Each morning I walk over a half a mile from the train to my office. Unless I'm carrying something particularly heavy (which has been known to happen...no comments peanut gallery!) I really enjoy it (at least until the skin-burningly cold temps set in). It is never the same two days in a row and it's fun to be present to the color and commotion of the city.

Today, they were passing out freebies by the Thompson Center. Often I take a pass on such things but when I saw that it was Greek yogurt I accepted a container happily. When I was in Greece I fell in love with the thicker, creamier yogurt they make there...particularly when they served it to me with that deep, amber thyme-honey. Besides, this yogurt was telling me that it was organic, and that its maker donated 10% of its profits "to efforts that help protect and restore the earth". Hmmmm - vague promises there. Obviously those efforts don't extend to refusing to offer those tiny, single serving containers which up plastic use exponentially, though they do appear to be trying to mitigate that in some ways.

Much to my disappointment, this Oikos yogurt tasted nothing like what I expected (or hoped for). It had such a synthetic aftertaste that I felt sure it must be stuffed with aspartame or some other toxic chemical. I checked on Stonyfield's site though, and it appears to have natural ingredients. Perhaps it is the "vanilla flavor" that is setting my taste buds on edge. I am tempted to try the honey flavor but recognize that really, I should make my own damned yogurt. I know that I don't even need a yogurt machine and that it would be dee-lish. Though Stonyfield is in NH, which is much closer to me than CA (where most of our yogurt seems to come from) it would be better for me to make it at home (with local milk) and if I want it Greek style, I just need to strain it.

Perhaps I'll do that in all of my free time.

Wait.

What happened to my free time?

CRAP!

I've really treasured having a big garden and chickens here in the city. I recognize that it is a rare gift that has helped me to live in my values and it is one that I will miss if we move. I love composting, I love picking food right from the yard, I love feeling like these are little bits of activism and change. The garden got in early this year and has looked very promising, but the lack of sun and heat has it not yielding much more than greens. We have so many things that are small and that want to grow into harvest - but fall seems to be coming in already and I just don't know if there will be time for it all. I am looking forward to fall but am mourning the potential green babies that don't make it.

It seems I'm in the mood to post a lot of pictures! If you'd like an updated visit to our garden click on the link below (click on pics to enlarge). Chicken pictures to be posted some time soon.

Shots of the garden ( are behind this cut: )

One thing I've loved about FB and LJ is that folks are posting lots of pictures of their gardens. Perhaps it is not exciting for everyone to take in shot after shot of brazen tomato plants, coy carrots and slinky bean vines...but I love it.

GARDEN PORN! YAY!

Visit my little green peep show ( just behind this curtain )

More than 10 years ago, Brazil’s fourth-largest city, Belo Horizonte, declared that food was a right of citizenship and started working to make good food available to all. One of its programs puts local farm produce into school meals. This and other projects cost the city less than 2 percent of its budget. Above, fresh passion fruit juice and salad as part of a school lunch. Photo by Leah Rimkus

Many of you may have seen this article by Frances Moore Lappé about Belo Horizonte, Brazil but I wanted to re-post for those that had not. What a beautiful dream come true...

[cut] Before leaving Belo, Anna and I had time to reflect a bit with Adriana. We wondered whether she realized that her city may be one of the few in the world taking this approach—food as a right of membership in the human family. So I asked, “When you began, did you realize how important what you are doing was? How much difference it might make? How rare it is in the entire world?”

Listening to her long response in Portuguese without understanding, I tried to be patient. But when her eyes moistened, I nudged our interpreter. I wanted to know what had touched her emotions.

“I knew we had so much hunger in the world,” Adriana said. “But what is so upsetting, what I didn’t know when I started this, is it’s so easy. It’s so easy to end it.”

For the full article, click here.

I received a delightful invitation this week to be a co-author for a new blog: Magical Eating. This blog grew out of the Hearth Path work at Wintercamp 2009.

