Posts tagged with "Food"

I wrote an article about how to organize a community swap/barter meet for Shareable

By Shira | Feb 4, 10 12:47 PM

Shareable, a website that "tells the story of sharing,” invited me to write a how-to article for their site and I seized the opportunity in the hopes of inspiring similar efforts in other communities.

Read the article: How to Throw a Community Swap Meet

New Ithaca Freeskool Mushroom Hunt Video

By Shira | Jan 12, 10 11:58 AM

Renowned local fungi expert Carl Whittaker led a Mushroom Hunt and Identification on August 30th, 2009 as part of the Ithaca Freeskool summer session, and I finally got around to editing the footage. Enjoy the beauties of the Danby State Forest while learning about many species of edible and inedible mushrooms.

Mushroom Hunt and Identification - Ithaca Freeskool Distance Learning from Shira Golding on Vimeo.

Photos from NYC and Thanksgiving

By Shira | Dec 4, 09 04:31 PM

Celebrate a compassionate Thanksgiving this year

By Ari | Nov 2, 09 02:31 PM

2008 CA Celebration FOR the Turkeys
Originally uploaded by Farm Sanctuary

Hello there reader. This year, please consider making your Thanksgiving a compassionate one. You could sponsor a rescued turkey living at Farm Sanctuary, through their Adopt-a-Turkey Project. You could also sign this petition asking President Obama to pardon all turkeys this year - not just one.

Or, just don't eat a turkey, or any other animal who'd rather have a life and a family than fill someone's belly. Dairy and eggs come at a particularly terrible price of suffering (please educate yourself by clicking these links if you're not aware of the suffering and death caused by these industries). There are many delicious alternatives you can enjoy instead of animal products. For delicious recipes, visit FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement)'s Gentle Thanksgiving.

Thanks very much for reading this, and for all you do for animals. Every year I see more folks making compassionate decisions at holidays, and it gives me great hope for my friends of other species.

"We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace." - Albert Schweitzer, The Philosophy of Civilization

"A Recipe for Change: Documentaries on Food" - My Most Recent Article on MediaRights.org

By Shira | Sep 24, 09 04:15 PM

Check out my new article on food documentaries. It's kind of a survey/opinion piece and I'd love to know what you think!

Read the full article:
A Recipe for Change: Documentaries on Food

Here's an excerpt:

These days it seems like green is the new black. From designer grocery bags to eco-tourism, popular culture has finally embraced environmentalism and, for better or worse, begun coopting it with profit-driven campaigns. Regardless of how you feel about capitalism, the good news for mother earth is that changing your daily habits to lower your impact is no longer wholly dismissed as radical, hippy behavior, at least not by people in blue states. Core to this cultural paradigm shift is food. Americans are making the not-so-giant-leap in logic that what we eat affects our health and the health of our planet, and documentary films have played a significant role in getting us here.

In 1976 Americans were reeling from the Vietnam War and Watergate. The utopian visions of the sixties were fading memories and food was already firmly established in the collective psyche as a “product” – fast, cheap and out of control. It was in this context that filmmaker Frederick Wiseman released Meat, a cinema verité portrait of what was, at the time, one of the country’s largest slaughterhouses. Years before animal rights activists were capturing the disturbing conditions at factory farms with hidden camcorders, Wiseman invited Americans to meet their meat through his nuanced filmmaking. (Read more)

And, the article got a mention on Ithaca's Food Web, a new blog about local food - thanks Alison!

Photos from My Family's Visit to Ithaca Last Weekend

By Shira | Sep 9, 09 11:27 AM

My parents Hana and Dov, my brother Amit and his wife Sharon, and their kids Eli and Natan all came up from Maryland to Ithaca for the weekend. They couldn't sleep at our place because Eli is allergic to cats, but their hotel was really close to The Commons and we managed to pack in a lot of antics - The Cayuga Nature Center, The Johnson Museum of Art and the Suspension Bridge up at Cornell, Cascadilla Gorge, The Farmers' Market, a 2-hour cruise on The Cayuga Lake Floating Classroom and The Science Center. We also took my parents see the land we might buy near The Dacha. Thank you, Ithaca!

Another Jam-Packed Weekend

By Shira | Sep 1, 09 11:46 AM

Photos from NYC and New Paltz

By Shira | Aug 19, 09 09:56 PM

I went down to NYC on Thursday for Meg's bachelorette party. Ari joined me Friday and on Saturday we drove up to New Paltz for Meg and Kevin's wedding. It was a great weekend!

I ♥ Coconut Records

By Ari | Aug 14, 09 02:14 PM

I've been obsessed with Jason Schwartzman recently, watching Darjeeling Limited on repeat and listening to Coconut Records over and over. SO GOOD.

Here's a cute article about how Jason likes Babycakes vegan cupcakes and here's a funny photo of Jason with Mike White and Jonah Hill at the Darjeeling Limited LA premiere. Notice Mike's shirt - that's two vegans in one photo! Yay vegans!

Now go listen to Coconut Records, it's adorable.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with the Vegan Cooking Skillshare - Ithaca Freeskool Distance Learning Video

By Shira | Aug 8, 09 09:19 PM

As part of D.I.Y. Movie-Making, we're filming other Ithaca Freeskool classes and making them available online for anyone who wants to participate.

Sharon of the Dacha Project taught us how to make vegan pumpkin cheesecake at the "Thank You America" House in Ithaca on July 29th, 2009. Watch the video to hang out with some Ithacans while they collaborate on a recipe, share vegan tips and chat about strategies for sustainable living. Join the Facebook group to find out about future Vegan Cooking Skillshares.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with the Vegan Cooking Skillshare - Ithaca Freeskool Distance Learning from Shira Golding on Vimeo.

Learning to Make Pumpkin Cheesecake with the Ithaca Freeskool Vegan Cooking Skillshare

By Shira | Aug 2, 09 10:54 AM

So much fun, so delicious! Stay tuned for the video...

Thanks for teaching us the recipe, Sharon!

Join us for the next class, every other Wednesday beginning June 3rd at 6pm. Check out the Facebook group for the latest info.

Mushrooms - Earth's Natural Internet!

By Shira | Jul 31, 09 05:23 PM

Yes, we have mushrooms on the brain. Here's a great video that our friend Isaac sent us:

We're planning on going foraging for mushrooms again this weekend...

