10 Reasons To Buy Local Food

1.  Locally grown food is fresher and tastes better.

Foods grown close to home are picked at peak and sold within 24 hours.  They are crisp and loaded with flavor.  Commercial produce often travels 1,500 miles and may then be stored in warehouses.

2.  Local produce is better for you.

Because locally-grown produce is freshest, it is more nutritionally complete.  Most fresh produce loses much of its nutritional value within 48 hours of harvesting, so the less time between farm and table, the better.

3.  Local food is all natural.

Local farmers do not have access to genetically modified seed.  If you are opposed to eating bioengineered food, rest assured that locally grown produce was bred as nature intended.

4.  Local food supports local farm families.

Farmers are a vanishing breed.  And it’s no wonder – the farmer now get less than 10 cents of the retail food dollar.  Local farmers who sell direct to consumers get full retail price, whcih means farm families can continue doing the work they love.

5.  Local food builds community.

By eating local, you connect with local farmers and develop an understanding of your dependency upon each other and upon the earth.

6.  Local food preserves open space.

More than 1 million acres of U.S. farmland are lost each year to development.  When you buy locally grown food, and support farmers, they are less likely to sell farmland for development.

7.  Local food keeps your taxes down.

Famrs contribute more in taxes than they require in services, while most development contributes less in taxes than the cost of services.

8.  Local food benefits the environment and wildlife.

Stewards of the land grow cover crops, which prevent erosion, replace nutrients in the soil, and capture carbon emissions.  Also, farms encompass a patchwork of fields, meadows, and ponds that provide the perfect home to many animals.

9.  Local food is about the future.

By supporting local farmers, you help ensure that future generations will have access to nourishing, flavorful, and abundant food.

10.  Local food preserves genetic diversity.

In commercial agriculture, plant varieties are bred for their sturdiness and long shelf life.  In contrast, local farmers grow many varieties to provide long harvest seasons, an array of colors, and the best flavor.

If you don’t know, now you know.  What are you waiting for?  Find out where the closest farmer’s market is and go!

My Favorite Songs of 2008

Happy holidays!  2008 is almost over, and I’d like to add my own “best music” list to the thousands that are already out there. I didn’t think I liked that much music that came out this year, but I after going through my library, I was surprised at all the goodies I re-discovered.  Note: if you are looking at this through a blog reader, you might not be able to stream these songs.  Just click on the link to the site and you won’t miss out!

Vampire Weekend – Mansard Roof [Vampire Weekend]

Vampire Weekend – M79 [Vampire Weekend]

Los Campesinos! – Death to Los Campesinos! [Hold On Now, Youngster]

TV On the Radio – Crying [Dear Science]

Portishead – Plastic [Third]

Portishead – Silence [Third]

Santogold – Your Voice [Unreleased]

Kanye West – Say You Will [808's & Heartbreak]

Kanye West – Street Lights [808's and Heartbreak]

Lupe Fiasco – Paris, Tokyo [The Cool]

Joell Ortiz – Good Times [The Free Agent]

The Cool Kids – What Up Man [Bake Sale]

Estelle – No Substitute Love [Shine]

Clipse – So Fly (Now We’ve Had Her) [Road to Till the Casket Drops]

Young Jeezy – Vacation [The Recession]

Sigur Rós – Við Spilum Endalaust [Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust]

Sigur Rós – Góðan Daginn [Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust]

Norah Jones – The Story [My Blueberry Nights Soundtrack]

Al Green – Take Your Time (Ft. Corinne Bailey Rae) [Lay It Down]

Menahan Street Band – Home Again! [Make the Road By Walking]

CNN “Heroes” – Ordinary People Doing Great Things

On Thanksgiving, CNN broadcast an awards show called “Heroes.”  Basically, it’s a tribute to humanitarians.  But what what stood out to me about this show was that the winners weren’t celebrities or major philanthropists; they were regular people, often without a lot of money, who saw hardship and suffering and decided to do something about it.

