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Archive for the ‘Food’

Puente Celebrates its 10th Year of Making Differences

May 21, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Discover earth, Food, Garden /Plants, Health and Beauty No Comments →

Kate Seely and Katherine Lorenz, two young American philanthropists who were fascinated by the nutritional value and economic potential of amaranth, founded Puente in 2003 in Oaxaca, Mexico.

In late 2012, Forbes named Katherine as “an up-and-coming face in philanthropy.”

It’s easy to see why. Some solutions to hunger are so easy to understand and so straight-forward that they make sense instantly. amaranth1Please take a look at the videos on the Puente site they tell the stories from the farmers perstpective.  Here’s the link: in celebration of its 10th anniversary, Puente created a 4-minute video that communicates Puente’s special story (http://www.puentemexico.org/index.php/multi-media).

I’ve eaten this ancient grain in cereal, and it can easily be added to the cereal you currently eat. The composition of amaranth makes it easy to realize that this plant is a life-saver in poor villages, and a health booster all over the world.

amaranth grain

YUM! Blender Magic with Superfoods

May 15, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Corporate Green, Food, Health and Beauty No Comments →

super food smoothiesNovato, California (May 15, 2013) – Over the past several years, the team at Navitas Naturals has watched natural foods chef Julie Morris create hundreds (if not thousands) of amazing smoothies during a variety of events, classes, product development sessions and store demos. That’s why it’s a pleasure to announce her delightful new book Superfood Smoothies released this week by Sterling Publishing. In this comprehensive smoothie how-to book available at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and bookstores in the U.S., Chef Julie shares 100 quick, healthy and delicious recipes that use the world’s most nutritious foods.

Julie Morris is the Executive Chef for Navitas Naturals – the leading superfoods brand at retail stores across the continent. Superfood Smoothies demonstrates her culinary and writing talents, and her vast experience blending up the healthiest smoothies. Her new book is loaded with helpful advice and tips about the best culinary methods for making the ultimate smoothies. Chef Julie shares her insight about using the hottest nutrient-dense superfoods in the marketplace, including chia seeds, goji berries, raw cacao, hemp seeds, acai, and goldenberries.  Whether you’re looking for an energy boost, seeking a gentle cleanse, or just trying to get healthy, you’ll be inspired to power up the blender!

Beautiful food photos are key to the success of a cookbook, and Superfood Smoothies has a lot of eye-candy to enjoy. The gorgeous new book also includes informative chapters on smoothie “basics”, “essentials” and “nutritional rewards”, a helpful conversion chart, and a resource guide. It is thoughtful that the recipes are searchable by both style of drink, and nutritional health function. For example, this Maqui Banana smoothie recipe from the book, below, is indexed under Beauty Foods, due to Maqui’s high level of skin-healthy anthocyanins – the antioxidants that give it that deep purple color.

 

Maqui Banana Smoothie

3 frozen bananas

2¼ cups coconut milk (boxed variety)

1 tablespoon Navitas Naturals Maqui Berry Powder

1 tablespoon of Navitas Naturals chia seeds

Sweetener, to taste (optional

Blend together all the ingredients until smooth. Taste, and sweeten if desired. Makes two 14-ounce servings.

 

About Navitas Naturals – The Superfood Company

The mission of Navitas Naturals is to provide the finest organic superfoods that increase energy and enhance health. Since 2003, health-conscious people have been choosing their organic superfoods because they’re a diverse whole-food source of antioxidants, protein, essential fats, minerals, vitamins and other key nutrients. All of their products are certified organic and Non-GMO Project Verified, and use methods such as freeze-drying and low temperature processing to ensure maximum nutrition and flavor.

 

About Julie Morris is a Los Angeles-based natural food chef and author. She has worked in the natural food industry for close to a decade as a recipe developer, culinary writer, and cooking show host, and is a spokesperson and executive chef for Navitas Naturals, a fair trade company that specializes in 100% organic superfoods. Morris is an active advocate for whole, plant-based foods and superfoods for optimal health. Her mission is simple: to share recipes and nutrition tips that make a vibrantly healthy lifestyle both easy to achieve and simply delicious to follow. To learn more about Julie and superfoods visit juliemorris.net.