A Truck Farm Grows in Brooklyn

By Shira | Jul 28, 09 11:58 AM

I'm not quite sure why they're doing this in a truck other than that it's quirky, and I feel like they could have gone more low-budget by getting free seeds, compost, etc, but I love the spirit of what they're doing - really great production value and the musical narration is awesome...

Summer Bounty

By Shira | Jul 27, 09 11:46 AM

Last weekend we went blueberry picking in Dryden and mushroom hunting at the Cayuga Nature Center. We didn't find any edible mushrooms in good enough condition to take home this time, but we learned a lot, thanks to Danila! The blueberry place was amazing - the bushes were heavy with big, delicious berries and they were only $2 for a pound! Check out photos and videos below...

Food for the Planet Opening Weekend - A New Vegan Restaurant in Ithaca!

By Shira | Jul 27, 09 11:02 AM

While there are a lot of vegans in Ithaca and many accommodating vegetarian and omni restaurants, there is not a single vegan restaurant. There was a little raw joint by The Commons which had weird hours and closed after a few months, and back in the day when we were Cornell students Susie's Seitan had a stand at the Ithaca Farmers Market where she made vegan reubens and other amazing sandwiches with a panini press. ABC Cafe, my favorite vegetarian spot in town (and also the site of some of my first music gigs) sadly closed a few weeks ago due to economic woes, and while Moosewood is delicious, they serve fish and are quite pricey.

There's been a renaissance of vegan desserts in recent weeks with the opening of Emmy's Organics and Free Critter Baking Co. at the market, but where can a lady go to get a solid vegan brunch? The answer is here! Our friend Maija Cantori just opened the aptly-named Food for the Planet, an exclusively vegan restaurant serving dinner Thursday-Sunday and brunch on the weekends. While the grand opening is August 8th, they started welcoming diners last weekend and Ari and I stopped by for Sunday brunch. Our friend Frank's photos were on the wall, there were living plants in pots on every table, the staff was extremely welcoming, and most importantly, the food was soooo good. Check out the photos and stop by if you're in town - you won't be disappointed!

Foraging for Mushrooms

By Shira | Jul 22, 09 03:20 PM

We went foraging for wild edible mushrooms with our friends Lea and Danila from the Dacha Project in the Robert H. Treman State Park. Thanks to Ari's keen eye, we discovered a huge patch of chanterelles. In addition to enjoying them in salads and stir-fries for the last few days, we gave some to friends and traded some for sprouts and a zucchini from Dancing Turtle Farms at the Share Tompkins Swap Meet. Yay for foraging!

This is what is up

By Ari | Jul 21, 09 10:22 AM

Our garden is thriving, but slowly - all we've harvested so far is some little kale leaves. But there are little green tomatoes growing larger, and everything is huge and leafy and healthy, so I hope vegetables are on the way. In the meantime, we've been getting veggies from the coop, the farmer's market, the Share Tompkins swap meets, and friends. We hope to get more into foraging, too - we just got a big bag of chanterelle mushrooms from a walk in Treman State Park with Danila and Lea.

Housing-wise, I'm still obsessed with yurts. I made a spreadsheet outlining a three-stage budget that would allow us to buy a 20' yurt and hook it up with hot water and a woodstove and all that good stuff. I think it's doable, though it would take longer to make it livable than I'd like. But I'm impatient, and even this slow staging is faster than building a house out of wood.

Sometimes, I think: wouldn't it be easier to just get a mortgage? Yes, it would. We could do that. We could buy an old fixer-upper or a very small house, and move right in. But then we'd be selling our souls to a bank, and we're just not into that idea. We want self-sufficiency, independence, autonomy - and I don't think a 30-year commitment to a capitalist institution would help us accomplish that goal.

Anyway, we have to take it slowly, because we don't have land. We have two beautiful, wonderful, exciting possibilities on that front, and are slowly figuring out if either of them will work. And in the meantime, we're thinking about how to make our renting life cheaper - do we take in a housemate? Do we move into a group house? We're not sure, but it's nice to have less pressure as we figure it out - there are no real timing crunches here, just slow thinking and exploring.

Work is going well - we're busier than we've ever been, but on a limited number of very exciting projects. The folks we're working with are lovely and amazing, as always. And we're still managing to spend a lot of time working with our activist friends on volunteer projects. Really, a lot of time. I'm actually feeling a tiny bit burnt out (I blame it on my lyme disease...) and am having to scale back somewhat, take fewer things on. But I feel like we're reaching a sustainable level of activity.

Even so, I can not wait until we're rent-free! This is what the housing thing is all about. How do we avoid paying rent (or mortgage payments)? Imagine how much money that is in a year. Imagine you don't have to make that money, or that if you do make that money, you can put it toward whatever else you'd like. That's freedom. You shouldn't have to pay to live.

Before they settled on a name for it, our friends at the Dacha referred to their venture as their "freedom project." I think that is so apt - here we all are, figuring out ways to buy our freedom. It is hard work, but a beautiful journey.

With Ten Dollars, a Bag of Clay or Three Straw Bales

By Ari | Jul 16, 09 04:53 PM

The Pay It Forward Contest Entry (made by Lea, shot by Shira) on behalf of The Dacha Project, submitted to The Alternatives Federal Credit Union in Ithaca NY. Go Dacha!!

It's Vegetarian, It's Healthy, It's Beans

By Shira | Jul 14, 09 07:31 PM

We're going to see Bruno tonight!!!

Guinea pig cucumber fight (remix)

By Ari | Jul 12, 09 07:20 PM

Thank you, Shira.

Guinea pigs eating watermelon

By Ari | Jul 12, 09 07:14 PM

Thank you, Huffpo.

Photos from Israel

By Shira | Jul 12, 09 06:38 PM

After our week on Wasan Island in Canada, we traveled straight to Israel for my grandmother's 80th birthday celebration. Ari was out of commission for most of the trip because she came to down with lyme disease (no worries - she's on antibiotics and feeling much better). But thankfully she came out of quarantine the last few days to hang out with my family, check out some art in Ein Hod, and see a modern dance performance in Tel Aviv.

During the trip I spent a lot of one-on-one time with my grandmother, savta Margalit. I shot some beautiful video of her telling stories about the Holocaust and her life since for a film I'm making with my brother. I'm also going to be laying out and publishing a book of her poetry later this summer. She's a very inspiring lady - Happy Birthday Savta!

