organic

You Are Where You Eat

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Author
Contributions Eureka Recycling, the Green Institute, Land Stewardship Project, Tracy Singleton, owner of Birchwood Café, and Kim Bartmann, owner of Red Stag Supper Club, Bryant Lake Bowl, and Barbette.
Publication Date: 
November 1, 2010
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When you cook and enjoy a meal at home, it reflects your values and the choices you make every day. You know where the food came from and how it was grown. You can compost your food scraps and store your leftovers in your energy-efficient fridge in reusable containers. But what about when you go out to eat? How can you make sure the restaurants you support are making the right choices for the environment and our community?

Resources
On the Web!: 
Small Business Energy Saving Guide, greeninstitute.org/media/documents /SmallBusinessEnergy ReductionGuide_001.pdf
Benefits of Sustainable, Local Foods, landstewardshipproject.org /foodfarm-main.html
Tap Minneapolis, tapmpls.com
Act Locally!: 
List of local restaurants composting with Eureka Recycling, MakeDirtNotWaste.org

Eco-Friendly Bakeries in the Twin Cities

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Author
Alena Hyams
Do It Green! Minnesota
Publication Date: 
November 1, 2010
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When you think "eco-friendly," bakeries might not be the first thing that come to mind; but Minneapolis and St. Paul each have their fair share of eco-friendly bakeries. Do It Green! Minnesota visited a selection of these bakeries in order to taste some of their delectable treats and find out just how delicious baking green can be.


The Wedge Natural Foods Co-Op

wedge.coop

Organic Meets Thrifty: TIPS FOR USING SCRAPS TO FERTILIZE YOUR GARDEN AND REPEL PESTS

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Author
MELEAH MAYNARD
Master Gardener
If you're reading this, I imagine you're somebody whose mind is already open to trying things that others might find kind of, well, strange. But there's a limit to such openness of mind. My limit is hair. Rest assured, I'm not going to suggest you sprinkle your garden with your hair or your pets' hair.
Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Extremely Green Gardening, Co.
extremelygreen.com,
/pestcontrolguide.cfm

Organic Gardening magazine,
organicgardening.com

Read Up!

Slug Bread & Beheaded Thistles: Amusing and Useful Techniques for Nontoxic Housekeeping and Gardening, by Ellen Sandbeck, Broadway Books, 2000.

The Truth About Garden Remedies: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why, by Jeff Gillman, Timber Press, 2006.

The Truth About Organic Gardening: Benefits, Drawbacks, and the Bottom Line, by Jeff Gillman, Timber Press, 2008.

Act Locally!

Urban Earth
910 W 36th St.
Minneapolis, MN
612-824-0066
urbanearthcoop.org

Mother Earth Gardens
3738 S 42nd Ave.
Minneapolis, MN
612-724-8463
motherearthgarden.com

Growing Edibles Indoors

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Author
MELEAH MAYNARD
Master Gardener
If you like to cook, there's really nothing like walking out into the garden and snipping a bit of fresh basil and oregano to add to your spaghetti sauce. But even if your gardening space is limited to a few sunny window ledges, there are still plenty of tasty things you can grow indoors.

Most herbs do well when planted in containers and grown in a spot (preferably a south- or west-facing window) that gets at least six hours of sun. You can start herbs from seed. It's easier, though a bit more costly, to buy small plants from a garden center or your local co-op. Buy the smallest

Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Sproutman Publications,
sproutman.com

Home & Garden Television,
hgtv.com (search for "indoor herb garden")

Read Up!

The Miracle Food: A Complete Guide to Sprouting, by Steve Meyerowitz, Sproutman Publications, 1998.

Growing 101 Herbs that Heal: Gardening Techniques, Recipes, and Remedies, by Tammi Hartung, Storey Publishing, 2007.

Act Locally!

Urban Earth,
910 W 36th St., Minneapolis, MN
612-824-0066, urbanearthcoop.org

Mother Earth Gardens
3738 S 42nd Ave.
Minneapolis, MN, 612-724-8463
motherearthgarden.com

Green Weddings: Celebrating Mindfully

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Author
JESSIE HOULIHAN
Do It Green! Minnesota
A marriage ceremony and reception are among the most memorable celebrations in a person's life. Traditionally, weddings evoke memories of lavish flowers, extravagant gowns, sparkling diamond engagement rings, elaborate meals, wedding favors, and guests from around the world. What most people don't envision is the immense cost financially and environmentally that "perfect weddings" incur. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to reduce the environmental impact of a wedding and consequently save some money while maintaining the
Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Great Green Wedding,
greatgreenwedding.com

The Knot (search for "green"),
theknot.com

Read Up!