Food Tyrants, New Book

May 15, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Compost, Discover earth, Food, Garden /Plants No Comments →

Just released and ready for reading, Nicole Faires’ Food Tyrants: Fight for your Right to Healthy Food in a Toxic World 

food tyrantsWhen Nicole and her family set out in a retrofitted bus to tour America’s small farms, they quickly discover some of the key problems in our nation’s food system: mismanaged small farms; clueless urbanites setting up shop to “get back to the land”; a mindless devotion to organic farming; and ultimately, our frightening dependence on corporations for food.

From basic soil care principles to urban farming policy, Faires is arming environmental and sustainability activists with smart, realistic suggestions that will ensure healthy food on our tables, all while narrating her family’s unusual journey with an astute, engaging style.

Extending the Growing Season with LEDs

May 15, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Corporate Green, Energy Saving, Food No Comments →

There are so many way to save energy, BEING SMARTER, is my favorite!  -Editor

“There is a lot of potential good to be gotten out of growing produce locally, including food quality, environmental and lower carbon footprint issues,” Mitchell says. “People realize this and the movement to buy local grown produce has grown. The problem has been lighting costs and heating over the seasons when produce can’t be grown outside.”

Highlights of note:

  • Fans of the local food movement who despair through the winter months at high-priced greenhouse-grown or unripe produce transported over thousands of miles might soon find some relief.
  • A study of advanced lighting in greenhouses is successfully using cool and efficient LED systems to grow tomatoes in northern greenhouses through the winter.
  • LED lighting is more energy efficient, and delivers the required amount of light using much less energy.
  • In an experiment, researchers at Mitchell saw no differences in productivity between plants grown under sodium lights and those grown with LEDs.
  • The difference in energy costs was significant, though. Cost for HPS lamps was 403 percent more than that of using vertical LED towers in the study

The harvest season seems to whiz by every year in northern latitudes. Just as the time comes to sink a fork into early spring’s peppery locally grown lettuce and asparagus, the market’s crates are already brimming with winter squash. And the juicy tomatoes that yesterday took a quick ride from a nearby farm start logging thousands of miles from farm to table.

Unfortunately, the only two options for most consumers looking to buy fresh produce during the cold months are either to get them shipped from warmer regions or from greenhouses closer by. Efficiencies in the agricultural and shipping systems being what they are, fruits and vegetables grown in warmer climes—by necessity picked before they ripen to prevent spoilage in transit—cost less than premium-priced food from the greenhouse.

Either way, each of those February cucumbers is the product of a significant energy investment—whether it’s producing the fertilizer, burning fuel in shipping, or lighting and heating commercial greenhouses.

“The average tomato is trucked 1,500 miles from where it’s picked in the winter and it sits on that truck for a week or more,” says Purdue University horticulture professor Cary Mitchell. “By the time it gets to a northern market, it has been in the dark for a while and its quality is degraded. Yet you pay a premium for it—up to four dollars a pound in January.”

Fans of the local food movement who despair through the winter months at high-priced greenhouse-grown or unripe produce transported over thousands of miles might soon find some relief.

Major energy savings

Mitchell is leading a study of advanced lighting in greenhouses that is successfully using cool and efficient LED systems to grow tomatoes in northern greenhouses through the winter. Adopting this new equipment and better growing protocols, commercial growers could cut costs enough to provide produce locally when it’s cold outside.

For the FULL Article, go to The Txchnologist has the news here: LEDs May Be Local Food Movement’s Best Friend in Winter.

Greenhouse Gases and Agriculture

May 14, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Corporate Green, Energy Saving, Food, Garden /Plants, Global Understanding No Comments →

Increased growth in agricultural production has resulted in increased agricultural greenhouse gas emissions—with a huge proportion of emissions coming from livestock production.

Highlights
Agriculture is the third largest contributor to global emissions by sector, with methane accounting for just under half of total agricultural emissions, nitrous oxide for 36 percent, and carbon dioxide for some 14 percent.
Enteric fermentation or the digestion of organic materials by livestock is the largest source of agricultural emissions overall, contributing 37 percent of the total.
One way to reduce agricultural emissions is for people to minimize their consumption of meat and dairy products.
Related Posts

BY LAURA REYNOLDS | MAY 8, 2013
In 2010, global greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector totaled 4.7 billion tons of carbon dioxideequivalent, up 13 percent over 1990. Agriculture is the THIRD largest contributor to global emissions by sector, following the burning of fossil fuels for power and heat, and transportation. In 2010, emissions from electricity and heat production reached 12.5 billion tons, and emissions from transport totaled 6.7 billion tons.