Photos from freeDimensional's Emerging Art Spaces Retreat on Wasan Island

By Shira | Jul 11, 09 12:55 PM

Ari and I went to Wasan Island in the Muskoka Lake region of Canada to help facilitate and document a retreat for people working in emerging art spaces around the world. Organized by the nonprofit network freeDimensional and supported by Breuninger Stiftung Foundation, the week-long convergence provided an opportunity to connect, relax and delve into the interconnections between art, freedom of expression and human rights.

Despite my role as documenter - I was taking photos and shooting video for a large part of the time - I was still able to connect deeply with the group and with the island. It's a beautiful place that allows people from very different geographies to find common ground.

Check out the photos and stay tuned for video...

Free garden

By Ari | Jun 22, 09 10:58 PM

We made a garden this year almost for free. The seeds and seedlings were all given to us - someone always has too much of something, and gives away the surplus. (We too had so many seeds we passed them on. And I look forward to sharing and swapping produce!)

We made a raised bed out of an old shelf and cinder blocks, and traded for tomato cages and plant pots. We dumpstered some plastic buckets that have really come in handy. And the Dacha gave us a lot of compost they'd picked up, and we got more of that and mulch for free from Ithaca. Yay Ithaca compost! The only thing we bought was, early on and out of convenience, a couple of bags of organic potting soil. We needed it for some seedlings, right then.

It's much farther along now than it is in this photo - we'll have to post an update soon! Today we potted all of the remaining seedlings, moved everything around so they get better sun, put in mulch, and pulled out some weeds. Most of these plants are in pots, the rest in a raised bed, because the soil is full of asphalt driveway bits. The tomatoes are thriving, very tall and sturdy. There are also large pots of things we sowed directly in the soil, weeks before the last frost, that are probably the healthiest, strongest plants besides the tomatoes - onions, broccoli, carrots, and zinias, and some lavender and mixed perennial flowers from Lea. The eggplants and peppers are still very small, only a few leaves each. The cabbage, just a little bigger - maybe six small leaves apiece.

Well, that's the garden report. You can keep tabs on the action in the Flickr pool we made just for our garden (you'll get to see our old Brooklyn garden and our houseplants, too!).

Peanut tattoos

By Ari | Jun 12, 09 11:28 AM

lovebirds
Originally uploaded by picklepuff

Shira and I post a lot of our photography and art on Flickr with Creative Commons licenses so it can be used and shared. A while back I posted this sheet of tattoo art ideas that I sent to my brother Ant in Massachusetts. And then the other day I heard from picklepuff on Flickr; she wanted to know if she and her friend could use this little peanut guy I drew for matching tattoos! Ant said yes, so they got inked. Here's a photo. Eeee!

This is the second time that I know of that someone's actually gotten art by me tattooed on them. I've had some other art requests but I don't know if they panned out... I'm always too shy to check in. What do you say, "hey, did you get my goofy sketch permanently painted on your body?" Anyway, wow. I'm so happy to get this photo. Thanks to picklepuff and friend for bringing this peanut to life.

Check Out My Article About Food, Inc. at Documentary.org

By Shira | Jun 11, 09 02:44 PM

I had a chance to see a preview copy of the new documentary Food, Inc. and interview the Director, Robert Kenner. This is my first article for the International Documentary Association's blog, and I'm psyched to get a chance to write about a topic so close to my heart:

Here's an excerpt and you can read the full article online:
Change: It's What's for Dinner: 'Food, Inc.' Takes on Agribusiness

In a world dominated by corporations, it is no surprise that the American food system has been hijacked by the relentless drive for profit. Under the pretexts of affordability and convenience, modern industrialized agriculture has consistently ignored the unintended consequences of their "efficient" practices on our health and livelihoods, the environment and other species.
Equally implicated is the United States government, which simultaneously subsidizes and fails to adequately regulate the agriculture industrial complex. This reality, explored by Frederick Wiseman in his 1976 cinema vérité documentary Meat and more recently by Nikolaus Geyrhalter in the unnarrated montage film Unser täglich Brot (Our Daily Bread; 2005), is more explicitly tackled in Robert Kenner's Food, Inc., which opens June 12 in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and nationwide on June 19.

The issue of food and the many ways in which it affects our lives is an enormous one, and the film is a broad undertaking, exploring everything from the health impacts of ever ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup (one out of three Americans born today is expected to develop early-onset diabetes), to water and air pollution caused by intensive factory farming, to human rights violations perpetrated against undocumented workers by mega corporations like Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer. Viewers are aided in processing all of this information by motion graphics created by Big Star NYC, which worked with Kenner to create an entertaining and helpful visual language for the film.

Ultimately, Food, Inc. is an examination of free market capitalism's disregard for anything other than the bottom line. "This is a film that's about more than food," says Kenner. "It's really about corporate consolidation and irresponsibility and about the relationship of these companies with government. It's not that different from what happened with the financial crisis. These companies have been totally irresponsible and at the end of the day, we're the ones who pay the price."

Health and wealth: The downfall of capitalism and the uplift of humanity

By Ari | Apr 4, 09 10:40 AM

Read this excerpt from Jobless rate bolts to 8.5 percent, 663K jobs lost (AP):

Orders placed with U.S. factories actually rose in February, ending a six straight months of declines, the government reported Thursday. Earlier in the week, there was better-than-expected reports on construction spending and pending home sales. And last week a report showed that consumer spending — an engine of the economy — rose in February for the second month in a row — after a half-year of declines.

Note that in this article, the authors and the economists they're quoting say that the following are indicators of health in an economy:

orders placed in factories
construction spending
home sales (presumably with mortgages attached)
consumer spending

All of these things involve people spending money. That is, the indicator of a healthy economy does not appear to be, "are people's needs being met?" but "are people spending enough?" But then, who knows, maybe spending a lot of money is somehow meeting people's needs. Is that so?

