ago.
Kelsey Timmerman calls himself a curious person who began to wonder about where the food he ate to fuel his life came from.
Have you procrastinated planting your seedlings for your spring and summer garden?
If you’re looking for some easy shortcuts, check out some starter plants. Don’t run to Home Depot or Lowe’s – think small and support local farmers.
You’ll pump money back into the local economy, minimize the risk of pesticides (or god-forbid!) GMO crops. Although the GMO seeds are unlikely, (find out why you should “go small or go home” and see some awesome bonus photos, after the jump!)
“City of Brotherly Love!”
“Birth Place of Liberty.”
“Home of the Cheesesteak.”
Philadelphia has been crowned with yet another title: America’s Garden Capital, which is perfect timing for National Public Gardens Day. Did you know Philadelphia has 30 public gardens within 30 miles? We rock the highest concentration of public gardens (and arboreta) on the CONTINENT.
Philly celebrated the announcement on Tuesday at Bartram’s Garden. Founder John Bartram brought many of the seeds of the plants at Bartram’s back in the 1700′s to the area, shaping modern horticulture. Tuesday’s celebration was complete with children creating a ‘green thumbs’ flower planter for First Lady Michelle Obama, tours & more.
GPB Green Lady, aka Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability Director Katherine Gajewski presented an official proclamation to raise awareness of our gardens’ (Find out more about this honor and how to get FREE park admission on Friday!)
Our Twitter (and offline) Friend & Health Coach Ali Shapiro has a recycling conundrum to address with one of her bathroom essentials:
@greenphillyblog Any ideas on how to recycle burnt out electric toothbrushes. It says recycle appropriately but don’t know where!
— Ali Marie Shapiro (@AliMShapiro) May 6, 2013
Good question Ali! You can’t toss those electric toothbrushes in your single-stream recycling bin. We reached out to the Philadelphia recycling powers, who addressed the problem:
(Find out how/where to recycle old toothbrushes, after the jump!)
One of my favorite Philly sustainable boutique, Arcadia, announced that it is closing its Rittenhouse location later this month.
This guest post comes from Nicole Koedyker, Sierra Club President at Drexel.
Are you interested in sustainability? Do you like working alongside people who have similar interests but are a telecommuter or student? In addition to being a senior at Drexel University, I also work for The Sustainability NEXUS, a non-profit organization that is working to bring together this target audience and others to collaborate on sustainability initiatives in the Greater Philadelphia Area.
If you’ve ever (Find out more about this group and tomorrow’s co-working pop-up, after the jump!)
The weather is warming up, and there’s a great reason to be excited.
Americans spend 90% of their time indoors.
Whether you (Find out more, after the jump!)
The National Bike Challenge officially began May 1st. The challenge is essentially a nationwide effort to increase bicycle ridership through camaraderie and good-natured competition.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia (BCGP) is organizing the initiative for Philly.
So how does the National Bike Challenge work?
Not only is today the first day of May we’re also just five days away from Cinco De Mayo. (And who says you can’t celebrate all week long with delicious Mexican fare and margaritas?!)
I enjoy Mexicali cuisine so much I sometimes wonder if my Italian/Irish blood doesn’t have just a bit of Mexican in it…
Anyway, if you’re looking for an easy, healthy Cinco de Mayo recipe this is for you. Yes it’s essentially a salad but the colorful, festive ingredients keep your taste buds interested without loading on a lot of fat via cheese and sour cream- like some typical Americanized Mexican dishes. (Though you’ll get a dose of good-for-you fat from the avocado.) The addition of tortilla chips adds a nice crunch and makes the “salad” feel a little more fun.
Click through for the recipe!
The Philly Bike Share Forum at the Academy of Natural Sciences (of Drexel University) brought together four cities to discuss bicycling safety, potential & bike share plans last evening after a day-long Pedestrian & Bicycle Summit at Independence Hall. Ever since Mayor Michael Nutter announced the bike sharing in China back in 2012, word has been buzzing on the street. Philadelphia is joining 42 other US bike sharing cities in this milestone initiative.
The evening forum was surprisingly funny, interesting and informative. A few ‘tweets’ into the meeting, I decided to do an impromptu live-tweeting of the event. (Sorry for the lack of notice, readers – but it was fun to do and I’ll give an advanced warning next time. 
Many of the tweets are embedded below the summary if you’d like to check out.)
Rina Cutler, Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities, (Philadelphia) moderated the event. She
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