Agriculture harvesting

Despite their continuing rise, emissions from agriculture are growing at a much slower rate than the sector as a whole, demonstrating the increasing carbon efficiency of agriculture. From 1990 to 2010, the volume of agricultural production overall increased nearly 23 percent, according to data compiled by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for its program, FAOSTAT. FAO released a new Greenhouse Gas Emissions database for agriculture, forestry and other land use changes in December 2012, which can be found here.

According to FAO, methane accounts for just under half of total agricultural emissions, nitrous oxide for 36 percent, and carbon dioxide for some 14 percent. The largest source of methane emissions is enteric fermentation, or the digestion of organic materials by livestock, predominantly beef cattle. This is also the largest source of agricultural emissions overall, contributing 37 percent of the total.

Livestock contribute to global emissions in other ways as well. Manure deposited and left on pastures is a major source of nitrous oxide emissions because of its high nitrogen content. When more nitrogen is added to soil than is needed, bacteria convert the extra nitrogen into nitrous oxide and release it into the atmosphere. Emissions from manure on pasture in Asia, Africa, and South America together account for as much as 81 percent of global emissions from this source. These emissions from the three regions increased 42 percent on average between 1990 and 2010, reflecting an increase in range-based livestock populations; elsewhere, these emissions either decreased or stagnated.

Carbon dioxide emissions from cultivated organic soils account for some 14 percent of total agricultural emissions, with Asia contributing 54 percent of these emissions. Deforestation and clearing for agricultural land in many tropical South and Southeast Asian countries are a leading cause of these emissions. Asia is home to four out of the top five countries with the highest CO2 emissions from cultivated organic soils, with Indonesia contributing 279 million tons, Papua New Guinea 41 million tons, Malaysia 35 million tons, and Bangladesh 31 million tons.

These data clearly indicate that livestock production accounts for an enormous share of global greenhouse gas emissions. Together, emissions from enteric fermentation, manure left on pastures, manure applied to soils, cropland devoted to feed production, and manure treated in management systems contribute more than 80 percent of total emissions. Meanwhile, emissions related to the direct human consumption of food crops represent less than 20 percent of the total.

One obvious way to reduce agricultural emissions is for people to minimize their consumption of meat and dairy products. This would help stabilize or shrink livestock populations, lessen the pressure to clear additional land for livestock, and reduce the proportion of grain that is grown for livestock feed instead of for direct human consumption.

Farmers and landowners have numerous opportunities to mitigate these impacts as well, bringing environmental and even economic co-benefits. For example, applying fertilizer more efficiently, precisely, and at times when plants can absorb it can significantly reduce nitrous oxide emissions while lowering fertilizer costs. Planting fallow fields with nitrogen-fixing legume crops—such as soybeans, alfalfa, and clover—can also naturally rebuild nitrogen and other nutrients in soils.

Growing trees and woody perennials on land can sequester carbon while simultaneously helping to restore soils, reduce water contamination, and provide beneficial wildlife habitat. Reducing soil tillage can also rebuild soils while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Some practices can even result in increased income for farmers: “cap-and-trade” programs allow farmers to monetize and sell certain sequestration practices, while government programs like the U.S. Conservation Reserve Program pay farmers to set aside some of their land for long-term restoration. As detailed in the 2012 Worldwatch report, Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture: Supporting Climate-Friendly Food Production, many mitigation practices use existing and accessible technologies and can be implemented immediately.

Read the full report at Vital Signs Online.

Laura Reynolds is a Food and Agriculture Staff Researcher at the Worldwatch Institute

Baby Food and GMOs

May 01, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Food, Health and Beauty, Toxic Products No Comments →

IS YOUR BABY PART OF A RISKY SCIENCE EXPERIMENT? NATIONAL COALITION CALLS ON BIG 3 INFANT FORMULA BRANDS TO REMOVE GMO INGREDIENTS AND PROTECT AMERICAN BABIES

Mounting Concerns About The Health Effects of Genetically Modified Ingredients And The Herbicides Used In Production Incite Consumer Action On Top-Selling Formula Companies to Remove GMOs

baby food no GMOsWASHINGTON, DC//May 1, 2013// Similac, Enfamil, and Gerber Good Start – which combined account for more than 90 percent of all infant formula sales in the US – are exposing American and Canadian babies to potentially grave health risks by using genetically modified ingredients. Commonly referred to as GMOs (genetically modified organisms), these ingredients have been banned or at least require a packaging label in more than 60 other countries including China, Mexico, Russia, and the entire European Union.