Continue reading "Health and wealth: The downfall of capitalism and the uplift of humanity..." »

Human Scale Living

By Shira | Feb 24, 09 03:28 PM

A big part of why living in Ithaca has been so good for us is its small-but-not-too-small size. With a population of 60,000 (30,000 of which are students at Cornell and Ithaca College), there are plenty of people to create culture and innovation. But at the same time, it only takes a few social events to realize that this is a "small town." When I meet someone new, I'm no longer surprised to find out they know at least one other friend of mine, or that they've even "heard of me" - which always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

ari teaching a freeskool class on web design
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

When we were living in New York City we had a lot of great friends and yet we didn't ever have a sense of community. Part of this was that we dabbled in a lot of different subcultures - independent filmmakers, freegans, socialists, lesbians, radical marching bands, artists, academics, recreational volleyball players - instead of choosing one to call our own. These groups rarely overlapped and I found myself doing a lot of code-switching. Our friends were ideologically and geographically dispersed. The distance between a Red Hook freegan and an Upper East Side grad student is a lot greater than a few subway transfers.

milk with teresa, jeremy and some other folks
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

Back in college I took an amazing course called Architecture as a Cultural System in which we explored, among other things, the concept of Human Scale. This is the idea that humans are best suited to live in an environment that is designed to meet their spacial needs. This means walkability, easy access to necessary resources, closeness to the ground and appropriate population size.

meara and serena jamming in the library
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

According to Wikipedia, "Dunbar's number is a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person. Proponents assert that numbers larger than this generally require more restricted rules, laws, and enforced norms to maintain a stable, cohesive group. No precise value has been proposed for Dunbar's number, but a commonly cited approximation is 150."

raw vegan potluck!
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

Ari and I counted, and in just the last week, we've had 25 different friends over to our house, some of them more than once (you know who you are...Joe). Our friends Jeremy and Teresa came over for dinner on Sunday, Ari taught a freeskool class on web design on Wednesday, we had a ton of extra veggies from our CSA share so we had a potluck/cooking party with a bunch of folks on Thursday, more friends stopped by on Friday after watching Milk together at Cinemapolis (the art house theatre on The Commons), on Saturday the Phillips family came to stay with us for the weekend and Ben and Grace stopped by to join us for dinner and on Sunday we had our second official founders' meeting for Ahimsa Ecovillage with eleven guests, including three kids.

looking at our future
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

The amazing thing is that there are numerous ways in which all these folks are connected outside their relationships to us. This makes for a very tangible social fabric and a feeling of interdependence that I haven't truly experienced since sleep-away camp as a kid (I went to the socialist Jewish kibbutz-like Camp Moshava for six summers.)

this is what feminists look like!
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

As we move forward with Ahimsa, our sustainable, vegan ecovillage project, human scale will be a key concept. How can we create a community that is big enough to create innovation and cross-pollination, but small enough to maintain accountability and trust? How many people does it take to be self-sufficient? How will our size and location (rural vs. urban) impact our connection to the broader Ithaca community? I don't know the answers yet, but I'm loving the process of finding out. In the meantime, I'm enjoying being part of the monkeysphere.

No, bringing animals into the world to die is not humane

By Ari | Feb 21, 09 10:42 AM

Village Voice writer Sarah DiGregorio asked, "Is Foie Gras Torture?" and decided that she was okay with what she saw when she visited a foie gras operation. Since I am not okay with the death machine we call "animal agriculture," regardless of how "humane" it tries to be, I had to write her a letter protesting her findings. My open letter is below; I urge others to follow suit.

Read the article
Send an email to the author
Send a letter to the editor

Read on for my letter.

Continue reading "No, bringing animals into the world to die is not humane..." »

Shirari's Peace and Love Podcast #6: Economies

By shirari | Feb 4, 09 02:33 PM

Tune into the Wednesday, February 4th edition of our podcast to check out our snappy new format! We've broken the show into three segments to make it easier for folks to selectively listen to parts they're interested in:

Local Updates, in which we tell you about wonderful and exciting new developments in our local area, the Fingerlakes region of New York. You'll hear about permaculture organizing, the new Ithaca Freeskool calendar, and a new vegan group. (We can't wait to go to their pizza party on Friday!)
Be the Change, in which we give you two tips, both of which, now that we think about it, are pig-related. (And yet, somehow, relevant to a general audience. We think.)
Discussion: Economies, in which we look briefly at some issues with non-profit funding, venture capital, microlending, and global capitalism, as well as with socialism and other isms, before giving an overview of different interesting alternatives (featuring copyleft, coworking, freeganism, CSAs, relocalization, and other awesomeness).

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Vote for us at Podcast Alley!

Links mentioned in the show:
Hook up with other Fingerlakes Permaculture folks at flxpermaculture.net
Ithaca Freeskool
Ithaca Zine
Ahimsa Ecovillage
Ithaca Vegans Yahoo Group
Vegan Chai is so over bacon!
Ari's Twitter
Find a local CSA at localharvest.org

If you listen to our podcast, tell us what you like about it, and what could be improved! And if you don't listen to our podcast, why not? Tell us what you might like to hear, so we can do a better job of it. Thanks and peace to all who tune into this edition!

Previously:
Previous show notes

Our Friends at The Dacha Project Are Awesome.

By Shira | Feb 1, 09 05:20 PM

Our friend Lea makes videos for About.com. She's also part of The Dacha Project, "An unlikely band of six, creating a more sustainable and autonomous existence somewhere in upstate New York." These awesome instructional videos were made on their sixteen acres...

"Sometimes It's Hard to Breathe" - I finally edited my footage from our trip to India in 2006

By Shira | Jan 18, 09 06:28 PM

Sometimes It's Hard to Breathe from Shira Golding on Vimeo.

Shot in India over three weeks in November 2006, Sometimes It's Hard to Breathe is an experimental, personal travelogue. For more context, check out our photos from the trip:

Shira's India Photos
Ari's India Photos

Shirari's Peace and Love Podcast #5: Top 8 Activist Strategies

By Shira | Dec 16, 08 05:51 PM

December 16, 2008 - 71 minutes - 95.5MB

After an update about Ithaca, Shaleshock and our vegan ecovillage project, we discuss our top eight best practices for changing the world and conclude the show with some ideas for a d.i.y. anticapitalist holiday season.