You may be thinking..."why Jennifer, how can you possibly talk about food even MORE?"...but it seems that I can and will.

Below I have pasted in the introduction post and intention, penned by Elfin. If you're interested I hope you'll join us there.

Much love and gratitude ~ Jen

----

Gather ’round the Hearth
February 25th, 2009

Welcome! Come, have a seat…

Our hearths and homes are our most intimate expressions of self; the seat of our magic and our values. We welcome our beloveds into these sacred places; we laugh, work, make love and share food together there...

All of the authors here share a common love in food, family, and magic and/or spiritual practice as central pieces of our lives. We each love to share that passion with others. I, and the rest of the authoring team, hope that you find a home and a place to be in community with us here.

- elfin

Winter's kiss draws us down deep...we are not alone...we dare to embrace mystery.

I am home from teaching at Winter Camp and have more stories, thoughts and incubating dreams from that work than I can record here. I will only say that I am awash in gratitude for the opportunity; for the chance to work with amazing people, to nurture connections (old and new) and to share some of the food work that has been my focus these past years. I am also amazed yet again by the loving strength of that community and am inspired to return to my home and personal practice with a desire to deepen and expand.

Truly, it was a week of revival for me and while not always comfortable (as is often the case for me with expansion) it was certainly honey sweet.

If I missed any news of import while away, please let me know.

My dear friend C, who I have adored for 20+ years, came in from Florida this past weekend for a wonderful visit. Because she knows we cannot get local produce here in the winter (and because she is so very generous), she went to the Farmers' Market before she left home and brought two heavily stuffed suitcases of fruits and veg along with her. There were many familiar items in the mix but also some things I had not tried such as a white bell pepper, white eggplant and longans (the experience of which, I can only imagine, is very close to peeling and eating an eyeball...blech!). C and I are both eating vegan, so she used some of this bounty to whip up some lovely dishes for us: fresh tomatillo salsa, eggplant salad (one of my favs), roasted veggies with fresh rosemary and a "faux-feta"/phyllo pie.

Because my roommate tarirocks loves citrus (which is obviously never local for us, even in summer) C included bags and bags of oranges (and various cousins to the orange). We have a mountain of them on our kitchen table now and could likely save an entire village from scurvy for much of a year.

It was lovely of C to import some sunshine for us...and nice to be reminded of how much I am loved.

As I mentioned last week, I'm trying out veganism for a month. I'm on day 11 thus far and still don't have a firm vision as to how this will fit into my life for the long term.

It is certainly a lot more work and has been more expensive for me. The fact that I am rehearsing a show makes it much more complicated and some days I don't feel like I get a "meal" because I don't eat anything hot. Often I get by grazing on random items; combinations of fruits, veggies, hummus and various carbs with lots of salads along the way (and with Lara Bars as my back up fix). I don't know if that is going to be sustainable for me. While I'm adjusting a bit now, initially I wasn't enjoying eating and I've had a few days of not feeling well. Clearly this is a lifestyle that requires time and effort in the kitchen and balancing that with my schedule is going to be interesting. I do think that with time to cook, this would be a very different experience and one that would be much more pleasant and satisfying.

While I grumble, I will say that for the most part I have not had huge cravings for animal products. I have, however, been seriously missing my decaf with half and half - which is one of my favorite simple pleasures. Thus far I have tried coffee with rice milk (plain and vanilla), soy milk (plain and vanilla), almond milk (vanilla) and hemp milk (vanilla). To be honest, for me, none of them hold a candle to dairy.

Soy and hemp milks seem to be the creamiest - but I have big questions about the impact of soy (on my health, the environment and agriculture at large). The hemp milk is quite expensive and while I can see it is distributed from NY (approximately 800 miles away from me and clearly not local), I do not know where the hemp itself was grown nor do I have knowledge of its impact. I have read that in countries where it is illegal to freely grow hemp (as in the U.S.) industrialized hemp is imported from China and the Philippines (YIKES! That is just not going to cut it and had I read that earlier, I never would have purchased it). I plan to try oat milk next, which is as expensive as the hemp milk, but I can apparently make it myself.