GMO Inside, a national, non-GMO coalition led by Green America, is calling on these brands’ parent companies (Abbott Laboratories, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and Nestlé), via an online petition, to remove GMO ingredients immediately as infants face particular health risks when it comes to consuming GMOs.

GMOs have never been proven safe for human consumption and a growing number of peer?reviewed studies show the negative health impacts of consuming GMOs on laboratory animals over their life span. Inadequate research has been conducted on the health impacts of GMOs on humans and infants; however, an increasing number of concerned parents and pediatricians have voiced that using GMOs in infant formula is far too large of a risk to take. Babies are particularly vulnerable when it comes to consuming GMOs as their digestive and immune systems are not fully developed and GMO crops have very high exposure to dangerous pesticides and herbicides such as Roundup. Infant livers do not reach maturity for about two years and therefore are less equipped to process toxins in the body, such as the high levels of chemicals used on genetically modified foods.

“For the infant that is unable to nurse I insist upon an organic commercial formula,” says pediatrician Michelle Perro. “Because of the toxic effects of herbicides, particularly glyphosate (due to its prolific usage) as well as other organophosphates and genetically engineered foods in non-organic commercial formulas, these are not an option for infant feeding. In order to ensure the health of our infants and children, there is no amount of acceptable herbicide or GMO that should be in their diets.”

Adding insult to injury, these companies all spent money to oppose GMO labeling in California last year, thus obstructing a parent’s right to know whether or not the first food they are feeding their newborns contains GMOs.

Unlike more than 60 countries around the world, the United States and Canada do not require companies to label and reveal their GMO ingredients to consumers. This means that American and Canadian babies are exposed to ingredients that parents in Europe, China, and elsewhere would never feed their children. In fact, due to these labeling requirements, all three companies offer non-GMO formula options to their consumers in Europe.

It’s infuriating that parents in the United States are not given the same assurances as citizens in more than 60 other countries including China, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, when it comes to GM ingredients,” says Green America President Alisa Gravitz, “All parents have a right to healthy food options for their children.

So who are these companies peddling these unhealthy infant formulas?

Company Name Formula Brand Likely GMO Ingredients US Market Share 2012 Company Sales Amount spent to oppose labeling in CA (support for “No on Prop 37″)
Abbott Laboratories Similac Corn, Soy, Sugar 43% $39 Billion $334,500
Mead Johnson Nutrition Enfamil Corn, Soy 40% $3.9 Billion $80,000
Nestlé Gerber Good Start Corn, Soy 15% $92 Billion $1,461,600

Throughout May, GMO Inside will call on Abbott Laboratories, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and Nestlé to remove their GMO ingredients, while also offering consumers suggestions for non-GMO choices.

Consumers can sign our petition to the companies here or take action with us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GmoInside

ABOUT GMO INSIDE:
GMO Inside is a coalition of businesses, organizations, and individuals that support a healthy, GMO-free food system. The GMO Inside steering committee is made up of the following organizations and individuals and convened by Green America:

Food Democracy Now! is a grassroots community dedicated to building a sustainable food system that protects our natural environment, sustains farmers and nourishes families. Food Democracy Now! members know we can build a food system that gives our communities equal access to healthy food, and respects the dignity of the farmers who produce it. We believe in recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment.

GMO Free USA works to harness education, advocacy, and bold action to foster consumer rejection of genetically modified organisms, until they are proven safe. They support the labeling of GMO foods with the ultimate goal of getting GMOs out of the food supply and environment. Their current campaign focuses on engaging Kellogg’s to get GMOs out of their entire product line.

Green America is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses, investors, and individuals to solve today’s social and environmental problems. www.GreenAmerica.org

Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) is a world leader in educating policy makers and the public about the documented risks of GM foods and crops, as well as the problems associated with current research, regulation, corporate practices, and reporting. IRT’s founder, Jeffrey M. Smith, is an international bestselling author, filmmaker, and the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of GMOs. He documents how the world’s most powerful Ag biotech companies bluff and mislead critics, and put the health of society at risk.

Label GMOs advocates for transparency in the food supply and for clear and concise labeling of genetically modified organisms. They are the California grassroots network that helped to lay the groundwork for Proposition 37. Label GMOs continues to educate in California and provide support for other on the ground grassroots GMO labeling efforts throughout the US.