For example, this video is about Maria Ruiz, who crosses the border several times a week to bring food, clothing, and toys hundreds of impoverished children and families.  Check out the full video (you can fasst forward the introduction).

There are other people celebrated here who are doing equally amazing things.  The winner of this year’s award has gone down to New Orleans and re-built over 120 homes for struggling families devastated by Katrina.

I was so happy that CNN actually honored these amazing people.  I was watching this with my family, and my sister’s first reaction was “why aren’t there more programs on the news like this!?”  So true.  We are so cynical about media these days, especially after the election, filled with attack lines and negative campaigning.   And it’s not just politics.  Each day we are bombarded with news that stirs up our deepest fears: for our safety, for our economic well-being, and for our environment.  It is  very easy to fall into a state of hopelessness .  This hopelessness turns into cynicism, which turns into lethargy – with things as bad as they are, why bother?  Nothing is going to make a difference anyway.   Let’s try to get paid, take care of our own, and go shopping.

I think that the Obama campaign showed that American citizens want to be engaged in something greater than themselves.  Obama showed that an inspirational leader can involve millions in a cause.  Now that he is in office, there is no such grassroots effort on such a scale.  But this “Heroes” program shows that there are people doing amazing things on their own, without help or instruction from a political leader.  This is the kind of spirit we need, a spirit of humanitarianism, volunteerism, and embracing the idea that we are all more interconnected than we realize.

Helping people does not have to be a big project.  I thought Maria Ruiz’s story was particularly inspiriational, because all she needed was a car, a kitchen, and some willpower.  And look what she did!  She helps feed hundreds of hungry kids.  I want to go volunteer now.  Where, doing what, I don’t know.  My sister watched this and it renewed her interest in social entrepreneurship (or whatever they call it in business-speak).  The point is this – watch it, and do what you can.  Use whatever skills and resources you have to do some good, any good.

Hell, write to CNN and tell them to have full news  segments on these kinds of people and projects happening around the world.  There are so many inspirational figures who are not Bono and Bill Gates.  You don’t need to be a celebrity or billionaire to make a difference, and yet this is the perception.  We know how important the media is.  If we can somehow show them that we want to watch shows about people who are doing good around the world, maybe it will inspire us, and them, to do some good too.

Celebrate Black Friday By Buying NOTHING

I just discovered “Buy Nothing Day.”  Although I don’t know if I agree with everything about it as an activist movement, I certainly embrace the idea behind it.  Each day I see headlines of the market dropping, foreclosures, and people sinking more and more into debt.  And right next to these headlines, I read “Consumer Confidence Dropping to All Time Low,” or “Experts Predict Drop In Consumer Spending.”

Does anyone else see a problem here?  Let’s try to break this down.  We do not have money to pay for our homes, student loans, and credit cards.  But, if we don’t start spending money on shit we don’t need, then our economy will only get worse.  Does anyone else see a vicious feedback loop here?  At what point do we need to acknowledge break this cycle and recognize something is seriously wrong?  Or, do we need to continue this endless linear growth trend by buying our way out of it, regardless of whether we can pay it or not?

I for one think that I, we, can do our part today by, at least, resisting the urge to go on a shopping binge on Black Friday.   I view this as just one step in turning around our most basic American urge to buy our way to happiness.   Here are a few tips on how to stop celebrating this strange ritual.

1.  Buy Nothing For 24 hours: This doesn’t mean just avoiding a full-on shopping spree, it means that you attempt to go one day without buying a coffee, gasoline, lunch, a yoga class, etc.   Even spending one day without buying, will save you money, and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in a landfill.

2.  Pack What You Need: prepare all food and beverages at home that you will need for the day.  Bringing your food and beverages with you will eliminate knee-jerk spending.  It will also help you to understand how much money we waste on conveniences like coffee, take out food and bottled water.  You will also significantly reduce your daily carbon footprint when you eliminate take-out trash and plastic from bottled water.  One study estimates that meeting Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 17 million barrels of oil a year – enough fuel to operate more than 1 million cars for a year – and generates 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.