And yes. I know I could just give up coffee...*looks pained*.

I'm trying to do research but often I run into a wall due to the lack of information available about food sources. I notice that this feels like a really challenging sacrifice for me and parts of me feel very proud of sticking with it even when I'm not loving it. Other parts wonder about quality of life and whether or not this is actually supporting my values - or if it is equal to, or less effective than sourcing local, ethical dairy.

While in general, I really like reducing my intake of animal products I'll need some time, homework and calculations to determine if this lifestyle choice furthers my goals around sustainability and accountability. If it does, I have a lot of work to do. I'll need to determine my stance on eating honey, wearing leather and silk...etc. I'll need to see if my body is happy with this and if I'm getting enough B-12 and other nutrients. I also would need to learn to shop for and cook meals that I enjoy and to get used to the fact that many people are really uncomfortable with my making this choice and want to tell me all about it (sheesh).

While it's not all that bad, I would likely swoon with delight over a plate of Mujaddara and I can't help but realize how spoiled I am when so many people in the world have such limited access to food (hot, vegan or otherwise).

Perspective, perspective...

This past October I had the good fortune to attend an Urban Foraging walk here in the city. It was a gorgeous, clear day and much of the city's green life was decked out in its final finery; a last hurrah of color, shape and texture to kiss summer farewell and open arms to autumn.

The walk was led by Nancy Klehm, a local artist and all around fascinating person whose workshops I have recommended before and likely will again. I was very impressed with the quality of the walk, with her knowledge and her ease of presentation. She's someone I could follow around for 5 years, soaking up skills, lore and laughter.

Nancy just launched a new website, Spontaneous Vegetation if you'd like to see more about her work and ongoing projects. She offers some amazing Living Kitchen workshops that not only honor our connections to food, our bodies, the planet and each other - but also recognize the art of food and drink. Nancy considers the impact of food choices without guilt or shame and celebrates the sensual delights of gustatory adventuring. For a green-foodie like me, her work is divine and I plan to take more of her classes to nurture my food activism/sustainable living efforts. I'm also going to try to catch more of her foraging walks and hope to see the city's wild buffet as it thrives in spring and summer.

If you visit Nancy's site (and I hope you will, even if you're not local) you can catch a video podcast from Sky Full of Bacon which features Nancy and veggie-chef, Art Jackson, foraging on the south side. Nancy's bit starts about 5 minutes in and (I think) gives a nice sense of what it's like to be out hiking and snacking with her.

Enjoy!

2008 was a hard year for me. It was also a year that yielded many, many gifts, some of which required some bravery to accept. Having accepted, I find that further courage is needed to actually live those gifts. And so with 2009 upon us, I am feeling open (a wee bit scared), ready to engage and ready to try new things.

One thing I'm engaging at a deeper level is my food activism. I've talked quite a bit about that work here, so I won't repeat my reasons for switching to vegetarianism (and locavorism when possible) 16 months ago but I will say that it's been a rewarding choice for me. I know it's not a choice that is going to suit everyone and I respect that. Our food choices are very personal and are sacred. They have impact, both inside and outside our bodies, and are equally impacted by countless factors.

I have been thinking about my food choices lately and because I have been spouting off about it for so very long, I have decided to try veganism. I have long wondered if eating vegan would further my food activism goals - and to be honest, I really have no idea. I have a dear friend coming to visit in a week who has recently become vegan. So in solidarity with her and as a grand experiment, I am giving up animal products for at least two weeks.