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Show links:

Some Places Worth Donating To (there are so many more, here are just a few):

Arts Engine supports, produces, and distributes independent media of consequence and promotes the use of independent media by advocates, educators and the general public. Donate
East New York Farms! is a collaborative project whose mission is to organize youth and adult residents to address food issues in their community by promoting local and regional sustainable agriculture and community-based economic development. Donate
freeDimensional is an international network that advances social justice by hosting activists in art spaces and using cultural resources to strengthen their work. Donate
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Donate
Just Vision is a nonprofit organization that informs local and international audiences about under-documented Palestinian and Israeli joint civilian efforts to resolve the conflict nonviolently. Using media and educational tools, they raise awareness in order to encourage civic participation in grassroots peace building. Donate
Scenarios USA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that that uses writing and filmmaking to foster youth leadership, advocacy and self-expression in under-served teens. Scenarios USA asks teens to write about the issues that shape their lives for the annual "What's the REAL DEAL?" writing contest, and thousands have responded with their raw and revealing insights. Donate
Shaleshock Citizens Action Alliance is a grassroots group of Finger Lakes residents who are concerned with understanding and protecting our communities and environment from exploitation by the energy industry with regards to drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. Donate

Previously:

Locavore Movie from Japan

By Ari | Dec 13, 08 04:21 PM

Not vegan but very cool. Via TCLocal

Shale Shocked

By Shira | Dec 6, 08 03:05 AM

There are many factors that contribute to the fertility and productivity of land that are beyond a landowners' direct control. One of the major issues we need to consider in New York State is natural gas drilling. Ever since the development of more commercially-viable drilling techniques around 2000, major oil companies have been going to town on the Marcellus Shale. One of the main ways they get access to the land is by leasing land and drilling rights from local landowners. While this can be a good source of income for struggling farmers, there are numerous environmental impacts including the distribution of toxic chemicals into the soil and water table.

We've been getting involved with Shaleshock, a local resistance group, and we recently designed their logo and a new website. Check out the site to get up to speed on the issues and take action. One thing you can do now is comment on the DEC's draft scope...

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has released a draft scope document that outlines how they will regulate natural gas drilling of the Marcellus Shale. In addition to commenting at public hearings around the state, you can submit your comments via letter or email by December 15th.

Submit comments to:
Attn: Scope Comments
Bureau of Oil & Gas Regulation, NYSDEC Division of Mineral Resources
625 Broadway, Third Floor
Albany, NY 12233-6500

Or email to dmnog@gw.dec.state.ny.us with "Scope Comments" as the Subject

Download the pdf of the scope

Tortillas and Cider, Delivered to Our Doorstep

By Shira | Dec 5, 08 12:43 PM

A lot of people have been talking about eating local, and the arguments are pretty straight-forward: when you eat local you save energy/fuel, build community, and develop your local economy. Not to mention, your food is a lot less likely to be processed with preservatives and other nastiness.

Eating local in Ithaca is pretty easy and it seems to be getting easier every day. The Ithaca Farmer's Market is open April through December and has amazing produce - plus local crafts, live music and hot food. A lot of the stands are organic and there's even one place where everything is veganically grown - Unexpected Farm from Watkins Glen.

the glorious ithaca farmer's market
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

live music, local food
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

veganically-grown!
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

breakfast at the farmer's market
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

We've been getting most of our produce from the Farmers Market since we moved here three months ago, and supplementing from Greenstar Cooperative Market - where we're members. Greenstar is definitely not 100% local, but they have really great signage, which makes it so much easier to know the distance food has traveled. But as winter sets in, the Farmer's Market closes up shop and buying local produce at the coop gets too expensive, so we decided to join a winter CSA. We just picked up our first share last week and it was an amazing bounty - carrots, potatoes, leeks, cabbage, turnips, garlic, kale, squash, radichio, bok choi, and salad greens.

ithaca chocolate!
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

The cool thing about the CSA model, is that it enables the farmer to get paid up front so that they have the money when they need it most for buying supplies, paying laborers, repairs, etc. And usually, by paying a fixed price at the beginning, the individual CSA member gets a really good deal on a lot of fresh, local food. It is probably the best way to eat seasonally, if you're not growing your own food.

What's really exciting right now is that all these small grassroots distributors are popping up to fill holes in the local market. A couple of months ago, it wasn't uncommon for us to go for a walk and pass by an unsupervised produce stand in front of a house on a quiet residential street.

there's a can where you can leave a quarter
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

Recently, our friend Emily was thinking about how there are no local tortilla makers, so she started making vegan, organic, wheat tortillas and delivering them to people on her bike. And then Travis and Ellen announced on the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute's email list that they had pressed a huge amount of cider and could deliver a half gallon or gallon to any one who wanted some.

beach or tortilla?
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

gaia tortilla
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

sunrise apple cider - delivered to our door!
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

And these projects are inspiring new ones. A couple of guys who got Emily's tortillas one week, made some hummus to put on them, and it was such a tasty combination that now they're planning on making and delivering hummus. I sampled some of their recipe at the hat band party and it was amazing. I can't wait for them to start distributing!

All this activity has gotten us brainstorming like crazy, especially whenever we meet up with our new friend Joe. He's a true renaissance man - a guy who knows how to build his own house, convert engines to run on vegetable oil, code websites and play death metal. We've been talking about collaborating on a vegan baked goods enterprise in the future.

But with all these microbusinesses launching, it seems like we could take this whole thing a step further. What if once a week, we all met up in one centralized location (maybe a rotating potluck at different people's houses) and we just swap stuff - no money involved. So Emily could bring her tortillas, and Travis brings his cider, and Ellen brings tea, and Dusqkee brings hummus, and Ari brings vegan cookies, and Joe brings vegan muffins, and Danila brings garlic, and Mer and Uriel offer massages, and Rachel teaches yoga, and I bring knitted hats and cozies etc. etc. And instead of paying each other, we would just swap in a mutual aid, take as you need kind of way. And maybe it's one big coop and we all put in cash when we can and take it out when we need it. And there's a local community center with an industrial kitchen and craft studios and workshops. And before you know it, we're a totally self-sustaining community.

This is where we are heading!

Happy Thanksgiving with Love

By Ari | Nov 24, 08 10:32 AM

Thanksgiving approaches, and if you celebrate it, please consider celebrating it compassionately this year! I've met turkeys at Farm Sanctuary, and let me tell you, they are good people. Sweet, kind, lovey - one little guy made purring noises when I petted him, I'll never forget that - and every bit as hungry for holiday food and holiday love as the rest of us are.