3.  Don’t Go Into Stores: Avoid all malls, main streets, and shopping sites.  This could be harder than you think.  I myself am tempted to go to amazon or the apple store.

4.  Do Free Things : find one free fun thing to do.  Go to a free community event at a museum or library.  Do any volunteering in your community.  Meet new people, maybe you’ll meet someone who will inspire you, or maybe you’ll discover a new world that doesn’t involve consuming.

5.  Spread the Word: tell someone to buy nothing today.  The world will be better off for it.

“Touch My Body” – A Stirring Cover of the Mariah Carey Classic

“tus my body
put me on da flo
resro me aroun
play wif some mo
tus my body
thro me on da bay
i jus wanna make you fewl like you never fee
tus my body
remmy rem my thighs
are around yo waste
jus a lito taste
tus my body
don’t you love my cock?
come on gib me wut i deesub”

Why I Don’t Eat Fish

I came across a really good article today in the Times about the state of the world’s fisheries, the lack of wild fish available, and the increasing influence of fish farms.

Check out “A Seafood Snob Ponders the Future of Fish.”

This article, while stopping short of telling people to stop eating fish, was an affirmation for someone like me who wasn’t sure exactly why they don’t eat seafood.  I think that it’s difficult to defend because it’s harder to relate to the suffering of, say, scallops, compare to pigs or cows, and the conventional wisdom that eating any fish is good for you (what the hell are omega 3 fatty acids anyway?).  Plus we assume that all the seafood (at least I did for a while) is caught wild.  This practice will soon go the way of hunting wild animals on land, and I don’t think people are aware of it.  When you order salmon from a restaurant, do you know where it comes from?  Probably not, but it might have come from a fish farm.

Some people might not have a problem with this, but consider why we have to rely increasingly on fish farms.  Simply, there are fewer fish left in the ocean.  Consider this shocking statistic – if current fishing practices continue, the world’s major commercial stocks will collapse by 2048.   In 2003, 32% of stocks had collapes, which means fish were harvested to their maximum sustainable limits.  Even more disturbing is the fact that we are catching up the small fish – herring, mackerel, anchovies, and sardines – which means that we are destroying the food chain from the bottom up.

Okay, you say, it’s fine.  We’ll just eat farmed fish.   But few people know how how bad they are for the environment.  Industrial fish farmers throw tons of antibiotics and other veterinary products into their pools, and the fish itself release an incredible amount of concentrated waste – it’s estimated that a salmon farm with 200,000 fish releases fecal matter and nutrients roughly equivalent to as many as 600,000 people.

What will it take for people to start listening up?  This is a local problem that only affects people in other countries.   This affects global food supply.  It’s happening now, and getting worse every year.  This is not some “abstract concept” like ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere.  It’s simple subtraction, the more you take, the less you have.  Consider the safety issues: 70% of the world’s aquaculture comes from China.  Would you trust the quality, much less safety, of any food coming from that country?  Will people only wise up when we have another mad-cow like scare?  Or will it take the total collapse of the Atlantic tuna population for people to finally realized we screwed up?  I don’t think we can farm tuna, people.  We have to take care of the oceans, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because you won’t be able to get all those great omega 3 fatty acids that you care so much about.

Tips On How To Be Awesome

I came across this list randomly when I was downloading a plug-in for firefox.  It turns out the developer of “FireFTP” not only developed a cool app but is a pretty smart dude.  Check out these tips he gave on how to be awesome.

1.  Volunteer. Somewhere. Anywhere.
2.  Take what you’re passionate about and see how you can also make it beneficial to your community.
3.  If you own a business, donate proceeds to green energy or charity or something beneficial.
4.  Support local businesses and encourage them to do the above.
5.  Buy locally grown food and get a reusable bag.
6.  Ride your bike instead of taking your car.
7.  Go hang out with your kids more.
8.  Go hang out with your parents more.
9.  Take only what you need, not what you can get.

If we all took these words to heart, the world would definitely be a better place.

-Henry