I have a lot of questions (concerns?) about this. Is this choice sustainable for me given my time and resources? Will I actually end up eating more processed foods or foods with higher carbon-footprints? Will I get enough calcium and iron? Can I be vegan without massively upping my soy intake (which for my body is not a good idea)? Will folks find me to be even more of a pain in the ass to eat with then they do now? And most pressing, can I actually live without half and half? ;>)

In talking about it with my roommate I really think that I am more of an Ethitarian. I want to eat as ethically as is possible and I don't think there is a quick fix for that desire. I also don't believe that vegetarianism, veganism or any other eating lifestyle has all the answers. Who knows what will feel most sustainable to me? Each piece of food is different and has it's own impact and history. I don't think I'll be able to step away from the accountability of learning that history and trying to make balanced choices - even as a vegan.

However, it's fun to think about. It makes grocery shopping that much more time consuming as I stand and pour over labels in even more detail but it's exciting to engage a core value at a new level.

I'll let you know how it goes (all yummy vegan recipes welcome here!)

May 2009 kiss your life with passionate joy...

I cannot help but feel joy today given yesterday's victory. It's been interesting to see all of your posts these past couple of days and I am reminded how much I am fed by sharing time and ideas with people who care about the world and take responsibility for their place in it. While I was not in Grant Park with the crowds last night, Obama's speech there was no less impactful for me. It drew my thankful tears and more importantly, it sparked a renewed drive.

In this year I have been very inwardly focused and with good reason. I have made a lot of personal changes and to do that, I needed to pull back some of the energy that I was giving to community. Of course I write that knowing that it is an excuse as well. While I did need internal focus in these past months, I also stepped back from communal action because I felt burned out, disappointed and bitter that I always seemed to be fighting against the tide even among "like-minded" groups. Voices told me time and time again that I expect too much, from others and from myself, and I wondered if perhaps those voices were right. I've been licking my wounds...and, well...pouting a bit too.

Today the sun shines, illuminating a spectrum of possibility and I find myself eager to step out of the personal sphere I have held so close. I find myself wanting to make plans, to gather hearts, to build a new kind of community. I find myself wanting to give those negative voices the finger! Yes, my expectations will likely be disappointed again (and again, and again). Yes, every green workshop/gathering/action I've co-created and offered in this town has been ill attended or canceled due to lack of interest. But I'm still alive and breathing the truth, beauty and passion of this work and no one can stop me but me.

While R&J will keep me busy into December, I am excited about projects that I'd like to share with others come January and about the food activism and sustainable hearth work that we'll be doing at Wintercamp in February. I'll be meeting with our landlords next month to lay down the plans for next year's food garden (with which we hope to get more neighborhood involvement). I'm pushing for chickens in the back yard this year (wish me luck) and tarirocks and I are hoping to do some community/guerrilla gardening on our block.

There are so many things that we can share and so much we can achieve together; so many ways we can reconnect to the earth, to each other, to ourselves and the divine. We don't have to continue to live as we do today (in fact we cannot) and what might seem to some to be "sacrifice" could in fact be joyous work which draws us together and reminds us of a quality and richness that we have thrown away in favor of disposable convenience encased in plastic.

I believe that if we want change, we cannot sit back and wait for one man or one team of people to make it and hand it to us. It is time to step up, to do more, to take the hand of the stranger next to me as we walk proudly into the fray. I am rolling up my sleeves. I am ready.

Who's with me?

A friend (and avid Star Wars fan) sent me this. It's silly, but I thought you might enjoy it...



I really wanted Darth Vader to be a slab of corn-fed, antibiotic stuffed, CAFO-raised beef...but I guess that wasn't as funny as "Darth Tater"...

If you have 60-seconds to spare, please watch this video from Eat the View. It has been entered into a competition for clips that could inspire the next President to take action on climate change. The finalists are being chosen on the basis of number of views in a single day, so please stop by today - Friday, September 19th - if possible and share the link! (http://www.vimeo.com/1519380)


This Lawn is Your Lawn from roger doiron on Vimeo.

Some of you may remember an earlier post where I babbled on excitedly about our gardening plans this year. I thought I'd give a much overdue report on our season, though I've waffled on what to share.

