Eco-Ink: FOOD

Like most great ideas I have, the one for this post came from Oprah. More specifically, from the Oprah Show I watched yesterday in which she highlighted the documentary "Food, Inc.," Michael Pollan and his new book Food Rules, Alicia Silverstone and her new book The Kind Diet, and Chipotle founder Steve Ells. Each had slightly different takes on what a sustainable, kind, healthy, and conscious diet looks like, but they all stressed that final point. It is CONSCIOUS. It is aware--aware of ingredients and processes in food products, aware of origins of food itself, and aware of environmental effects of food production. Not to mention the effects of food on the body.

Unfortunately, we live in a world in which it is less expensive and more convenient to resort to highly-processed fast food than fresh produce--at least in the short term. And some people actually love the taste of greasy chemicals. But perhaps (in addition to supporting your community by buying local and thus reducing your carbon footprint) a little more investment in fresh and nourishing foods will save you from the medical expenses you might incur from Diabetes.

Sidebar: Despite all the ridiculously blatant product placement it posters, I love Suze Orman's recent presence on "Biggest Loser" talking about the health-wealth connection.

And some of our culture's biggest problems with food are amplified in today's youth. Just look at the offerings of public school lunch in Pleasanton. It almost makes Mac Bam's defense of her mom bringing her Nordstrom Cafe fare everyday in high school un-laughable. Almost.

Which leads me to...
THE EDIBLE SCHOOL YARD

I've been wanting to post about this brilliant cause since I first heard of it from my brilliant unofficial sister (I guess it's NOT all about Oprah).

Founded by organic chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA, the organization first started in Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School (Berkeley), drawing on traditions from back in the day when children actually did garden at school. An organic garden on school grounds is tended and harvested by students, with hands-on ecology and nutrition lessons woven into the curriculum. Garden classes introduce them to the origins of food, plant life cycles, community values, and the pleasures of work, while kitchen classes allow them to prepare and eat delicious, nutritious, seasonal dishes made from produce they have grown in the garden. Waters wrote a book about the program.

I love the idea or incorporating knowledge of food and where it comes from into the education of children and adults alike, even if it's just in trying to keep a couple herb plants to use in cooking alive. A task I'm getting better with, by the way.

That being said, I have a new appreciation for these tote and tee prints from HappyFamily. Check them out at Thriving Ink & Co.

ALSO CHECK OUT:
*Pleasanton's Farmers' Market Schedule
*Inland Earth Farmers Market (at P-town's Stoneridge Mall and San Francisco's Metreon Center)
*MichaelPollan.com
* Dr. Oz's guidlines about food shopping
* "Food, Inc." on Netflix Instant Viewing

Consume local, think global.