There shouldn't be any room for cruelty on the holiday table - it's just too sad to spoil a celebration by eating a helpless, tortured animal. Instead, try a Tofurky from your local health food store, or just leave out the bird / bird facsimile altogether and chow down on pie and mashed potatoes and all that other good stuff. Use soy margarine and rice milk and egg replacer instead of dairy and eggs, and cows and chickens everywhere will thank you, too.

More info on and recipes for a compassionate Thanksgiving:
Turkeys at Poplar Spring: The Luckier Ones [change.org]
Adopt-A-Turkey Project [Farm Sanctuary]
Gentle Thanksgiving [FARM]
Menu: Vegan Thanksgiving [Serious Eats]
Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes [VeganBits.com]

Spreading the Word About Ahimsa Ecovillage

By Shira | Oct 6, 08 04:03 PM

On September 20th, 2008, we presented our idea for Ahimsa, a vegan ecovillage, with members of Club Veg Southern Tier and the Ithaca Area Vegan Meetup. The discussion took place at Smart Monkey Cafe where the group convened for a delicious vegan meal. Thanks to Ben Bristoll for video taping the event and to Bill Huston for taking photos!

Ahimsa Ecovillage Discussion from Shira Golding on Vimeo.

I love this photo of us. Doesn't Ari look like a visionary?

Photo by Bill Huston

Check out more photos from the event on flickr...

Jonathan Safran Foer Tells It

By Shira | Sep 10, 08 10:55 AM

He never uses the word "vegan" so I'm not sure exactly where Mr. Safran Foer stands, but he makes some great arguments for going vegetarian, especially if you're a Jew who keeps Kosher. I particularly like this bit where he quotes Tolstoy...

For some reason I hold in the back of my mind that everybody I know is going to be a vegetarian in twenty years, it's something I really believe... Tolstoy once said that if everyone were vegetarian, there wouldn't be war anymore. And it sounds like a very silly statement on the surface because what on earth does one have to do with the other. But I thought about it a lot, and I believe in it - not because the meat industry itself is causing wars, but because if we became the kind of people who were regularly choosing our reason over our hungers, being more deliberate, more willful about our sense of what's right, we'd be living in a very different kind of world.

UN says eat less meat to curb global warming

By Ari | Sep 9, 08 10:02 AM

'In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity,' said [Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year earned a joint share of the Nobel Peace Prize]. 'Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there,' said the Indian economist, who is a vegetarian. (Read more)

Warning: The article has a big gross photo of a chunk of cow flesh right up top.

When we were in India we loved seeing the streets lined with vegetarian restaurants, and found delicious cruelty-free dosas and thalis just about everywhere. Unfortunately avoiding dairy can be a little tricky due to the widespread use of ghee and cream. Kerala, the beautiful Socialist area in the south, uses coconut milk instead. So any vegan Socialists headed to India, now you know where to go. Though if we're reducing our impact, we shouldn't be flying anymore! Does anyone know a good eco-friendly steamship service?

What do vegans eat? See photos of delicious vegan food and Some recent vegan deliciousness. See our map of NYC picks, and our 8 Vegan Restaurants We'll Miss When We Leave NYC.

(Via The Ithaca Area Vegan Meetup Group)

"Bee-Boys" ask us to save the honey bees

By Shira | Aug 21, 08 08:25 PM

...but I have to ask, why does Haagen Dazs want to save the bees, but not the dairy cows? And where are they getting their honey?

Here are some original B-Boys and the woman who documented them when hip-hop was born:

8 Vegan Restaurants We'll Miss When We Leave NYC

By Shira | Aug 20, 08 07:08 AM

We're moving to Ithaca in a couple of weeks after over six years in NYC, and there are a lot of things we're going to miss so...we're making a Google map of our favorites. So far, we've just done restaurants, but there's more coming.

And...here are our 8 favorite restaurants (that happen to be mostly vegan), in no particular order:

Foodswings
The best vegan sandwiches in NYC, not to mention amazing drumsticks and mac 'n' cheese. They catered our wedding!

NY Dosas
An amazing South Indian food cart! Our favorite is the Masala Dosa with a veggie drumstick on the side. Ask Thiru for his cell number and you can call ahead to place your order. If it's nice out, sit and eat in Washington Square Park.

Sacred Chow
Vegan tapas with a romantic atmosphere. The best brussel sprouts in town.

Vegetarian Palate
Delicious vegan Chinese food. We used to order from these guys all the time when we lived in Park Slope. Our favorites are the ribs, Duck L'Orange, and the spinach dumplings.

Kate's Joint
We used to go to this place all the time when we lived in the Lower East Side. Kate's Benedict is a great brunch, and comes with a Bloody Mary or Screwdriver and all-you-can-drink coffee.

Temple in the Village
Possibly the best vegan buffet in NYC, and it's all organic. We usually pile up on greens, tofu, and fried veggie pancakes.

Mighty Diamond
Really cool murals and adorable table signage explaining tofu and tempeh - our faves are the curry "goat", mac 'n' cheese, collards and the veggie patty. they also have vegan corn bread!

Red Bamboo
One of the fancier vegan joints - a bit pricy but the food is great. We love the "Sole on a Roll" with a Lambic Peche (deliciously sweet Belgian beer).

Check out more of Shirari's NYC Favorites.

Some recent vegan deliciousness

By Ari | Aug 11, 08 07:13 PM

I post a lot of food photos on Flickr and I thought I'd share some recent good ones:

AMAZING vegan pastry!

Brussels sprouts, gnocci and quinoa at Lauren's place - she's a very good cook.

Bananas, strawberries, vegan ice cream, and Ahlaska! chocolate sauce.

Fancy vegan food at Fressen in Toronto with Dante.

Vegan udon noodles.

At Organic Heights vegan restaurant, Brooklyn. Really good food, and really sweet people. It's a new one, check it out if you're in NYC...

Check out my vegan food photoset for more cruelty-free food. Go vegan! (PDF)

humans are so...creepy

By Shira | Jul 16, 08 05:30 PM

considering euthanasia for wild horses
gps for tracking hunting dogs
celebrity chef suffocating chicks on TV
running cars on cow fat
sheep as dialysis bags

Resistance is Fertile: It's Time to Start Guerrilla Gardening

By Shira | Jul 15, 08 05:38 PM

My latest article is up on MediaRights.org. Here's a taste:

In more recent years, guerrilla gardening has exploded in cities like Chicago and New York where waves of development have too often ignored the need for green space. In neighborhoods on the cusp of gentrification, like where I live in Bushwick, Brooklyn, it is very common to walk down a block and see three or four empty, fenced-in lots that have been bought by developers, but which are just sitting there, collecting trash. For this scenario, guerrilla gardeners have come up with the perfect weapon - the seed bomb.