While it has been exciting to have more gardening space, the food growing efforts have been severely disappointing. Our back yard does not get enough sunlight and although we discussed this early on with our landlords, the limb-trimming that I was hoping for never happened. That, combined with a very wet/cool/buggy season, the various critters who like to come a-nibbling and a bit of a late start all have had me eating much less self-grown produce than I am used to.

Now don't get me wrong, the garden is lovely. I'll try to post pictures soon so you can see how the owners have packed in a lot of lush landscaping (complete with pergola). Sadly, none of that landscaping is edible - and what is edible has been slow, so we've only had herbs to bring up to the kitchen. While I've been grateful for the basil, I've also felt very discouraged by what I perceived to be a big gap between our food values and that of our building owners.

I finally had a discussion with one of them yesterday (as I was harvesting what few things I could) and expressed how vital growing food is to me. It is the main reason that I wanted to be in this apartment and is a huge part of my activism and spirituality. I am hoping that I was heard and that promises to trim branches next year and/or to discover more sun-kissed gardening options will manifest. Somethings got to change. I'm not willing to have a repeat of this year.

To try to get over our disappointment, the roomie and I did eat from the garden as much as we could yesterday. While the veggies had to be procured from the Farmers' market, we had basil on our tomato/yellow zucchini sandwiches and added nasturtiums, parsley, basil and wood sorrel to our salads. The result was so colorful I had to snap a pic.



I also whipped up a good sized batch of pesto...so all hope is not lost ;>)

Do you eat?

Do you like food that likes you back?

Do you like the planet?

Then you might want to check out Eat the View, which is "a campaign to plant healthy, edible landscapes in high-impact, high visibility places".

You can sign the White House Food Garden Petition there, which Eat the View promises will be delivered to the President-elect this fall (along with a diverse collection of heirloom seed packets). This petition asks the next President to create an organic food garden on the White House lawn, with part of the harvest going to the White House kitchen and the rest to a local food pantry.



I think an organic food garden on the White House lawn would be a powerful act of magic and effective modeling. Perhaps if our leaders reconnected with the land and their food, they would make different legislative choices (or I would hope so).

I believe that the taste of local, homegrown, sun-kissed produce can help to change the world. If we come together to share and glory in these gifts then we will once again see each other and see the earth. That is my hope...

...but I am wishing it was a cigarette.

Now that I've come off of nicotine patches my cravings have been stronger, much to my displeasure. Since my knee is out, I cannot even stomp away this energy as per my usual escape.

I hope this eases soon lest I explode. This weekend...I ate my body weight in ice cream. UGH.

On a positive note however, our household did find a local, organic ice cream from Sibby's Organic Zone Ice Cream Parlor. They seem like a sweet spot; they buy fair trade and support their local farmers. They also claim that the local cows who produce their cream are all "contented" and even each have "real names". I'd like to believe that this is true, but with industrialized organics I am am suspect unless I can visit the farm myself.

Ahhhh - trying to eat ethically in the midwest...it often feels to me like a game of "spin the wheel and try to choose the lesser evil".

While the Sibby's was good, we cannot get over that sexy pineapple basil gelato and have agreed to prioritize making REALLY local ice cream at home. We're considering strawberry basil and/or blueberry basil.

Anyone out there made gelato at home before? Any tips are welcome.

Apparently one of the bonuses of being single is that you get invited over for dinner quite a bit...at least this has been the case for me. Beloved friends have welcomed me into their warm, colorful homes and have (without my asking) prepared the most delightful vegetarian meals despite being omnivores themselves.

Last night, K had me over for much wine and giggling. She served a vegan Fettuccine Alfredo with Seared Portobellos which was drool-down-your-front delicious. When I asked, she let me know that she had gotten the recipe from the magazine Vegetarian Times, a publication she has used before when cooking for me - always to my gustatory delight. Seeing that I was interested (and being one of the most generous souls I know), K sent me home with 3 Vegetarian Times mags so I could see what it's all about.