Nutiva® is dedicated to a healthy and sustainable world, demonstrating its mission to nourish people and planet by using delicious organic ingredients, enriching the soil, and donating 1 percent of sales to sustainable-agriculture groups. Founded in 1999, Nutiva is the world’s best-selling brand of nutritious organic hemp foods, extra-virgin coconut oil, and chia seeds. Fifteen thousand retailers in the United States, Canada, and the European Union offer Nutiva products, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, Publix, Safeway, Loblaws, and Amazon.com. Nutiva is located in Richmond, California. For more information, visit www.nutiva.com.

Vani Hari is a management consultant, food activist writer and a two time elected North Carolina delegate, endorsed by President Obama. Vani started foodbabe.com in April 2011 to spread information about what is really in the American food supply. She teaches people how to make the right purchasing decisions at the grocery store, how to live an organic lifestyle, and how to travel healthfully around the world. The success in her writing and investigative work can be seen in the way food companies react to her uncanny ability to find and expose the truth. She been featured in the Washington Times, NY Times, Lawyers Weekly, Prevention.com, NBC WCNC, ABC – WLOS, and profiled in Charlotte Observer.

Health on Your Plate

April 06, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Books, Food, Health and Beauty No Comments →

health on your plateAuthor Yara Shoemaker—former model and aesthetician—provides easy-to-apply healthy lifestyle insights in her new book, Health on Your Plate. This book discusses environmental issues, food and lifestyle changes.

Throughout the book Yara focuses on the benefits of eating vegetables, nuts, grains, and other staples of a vegetarian diet. She also discusses meat, seafood, dairy, and eggs while explaining the negatives of conventional meat and dairy products and benefits of buying organic and non-dairy foods.

In addition to her passion for healthy cooking, Yara is able to discuss natural beauty tips, how to build confidence in the kitchen, how to review, revive, and renew your pantry, how to make traditional cultural dishes with exotic flavors and a healthy twist, and more.

At this time, when everyone is searching for a quick fix – to diet, weight, health… take the slower approach, change your life, think about what you eat, get  HEALTH that will last your lifetime. It’s not all at once, but something you can sustain. Get involved, we are having a special free film night and will give away a copy of Yara’s brand new book! – Editor

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE BOOK

Yara, who trained under two leading chefs—one in Syria and one in America, and who has also hosted dinner parties for successful individuals such as Martha Stewart, offers recipes with endless possibilities, including entrees, soups, salads, and side dishes. Yara shares vignettes of her fondest memories associated with nutritious eating, and shares her grandmother’s original basic recipes with inspiring variations and healthy tricks. There are also full-page photographs capturing foods and kitchenware up close.

Health On Your Plate: Shop & Cook With Yara reveals facts, tips, and advice on:

• Beauty Tips—how to use onions for hair growth, radishes as an exfoliate, tomatoes to tighten skin, spinach for spotless skin.

• Shot Glass Salads—dozens of healthy and tasty Middle Eastern recipes include salads made up of shot glass servings of various ingredients.

• Why cow’s milk is not the best source of vitamins and minerals for your body and explores non-dairy milk options for nutrition.

• How to decode egg cartons so you know what’s going into your body.

• The scoop on shopping for produce (local, organic, and fresh is best).

“’I wanted to combine the traditional way of cooking with the modern way of living,’ says Shoemaker, who is a former esthetician, model, and posh clothing boutique owner. ‘Healthy cooking is kind of in my blood, so I want to show people how to read labels and understand what’s in their food.’” —Edible Sarasota

More information on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Health-On-Your-Plate-Shop/dp/0985864001

NUMI and Earth Day!

April 04, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Corporate Green, Food, Garden /Plants, Recycling No Comments →

numi teaWith Earth Day right around the corner, now’s a perfect time to ‘green’ your morning routine by swapping in a sustainable beverage from Numi Organic Tea for your daily cup (or cups) of Joe. Long known for innovation in the world of tea, Numi works diligently to reduce their impact on the earth by being committed to sustainable agriculture, use of non-GMO materials and eco-responsible packaging.

Numi does it right!

Through a thoughtful choice, Numi devised a way to further offset their carbon emissions by cutting down on the unnecessary need for transportation between the jasmine flower growing and tea producing areas of their Jasmine Green Tea in China. Initially, the freshly picked tea had to make a long journey to the primary jasmine scenting area, so to decrease waste and emissions, Numi initiated an ambitious project to plant jasmine flowers near the tea manufacturer, which greatly diminished the need for transportation. This minimization of waste and commitment to using real ingredients (as opposed to artificial flavorings) makes Numi’s Jasmine Green Tea perfect for eco-conscious individuals to sip in honor of Earth Day this April 22nd.