And a great video on the topic...

Shirari's Peace and Love Podcast #3: Travel

By shirari | Jun 30, 08 06:26 PM

Get ready for an hour and twelve minutes of non-stop queer vegan rambling! Wait, that didn't sound particularly attractive. Rest assured it'll be worth a listen - in this third installment of Shirari's Peace and Love Podcast we talk about our recent trip to Israel, Amsterdam, and Iceland, and how we attempted to take best advantage of the fuel used to have a experience that was as low-impact and culture-rich as possible. You'll hear about a kibbutz that turns soda cans and other trash into eco-friendly buildings, bikes by the boatload, naked showers with Europeans, friendly ducks interrupting breakfast in a tent, a town where street art is loved and not hated, and delicious, delicious falafel.

Shira's voice is kinda quiet in this one, sorry about that! We're still working out the technical kinks here. If you're actually downloading and listening to these, please comment and tell us what you think! Thanks to those of you who've written to us or commented already, we're so happy folks are giving these a listen.

Shirari's Peace and Love Podcast #3: Travel »
June 30, 2008 - 72 minutes - 32.9MB

Show links:

Previously:

"Chickens are decent people." - George Carlin

By Shira | Jun 29, 08 07:06 PM

About four minutes into this amazing monologue about a woman's right to choose, Carlin asks, "How come when it's us, it's an abortion, and when it's a chicken, it's an omelette?" While Carlin was not a vegan (or vegetarian), he was an astute observer of American society, including its schizophrenic attitudes towards animals.

Carlin died just as I started reading Lenny Bruce's autobiography How to Talk Dirty and Influence People. Carlin has cited Bruce as an influence many times and was actually at the famous Lenny Bruce performance when Bruce was arrested for obscenity.

While America has a long way to go in the struggle for social justice, I've got to give props to these comedians for moving us forward in significant ways and paving the way for today's politically progressive comics. After all, could Stephen Colbert be named the 3rd most influential person of the year by TIME Magazine readers if Lenny hadn't pushed the envelope in the '50s and '60s? Nope.

Heinz UK Pulls Ad Showing Two Men Kissing

By Shira | Jun 25, 08 01:31 PM

I'm not sure what's more shocking - that this ad was pulled because of complaints or that it was aired in the first place. I can't imagine Heinz putting an ad this gay on U.S. television, Americans are way too homophobic. Further evidence that capitalism serves profit, not people, and definitely not the chickens whose eggs go into Heinz mayonnaise.

Now if Heinz is looking for new ideas for the American market, they need look no further:

Monkeys, Pigeons and Vegans Oh My!

By Shira | Jun 19, 08 03:34 PM

Doesn't this photo make you smile? It's of a monkey and pigeon who have become close friends at an animal sanctuary in China:

The 12-week-old macaque -- who was abandoned by his mother -- was close to death when [he] was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province. After being taken to an animal hospital his health began to improve but he seemed spiritless -- until he developed a friendship with a white pigeon. The blossoming relationship helped to revive the macaque who has developed a new lease of life, say staff at the sanctuary. From Mail Online

This story gives me a "new lease on life."

Also, check out this awesome clip on CNN about going vegan. It's one of the most positive non-dismissive segments about veganism that I've ever seen coming from the mainstream media:

Good vegan mac and cheese

By Ari | Jun 6, 08 07:58 PM

vegan mac and cheese, and collards, and curry "goat"
Originally uploaded by arimoore

Just made a variation on this vegan mac and cheese recipe and it was awesome. It's of the nutritional yeast variety, which I've grown to love more and more over the years. The sauce took only took a few minutes to make and was really delicious on penne.

The food in the photo here is at Mighty Diamond, and it's mighty indeed, though my personal favorite vegan mac and cheese in the city is at Foodswings. Yay cruelty-free comfort food!

Helping Myanmar

By Ari | May 9, 08 12:35 PM

Looking for an effective way to help the people of Myanmar deal with the recent cyclone devastation? Their military government is blocking and intercepting aid, and as we know from 2004's Indian Ocean tsunami debacle, some aid organizations are more effective than others. So how can we best help?

Our friends at freeDimensional report:

Jay Koh, who runs NICA (Networking & Initiatives for Culture & the Arts ) based in Yangoon (Rangoon), and I have been in close email contact this week. His organization is currently accepting donations to be distributed to local relief organizations within Myanmar, the first being the Health and Death Assistant Association, which is managed by a monastery in Yangoon.

I can vouch for Jay: his commitment to his community is incredible, but he is desperate for help right now. With the UN cutting off aid, this is one way to get funds to Myanmar almost instantly. NICA has a PayPal account set up (visit www.paypal.com; send to ifima-at-gmx-dot-net). Please consider making a donation.

Another friend knows someone who works at the Burma Project at Open Society Institute, who suggests folks who want to give aid do it through Avaaz.org, a global online movement with millions of members. Avaaz.org is concerned that the junta can easily delay, divert, or misuse aid. They are partnering with the International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO) and other local organizations to aid people directly through local networks.

Our Eutopic Vision at Forbes.com

By Shira | Apr 11, 08 06:08 PM

Ari's rendering of our eutopia

When Ari and I posted our vision of a Radical Solidarity Ecovillage to the Intentional Communities Directory, we really didn't know what to expect. So far, we've gotten a couple of email inquiries from potential members who we're going to connect with in Ithaca, and we're eagerly awaiting more interest.

One thing we certainly didn't expect was to be contacted by Forbes.com. After Elisabeth Eaves interviewed us for her article Ecotopia we were kind of nervous. She had never heard of Community Supported Agriculture, not to mention Freeganism or an assortment of other strategies that we discussed. Considering that Forbes is entrenched in capitalism, we worried that maybe our earnest ramblings might be used against us.

Luckily that was not the case! In fact, we're right up at the top of the article, and we don't sound (too) crazy:

After six years in the city, Shira Golding and Ari Moore want to try something new. The two 27-year-old artists came to New York after college, but now yearn for less urban and more affordable living. Rather than retreat to suburbia, the two are trying to recruit like-minded souls to join them in an artistic, vegan commune, which they plan to form in upstate New York.