I have to say, I am profoundly disappointed. While I cannot retract my opinion about having some good recipes, this is not a publication I would be interested in supporting overall.

While there are some (brief and fleeting) allusions to vegetarianism as a lifestyle choice born out of environmentalism, it is a mere drop in the bucket to the overwhelming message that "vegetarianism is about being skinny". There was a slight nod to vegetarians who are against animal cruelty - but no inclusion of those of us that make this choice for social justice as well. In fact, the 3 volumes I perused were so inundated with articles, ads and messages about weight loss that I truly felt I was reading a veggie version of Cosmo. I kept expecting to turn a page to find "10 Tips to Please Your Vegan Lover!" or some such.

The marketing was saturated with all the same messages of gross consumerism and body image - and in one mag alone I counted five full-page ads that featured close-up shots of a woman's bare tummy, sans those oh-so-human freckles, moles, stretchmarks, etc. - and so tight and flat that you could bounce a quarter off of her.

Clearly - this is what being a vegetarian is really about...those tight, hot abs!

I tried not to froth at their total lack of inclusion for locavores (two main features in June's issue: "Island Eating" and "Mangoes!" - offered only dishes whose carbon footprints were astounding for those of us outside CA and FL), but could not help but feel shocked at many of the recipes themselves. Most of them were not what I would consider healthful in any way and were overflowing with processed foods, most of which were "lite" and "fat-free". When did vegetarianism cease to be about health? I did not understand the seeming paradox of featuring recipes with double-fried tofu, breaded-n-fried tempeh cutlets and peanut butter/coconut/soy ice cream with those that were so full of synthetic, "lite" foods that they barely classify as food at all. How much fat-free soy creamer can you squeeze into one dish? Apparently quite a bit (blech).

And really I wondered...where the hell are the vegetables?

Now to be fair, there did seem to be a lot of information about nutrition (how much protein do I need?, what are vitamins and minerals I might be missing?, etc.), but again, each of these articles too addressed weight loss as being paramount.

Despite some of the yummy options (and there were a few recipes that featured whole foods and seemed promising), this is certainly not a mag for me. I am all about vegetarianism, health and fitness, but to me - health and fitness do not = fitting into a size 0 pair of jeans, especially if you have to ingest pounds and pounds of fat-free soy creamer to make it happen.

Thus concludes today's food rant...

As May unfolds I turn forward and begin looking at the challenges ahead. High on my "to do" list is getting unpacked and settled into a new apartment...

I recently moved to the northeast side of Chicago, into what was marketed as a "green" apartment. The owners, two amazing folks who are the life force behind the Eco-Justice Collaborative, purchased the building (which had been gutted I believe) and worked to create a space that was in line with their values.

To do this, they avoided buying things new and did a lot of searching for reclaimed hardwood flooring, fixtures and appliances. They also installed energy efficient windows and dual-flush toilets. They've used CFL's in every light source and have painted solely with no-VOC paints.

While our space is small (I'm in a two-bedroom with stellar roommate, tarirocks), and while I don't love that part of it is garden level...the eco aspects were simply too alluring, particularly building-wide recycling and composting and...wait for it...here it comes...oh yes....GARDENS!

Working together, we are creating a food garden behind the house, and a rain garden in front (speaking of rain gardens, I attended an amazing presentation on a local sustainable water project: 168 Elm Ave. Great web site...I hope you'll check it out.)

We're doing a jig with time, and have (perhaps) larger dreams than can be manifested in the first year, but it is terribly exciting to be working in a small community to make this happen at any level.

Embracing permaculture, we're planning and planting the garden holistically (rather than splitting into plots based on apartment units), using stacking and companion planting. There are three units in the building, but one tenant says she's not a gardener (just wait until we seduce her with homegrown tomatoes!). Therefore there will be four of us working the land (a vast improvement to my former solo gardening efforts), and we plan to invite some friends to share the space/work/harvest, thus feeding that vital connection between food and community. We've got plans for raised and vertical beds...though again, time is a determining factor.

