Imagine an Ocean Without Fish



Image Credit : Greenpeace

 The ocean is so vast and unexperienced by most of us that we assume life below the surface is thriving. This is not the case, as described in The End of the Line. This documentary brings to light the reality of the ocean, and it is not a pretty picture for ocean ecosystems and human consumption of seafood.

With population growth and increased technology we have managed to fish certain species to near extinction while disrupting the natural underwater system beyond belief, with no sign of slowing.

If you eay anything out of the sea, please watch this film and make informed decisions before ordering seafood off the menu.

Toxic Nation

We are exposed to chemicals every day in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe and the products we buy. Chemicals act as toxins in our bodies, they are everywhere because WE created them and there is no where for them to go. Nature does not naturally produce toxins and consequently is not able to cycle through them - the more chemicals we produce, the more accumulate, and the affects in nature and humans become more severe.

We live in a Toxic Nation. Your body is full of chemicals, learn how to live a healthier, toxic-free (or toxic-less) life style:

BodyBurden (Industrial chemicals building up in our bodies)
Cosmetic Database (Toxic chemicals in personal care products and cosmetics)
EWG Sunscreen Guide (Toxic chemicals in sunscreen)

Image: http://www.toxicnation.ca/

COMPOST for a good cause

Things that I miss about living in Sweden...the Batlic Sea, my stylish commuter bike, the convenient train system, endless hours of dayight in the summer....and....composting!

Image Credit: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/compost/graphics.html

The Swedes have it easy, they are provided with biodegradable paper bags that they simply fill with food waste and throw into a 'recycle' bin where the city collects it. It is not so easy in the US though, in fact, my current landlord refuses to let me set up a composting system in my building.

And then I learned about counter composting, and am thinking about investing in some worms! It may sound less than attractive at first but it is actually quite simple - the worms eat the food waste, poop it out and you are left with a mineral rich soil for gardening....and hungry worms!

Try it, I will. Here are some resources and a video to help you get started.
http://www.howtocompost.org/cat_generalinfo.asp
http://www.greenyour.com/home/lawn-garden/gardening/tips/make-your-own-compost
http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2009/57476/

"Changing the World One BITE at a Time"

Image Credit: http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Food Inc., a recent film bringing light to the reality of our industrial food system. If more people stopped to consider where the food on their plate came from they would seriously reconsider their eating habits....(and we would most likely have more vegetarians in the world)!

Uncover the filthy facts about factory farming and learn why eating local and organic food is not only healthier for you but better for the planet.

Go see this movie, then help "change the world one bite at a time."

Stop Putting BPA in Canned Food!

Did you know that the metal liner in your canned green beans contains BPA (Bisphenol A)?

BPA - a compound that is thought to be harmful to humans - used to package our food, where is the logic in that? And not only is it found in the packaging but recent studies have found that it is leaching into the food preserved within the can. Perhaps your canned peaches aren't so peachy afterall!

So what can you do...switch to frozen food or dried products, but most importantly try to purchase fresh food whenever possible.

Read more at Grist

Window Farms

Hopefully, in the not so distant future, when I finally attain my dream, downtown loft condo, this is the the first thing I am going to invest in!

Window Farms for the urban dweller - grow your own food, eat healthy and rely less on the industrial food system. "Window Farms are vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials."

Create some edible window art in your own apartment! Check out some images and a video of an experiment in urban agriculture.

What is the Carbon Content in your Food?

Sweden is leading the charge once again...they are the first to administer food emissions calculations to help consumers make more informed decisions about the food they eat. "New labels listing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of foods are appearing on some grocery items and restaurant menus around the country."

Food production is an energy intensive industry, responsible for emitting GHG's into the atmosphere resulting in climate change. Altering ones diet by selecting foods with lower embodied energy can greatly reduce your footprint.

Read more in this New York Times Article.

To Feed a City

As more people around the globe are moving into cities each year, the Western diet is becoming more readily apparent - a diet that is not necessarily healthy nor sustainable.

How we produce our food and feed our cities is an escalating problem. Agriculture and cities are bound together and are dependent on eachother. The modern food system has distanced us from nature. Rather than importing food from far-off, massive monoculture fields we need to produce more food within the cities we reside.

For more information, listen to Carolyn Steel talk about "How food shapes our cities" on TED Talks.

The Botany of Desire

The apple, the tulip, the marijuana plant and the potato are the stars of the film adaptation of journalist Michael Pollan's best-selling book, The Botany of Desire.


These four famous plants have evolved to take advantage of the human desires for sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control. The interconnected relationship between plants and humans is what Pollan terms "The Botany of Desire."

e2

e2 is an ongoing PBS series about The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious. The series looks at design, energy, transport and various other topics through a sustainability lens.

POLLANating Madison, WI

Michael Pollan

Thursday, 24 September, 7:00 pm, UW-Madison Kohl Center.


Sponsored by the UW Center for the Humanities. Free and Open to the Public!


Michael Pollan is the author, most recently, of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. His previous book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, had a huge impact on the way I thought about food - what I was eating, where it came from and how it was affecting my health. Needless to say, I have become a much more concientious consumer.


"Real food--the kind of food your great-grandmother would recognize as food—is being undermined by science on one side and the food industry on the other, both of whom want us focus on nutrients, good and bad, rather than actual plants, animals and fungi. The rise of “nutritionism” has vastly complicated the lives of American eaters without doing anything for our health, except possibly to make it worse. Nutritionism arose to deal with a genuine problem--the fact that the modern American diet is responsible for an epidemic of chronic diseases, from obesity and type II diabetes to heart disease and many cancers--but it has obscured the real roots of that problem and stood in the way of a solution. That solution involves putting the focus back on foods and food chains, for it turns out our personal health cannot be divorced from the health of the soil, plants, and animals that make up the food chains in which we take part. In this talk, Pollan explores what the industrialization of food and agriculture has meant for our health and happiness as eaters, and looks at the growing national movement to renovate the food system."

"It's All About the Soil..."

...as agriculturalist Will Allen continually repeated throughout his urban agriculture lecture in Madison on 17 September. He convinced the overcrowded room of people that you simply do not need a green thumb, or a rural farm for that matter, to grow local, fresh, organic, delicious food. Rather, all you need is good soil, community engagement and a little direction.

He has been building sustainable food systems in urban environments for over 20 years and has initiated projects all over the world through his non-profit Growing Power Inc based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

For the first time in history, more than half of the world's population resides in cities, yet very little food is actually produced in cities to support this population. Will Allen educates people on the importance of urban agriculture and local food supplies.