"The number of people doesn't matter so much as shared values," says Golding, who then elaborates on a philosophy of animal rights, ecological sustainability and "freeganism," in which "you abstain from capitalism by getting things for free or [by] barter[ing]."

Golding and Moore's utopian vision is in its infancy, but they aren't alone in their desire to build their own self-contained community.

If we're going to be picky, freeganism doesn't really include "bartering," as much as giving and taking freely, and we prefer "intentional community" over "commune." But what really matters is that the mainstream media is paying attention to alternative visions for sustainable living. If Forbes.com, whose tagline is "Home Page for the World's Business Leaders," is doing a whole feature on utopias, who knows what's next!

Which brings me to the word "utopia." As our friend and wordsmith Orion pointed out at our Peace and Justice Passover Seder last year, “utopia” comes from the Greek for “no place” or “nowhere.” In other words a "utopia" is a better society that does not and cannot exist. That's not very optimistic. Orion suggested "eutopia" as an alternative spelling, meaning a "good, happy place." The article Visions of Utopia or Eutopia? at CommonDreams.org, puts it this way: "Eutopia is a vision of a preferable place - but one with a bridge that gets us from here to there. Visions of a better society don't attract a critical mass of people. Only future visions with a visible, viable bridge can do that - a lesson many progressives have yet to learn." Let's start building those bridges!

Celebrate Foodswings' birthday - Sunday, NYC

By Ari | Mar 26, 08 10:24 AM

yet more foodswings deliciousness
Originally uploaded by arimoore

On Sunday, March 30, the delicious and amazing "vegan fast food joint" Foodswings in Williamsburg, Brooklyn will be hosting an anniversary party. If you are in NYC and like fake meat and french fries and milkshakes, you must go! There will be three menus to choose from: their mighty-fine regular menu, the midnite munchies menu, and the elusive, long-cancelled brunch menu, which you can only take advantage of during parties like this one. Foodswings catered our vegan wedding and we still get compliments about the tasty, tasty food from our mostly-omnivorous friends and family, over a year later.

Plus, you can't beat the atmosphere, or the neighborhood. You've never seen such tight pants, or such decked-out bikes, or such fun hats. Foodswings is a great place to pick up hand-drawn punk show fliers and read a copy of Arthur Magazine or the Onion. It's also right around the corner from Cinders Gallery, one of our favorite galleries in NYC, and from The City Reliquary, home of the Giant Pencil Collection and numerous labeled chunks of cement from exotic locations like Coney Island. In short, it's one of our favorite corners of NYC. See you on Sunday?

Vegans feeding people

By Ari | Mar 2, 08 04:05 PM

I was just doing some research into overlaps between veganism and mutual aid, and was a little shocked at how few programs for hungry folk are run by vegans. It's too bad, it seems like a really good idea! It's safer to prepare and handle than animal-based food, and can be cheaper, too - and giving cruelty-free food to people who need it seems like a natural extension of the vegan ideal of ahimsa (most good / least harm).

Here are a few organizations that are vegan or vegetarian - anyone know of any others?

Food Not Bombs - freegan, anarchist free vegan food movement
Vegfam sustainable, vegan agriculture projects aimed at reducing hunger and providing disaster relief
Food for Life Hare Krishna-run lacto-vegetarian food aid and disaster relief program
The People's Potato worker-owned vegetarian soup kitchen
Freegan.info freegan feasts, trash tours and community meals

Tofu and Soy Milk Explained, by Puppets

By Ari | Feb 4, 08 06:08 PM

(via invisible voices)

American Cuisine at its Finest

By Ari | Feb 1, 08 10:37 AM

A.V. Club Taste Test Special: The Bowl At The Howling Rim Of Famous-Ity: Patton Oswalt's very funny review of "Famous Bowl", an apparently popular bowl-o-disgustingness available at KFC. (Via Amy's Robot)

Vegan Ice Cream Tasting!

By Shira | Jan 29, 08 03:43 PM

wheeler's black label vegan ice cream tasting
Originally uploaded by Shira Golding

A couple of weekends ago Ari and I went to a free tasting of Wheeler's Black Label Vegan Ice Cream at a tiny gallery in the East Village called Little Cakes. The two flavors we tried were peanut butter chocolate chip and espresso, and they were both delicious.

The company is based in Boston, but they're planning on expanding their distribution. To get the word out, they're throwing free tasting parties around the country, and anyone can volunteer to be a host.

While I have mixed feelings about vegan facsimiles of animal products -- they usually are highly-processed and not nearly as healthy as whole foods -- I still "need" an occasional fix, and am looking forward to the day that Wheeler's is in my grocer's freezer. Once you taste some, I'm sure you'll agree, even if you eat dairy.

What Michelle Williams and Chelsea Clinton Have in Common

By Shira | Jan 11, 08 06:22 PM

michelle williams, hilary clinton, veggies, local, organic, csa

Doesn't it suck how much attention celebrities get for superficial things like weight gain, what they're wearing, and where they choose to shop? I was walking along Fifth Avenue one day and saw a bunch of paparazzi staked out on the sidewalk outside a J. Crew. Apparently, Keri Russell was buying some jeans.

Actually, I do think the famous among us should be held accountable for their consumer choices, as we all should. So, what do Michelle Williams and Chelsea Clinton have in common? They're both into local, organic, sustainable agriculture. I spotted Chelsea at the Union Square Farmer's Market with a bag full of produce, and a few months ago, when we went to pick up our last Hearty Roots farm share of the season, Michelle Williams was volunteering to help distribute the veggies. It was pretty awesome.

For those of you who don't know what a farm share is, it's time to learn about CSAs, a.k.a Community Supported Agriculture. They're a great way to support local farmers, eat well, and protect the environment. While farmers markets give communities access to local food, farm shares go a step further, enabling individuals to help farmers financially when they need it most - at the beginning of the season. You sign up for a share in the winter, pay for your veggies up front, and pick up the bounty at prescribed times and locations over the course of the season, usually late spring through fall. In addition to enabling local agrarians to stay afloat, you get really high-quality produce at bargain prices. Now's the time of year when folks start signing up for spring shares, so don't miss your chance.

Shirari Industries