To begin, we're going to employ lasagna gardening to create two spheres which contain clusters of key hole beds. Since we all just moved in, we have lots of saved newspaper and cardboard, and we're jazzed about folding all of our resources back into the homestead. These beds will flow with the shape of the yard and will compliment a gathering area (with a pergola, fire pit and water feature). We'll be supplementing with lots of container gardening (especially in this first year where we may not have time to build a lot structures), and are following the "house-shoe rule" of permaculture, planting our favorite edibles close to the porch so that they can be gathered quickly, easily and often. T and I are even working out wacky ways to capture some of our gray water (if you shower at our place, be ready to share your splash with some pitchers and bowls!).

Because we are who we are, we've begun to recognize the potential of this project and are thinking of ways to use it as a learning tool. We are planting extra seeds, and hope to have abundant seedlings which we can share with the neighbors. We're thinking of offering open houses to the neighborhood; inviting folks in to see what we're doing and sending them home with a free seedling, informational materials - and hopefully, inspiration.

With that in mind - I snapped some photos of the back yard as it is so that we can look back at summer's end to see how far we've come. Nothing had been done when I took these, so things aren't very lovely or exciting yet...but this will give you an idea of what we're working with. I took these in the evening (around 5:00 PM CST), so the light is a bit low. If you're interested...( photos are behind the cut )

Even if you don't check out the other photos, I wanted you to see our baby brussels sprouts.



Won't you tell them that they're beautiful; that you love them and want them to grow, grow, grow!

The response to our creating and offering an upcoming food activism class has been interesting to me. Tons and tons of emails from afar have come in letting us know how great this work is; how many folks would LOVE to take this class if they lived in the Chicagoland area.

And yet our registration for this class is up to two people.

Don't get me wrong, they're two GREAT people - but unless we get a group of 10 folks, this class won't be sustainable for us to offer.

So what gives? Food prices are sky-rocketing, global warming can't be denied, our food systems are toxic to us and to the planet (and that is becoming more and more common knowledge).

We have the power to make an impact on all of that by making informed choices around our food, but what if we no longer want to make an impact?

I don't mean to sound glum...but I was reading this article on world hunger today - and it makes me want to preach about food activism all the more.

Taking on one or two "meat free" meals a week could put food into the mouths of people in Haiti and everywhere (or eating meat that does not come from within the industrialized system)...and that is only one way to make a difference through food - and there are SO many ways. Am I unreasonable to think that most folks would want that; would want to help starving children get food if they could?

Well they CAN...

Perhaps it is I that need to see reality and recognize that the majority of folks don't want to know...I hope that's not true, but it feels true today.

If it is easier...you can read the entire article here ( behind the cut )

For the first time since living in Chicago, I am within easy walking distance of a major grocery store. In this case it is the Dominick's at 1763 West Howard St. (Chicago, IL 60626).



I stopped by the other day to see how well they could support my food activism, and found that I’d need some changes before adopting it as my new grocery locale. While Dominick's does now carry many organic options, they don’t have much in the way of local foods – which is fairly consistent with every large grocery store I have explored in the city (Whole Foods has more than most, and they clearly mark those they have, but it is still not much).

With warmer weather coming, I will be getting my produce from the Farmer’s Markets and my own back yard, but I’d still like to be able to get local, organic dairy products (personally I like Organic Valley), fair-trade coffee and chocolate, and recycled paper goods close to home. I can certainly commute a few stops to New Leaf, for coffee, chocolate, cream and toilet paper...but I'd love to be able to walk for groceries, and I like the idea of convincing this larger store to stock more consciously. I am going to write to them to let them know that stocking these types of things would bring my food dollars to them, and I'm going to talk to some other folks in the neighborhood to see if they feel similarly.

Do you grocery shop in Roger’s Park? If so, would you be interested in joining me in this campaign?

Just let me know. I’d appreciate the help.