Eco-chic Weddings, by Emily Anderson, Hatherleigh Press, 2007.
ecochicweddings.com

Green Weddings That Don't Cost the Earth, by Carol Reed-Jones, Paper Crane Press, 1996.

Act Locally!

Flings Event Design
Minneapolis, MN
612-227-0136
flingseventdesign.com

Good Life Catering
Minneapolis, MN
612-220-0163 (Jenny)
612-220-1560 (Karn)
goodlifecatering.com

Fashionable, Functional, and Light on the Earth: Green Clothing

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Author
JESSIE HOULIHAN
Do It Green! Minnesota
Making clothing, like any other product, has an impact on the environment. In order to reduce the negative impact, buy reused clothing from thrift stores or good quality, long-lasting new products that are made from recycled content or unconventional fibers. Organic cotton or alternative fibers, such as bamboo or hemp, don't require as many chemicals to grow.
Footnotes/Endnotes
 

Act Locally!

Places to buy green clothing in the Twin Cities metro:

Birch Clothing
2309 50th Street West
Minneapolis, MN
612-436-0776
birchclothing.com

Fast and Furless
2615 Franklin Ave East
Minneapolis, MN
612-333-2756
fastandfurless.com

My Green Closet (web store)
612-396-9025
mygreencloset.com

REI-Recreational Equipment Inc.
Locations in Bloomington,
Maple Grove & Roseville
rei.com

 

Buy Green but Beware of Greenwashing

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Author
RACHEL MALONEY
Green is much more than a shade of healthy grass these days. The buzzword describes everything from hotels to gasoline. Like the widespread use of the word "organic" prior to USDA regulation, products labeled or referred to as "green" may not represent an item that is truly safe and sustainable for your home or the environment.

We are bombarded with marketing messages every day and there are more and more green marketing messages out there. There are currently products on the market labeled green even though they have few, if any, environmental or

Living Simple III

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Author
ELLEN TELANDER
Winsted Organics Farm
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I call this year "I'm so glad I own a farm" year. We've all noticed the price increases of food and gas. I've been asking other farmers to learn the scoop. My buddy, Steve Nowak, an organic farmer that grows wheat and barley, says it's the first time in a long time that farmers are making some real cash and doing well. Most of the farmers that I've talked to are grain producers; most are making good money because they grow corn now, and corn prices have increased due to ethanol demand.
Footnotes/Endnotes
ON THE WEB!

"Go wild!"-wild foods becoming popular in Canada,
cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/05/15
/f-consumer-wildfood.html

Making Cider Vinegar at Home, OSU Extension,
ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5346.html

Read Up!

Abundantly Wild: Collecting and Cooking Wild Edibles of the Upper Midwest, by Teresa Marrone, Adventure Publications, 2004.

Head to Head: a Lettuce Comparison

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Author
ELI EFFINGER-WEINTRAUB
Do It Green! Minnesota
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Nothing tastes better on a hot summer day than a crisp, cool salad. Before you toss up that salad, consider where the lettuce and other fruits and vegetables on your summer plates come from. If it's like most conventional produce in this country, it comes from an average of 1,500 miles away. 39% of our fruits and 12% of our vegetables traveled from another country.1 Is the lettuce in that salad good for the environment? We compare three heads of lettuce: one grown conventionally in California (where more than half of
Footnotes/Endnotes

References:

http://looncommons.org/2008/01/11
/racking-up-the-food-miles/

http://www.lifeintheusa.com/food
/vegetables.htm

http://attra.ncat.org/downloads
/water_quality/irrigation.pdf

http://www.sare.org/publications/energy
/energy.pdf

http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff
/ppp/food_mil.pdf

Eating Green to $ave Green

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Author
MELINDA FEUCHT
Do It Green! Minnesota
As food costs soar and people become more conscious about their food decisions, it's time to rethink the way we shop for food. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, advises, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." This can be applied to budget reasons as well as health reasons. ‘Eat food'-buy real oatmeal in bulk rather than processed hot or cold cereals. ‘Not too much'-obviously less food (conventional or organic) in your cart means a smaller bill and
Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Twin Cities Food Co-ops,
twincitiesfood.coop

National Co-op Directory, coopdirectory.org

Eating Green on a Budget Resources, thebudgetecoist.com,
sustainablebudget.com

Read Up!

What to Eat, by Marion Nestle, North Point Press, 2007.

The Organic Food Handbook, by Ken Roseboro, Basic Health Publications, 2007.

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