Do You Know Where Has Your Salad Been? Use This Tool!

As the public becomes more aware of ways to cut down on our carbon footprint – one area to keep in mind is our food intake. Just where does most of our consumption come from?

Beyond the produce sticker on loose fruit at the grocery store sometimes it’s tough to know where your food originated.  

Here’s a cool tool from Fresh Express to check out just how far your salad has traveled. Just type in the code found on the front of your salad mix bag and you’ll learn where your greens originated!

Track your greens here!

Posted by Beth

Avatar & Enviro-Films: Sunday's Oscar Battle Unfolds

Sunday is Hollywood’s biggest night of the year: Academy Award time!

Here are a few of the films with an environmental message to watch out for:

Seasonal Produce Guide

To me few things taste better than a fresh summer peach or a crisp fall apple. I love buying seasonal produce because I know I’m getting the best quality, and here in Philadelphia most grocers offer locally grown produce.

While shopping for fruits and veggies do you ever feel unsure of what to buy during certain times of the year?

Here’s a quick guide to what fruits and vegetables are in top form each season:

Quick Vacation Tip: Eat locally

When you’re traveling it’s easy to get out of the habits you work hard to incorporate in your daily life – like exercising, eating right and your earth-friendly habits that are so routine when at home – can become challenging when vacationing.

Be green, lose weight in ’09

American’s #1 New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight.
Sure, there’s some variations … Such as “get fit, be healthier, make better food choices and then there are those who get specific - consume less than X number of calories everyday, cut out candy and chocolate, stop eating standing up etc.” But the theme is we’re resolving to lose weight in ’09 (and ’08 and ’07…)

This is the week I notice a shift in those around me in their approach to food and exercise. Co-workers that ran for the holiday treats in December now hold up their bag of carrot sticks and mutter “no thanks” to the leftover seasonal baked goods. My gym parking lot becomes impossible to get a spot in (though why not park two blocks away – it is exercise to walk over) and the battle to get a treadmill is fierce.

But no complaining, I commend any efforts to take better care of ourselves. And it’s no mystery why people recommit themselves to these goals year after year. According to an article by Business Week this past August adult obesity rates have doubled since 1980, from 15% to 30%, and two-thirds of U.S. adults are now considered overweight or obese.
That’s a pretty scary stat.

But there’s a very real connection between getting healthier (read: slimmer!) and living green.
As Julie pointed out in 10 Green New Years Resolutions in ’09, there’s plenty of simple fixes that go a long way.

Here are some specific steps you can take to conquer your green and health resolution simultaneously:

Be green, lose weight in '09

American’s #1 New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight.
Sure, there’s some variations … Such as “get fit, be healthier, make better food choices and then there are those who get specific - consume less than X number of calories everyday, cut out candy and chocolate, stop eating standing up etc.” But the theme is we’re resolving to lose weight in ’09 (and ’08 and ’07…)

This is the week I notice a shift in those around me in their approach to food and exercise. Co-workers that ran for the holiday treats in December now hold up their bag of carrot sticks and mutter “no thanks” to the leftover seasonal baked goods. My gym parking lot becomes impossible to get a spot in (though why not park two blocks away – it is exercise to walk over) and the battle to get a treadmill is fierce.

But no complaining, I commend any efforts to take better care of ourselves. And it’s no mystery why people recommit themselves to these goals year after year. According to an article by Business Week this past August adult obesity rates have doubled since 1980, from 15% to 30%, and two-thirds of U.S. adults are now considered overweight or obese.
That’s a pretty scary stat.

But there’s a very real connection between getting healthier (read: slimmer!) and living green.
As Julie pointed out in 10 Green New Years Resolutions in ’09, there’s plenty of simple fixes that go a long way.

Here are some specific steps you can take to conquer your green and health resolution simultaneously:

Quick Tip – Eat your leftovers!

Fossil fuels are used to fertilize, harvest and process much of the food we eat. Gas is spent transporting food from processor to manufacturer.

Considering the valuable resources spent on food processing, it’s disturbing that over 40% of food produced in America is not eaten.

What can you do to lessen the impact?