You've probably seen the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list to know what fishies are good or bad to buy. Instead of carrying around the folding wallet sized card or trying to remember what's what, they now have a mobile friendly website (www.seafoodwatch.org) and a texting service. Text 'fish monkfish' to 30644 and you get the important details sent back to you right away. Very useful.
Courtesy of my sister, some fun facts (one assumes) about drinking in history. I knew that Manhattan came from the native word Manahatta, but I didn't know that came from the original Manahachtanienk -- literally, "The High Island," and that's not because of the elevation.
Want to find restaurants and markets in your area that sell naturally farm raised meats and local produce? the Eat Well Guide allows you to search by zip guide in the US and Canada, and lists places along with what they serve or sell.
A couple reasons from the recent Regional Plan Association newsletter online you should buy food produced locally:
Fourthly, by buying the local apple I not only supported a farm with likely more sustainable practices, I probably helped to reduce other environmental impacts. The apple I purchased at the Greenmarket was grown on a farm located in Milton, New York in Ulster County, about 80 miles away. The Washington apple traveled 2,800 miles. Various academics have been studying what are known as “food miles.” Researchers at Iowa State University’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture found that on average local produce traveled about 56 miles to reach its destination while conventional produce averaged about 1,494 miles.
By definition, transporting food greater distances increases traffic congestion, road wear, and accidents, and uses more fossil fuels leading to air pollution and climate change. In an ideal world, these costs would be reflected in the price of the apple, but that’s not necessarily the case. While comprehensive evaluation is difficult, it’s probably the case that buying local places less of a demand on our finite natural resources.
Finally, by buying local I may contribute to a safer, more stable food system. The recent slew of E. coli deaths and illnesses attributed to tainted spinach and perhaps other vegetables help shed light on a serious flaw in industrial agriculture: it is vulnerable. Growing monoculture crops at such a large scale means that food infected at a relatively low number of sources can impact the entire country’s food supply. During the height of the spinach scare, I bought spinach from a local farmer without worry.
Yes! More pig products are definitely a good thing. (PDF)