Annually, Numi’s practices save 5,202 trees, reduce water usage by 2,332,740 gallons and cut down on net green house emissions by 470,475. So if there’s no time to plant a tree or ride a bike to work this Earth Day, spend your green to “go green” by purchasing Numi’s Jasmine Green Tea.

Healthy, Sustainable HS Food

April 04, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Food, Garden /Plants No Comments →

High School Winners of Michael Pollan-judged Competition Represent Cross-section of U.S. Students Calling for Greater Focus on Nutrition and the Environment

edible schoolyardWASHINGTON – Earth Day Network announced the winners of the nationwide Healthy and Sustainable School Food Journalism Awards today, and they represent a cross-section of U.S. high school students calling for greater focus on nutrition and the environment. The six winners – judged only on the merits of their submitted articles in an anonymous process – hail from Apopka, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; Houston, Texas; Oakland, Calif.; Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Traverse City, Mich.

Rachel Armstrong, a senior at Apopka High School in Apopka, Fla., won the $1,500 grand prize for her article about the obstacles to providing healthy, local and environmentally sustainable cafeteria food in her school district. Her analysis included interviews with fellow students, school administrators, and politicians such as Florida Representative Bryan Nelson and U.S. Senator Bill Nelson.

“I feel very strongly about the traditional values of journalism and its goal to inform its audience,” said Armstrong. “When it comes to the importance of healthy, environmentally sustainable food, I believe reporting is a perfect tool to inform the public of the necessity of healthier options. If schools continue to provide a diet of overly processed food, those who rely on school meals for nourishment will have a much lower quality of life in the long-run.”

Earth Day Network presented this first-annual competition in partnership with the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, The Edible Schoolyard Project and the Epstein-Roth Foundation. The goal of the competition is to bring the facts about school food to entire communities in the students’ own words. To be eligible, the articles had to appear in a school newspaper or other official publication.

Best-selling author and food activist Michael Pollan selected the winners from among an anonymous pool of finalists chosen by a panel of judges at UC Berkeley.

“It’s exciting to watch young journalists explore a subject that stares them right in the face every day – school lunch – and learn through their reporting why it is the way it is, and how it might get better,” said Pollan.

Mariel Klein, a senior at Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore., won the $1,000 second prize for her reporting on the challenges faced by a school cafeteria built to serve 400 students but is now serving over 1,200. Aditi Busgeeth, a junior at Alief Taylor High School in Houston, Texas, won the $500 third prize for her analysis of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which went into effect across the country in 2012.

In addition, $300 fourth prizes were awarded to three students: Cecilia Seiter, a senior at Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, Calif.; Sophie Hollis, a sophomore at RJ Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Rand Michaels, a junior at Traverse City West Senior High School in Traverse City, Mich. Faculty supervising the winners also received prizes of $200.

“Getting young people informed and vocal about food issues is critical,” said Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network. “With submissions from all over the country and an accompanying awareness campaign, this competition went a long way toward that goal. My sincerest thanks to all the students who participated, and congratulations to the winners.”

To learn more about the Healthy and Sustainable School Food Journalism Awards and to read more about the winning submissions, go to www.earthday.org/journalismaward.

YUM – New Smoothie Book in time for Summer

April 03, 2013 By: Jacqueline Smith Category: Books, Food, Garden /Plants No Comments →

Just Published!

The Juice Lady’s Big Book of Juices & Green Smoothies by Cherie Calbom, MS, CN.

juice lady book

About the Author: Known as “The Juice Lady” for her work with juicing and health, Cherie Calbom holds a Master of Science degree in nutrition from Bastyr University. She has practiced as a clinical nutritionist at St. Luke Medical Center and as a celebrity nutritionist for George Foreman and Richard Simmons.

About the Book: Juice and smoothies are sweeping the nation! Why? They’re fruity, delicious, easy to make, and packed with powerful nutrition. It’s no wonder everyone is enjoying the convenience and great taste of these healthy meal and snack alternatives.

Bring your blender or juicing machine into the twenty-first century with the most updated versions of Cherie’s recipes to be found anywhere—more than just refreshment, these recipes enhance your energy and boost your mental and physical health. The more than 400 simple recipes include:

• Delicious vegetable and fruit juices, plus healthy green smoothies
• Juice remedies and rejuvenators
• Unique gourmet juices
• One hundred green smoothie recipes, and more!