Raw Thanksgiving Recipes

Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!): November 22, 2009: Okay, here is a menu of holiday recipes from another Blogger vegan chef, but she is a raw vegan. Not the heartiest of Thanksgiving fares, but the cranberry sauce and mushroom loaf look intriguing. You can even serve them with your cooked Thanksgiving meal as appetizers to give them a test run.

Frakenstorm Poses Risks for Coastal Cities

As I listen to the forecast of disasterous conditions for cities in the eastern coastal areas, I am reminded of a 2008 post I wrote for emPower Magazine on why African Americans should care about climate change. What was not considered at the time was the impact of rising tides and extreme weather on nuclear facilities in those areas. The short term solution is to check in with your local officials and/or FEMA to determine the best steps to take to protect you and your family/neighbors. Once this storm has passed, I urge you to make your local, state and federal officials accountible for solutions which address, prevent and/or mitigate risks associated with climate change. To get started, read this article from Sustainable Business on politicians that vote green or not and let them know that African Americans do care about climate change and it's negative impact on our communities. Kudos to publications like emPower Magazine for trying to keep these types of issues on the forefront of conversation in the black community!

Doctors Say Eat Your Organic Fruits and Veggies

Docs Say Choose Organic Food To Reduce Kids' Exposure To Pesticides : The Salt : NPR I've been saying this all month as emails about the Stanford "non organic produce no different than organic produce study",  started to make the rounds. At the very least avoid the non organic "dirty dozen". This is  why I love public radio!

Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes: Black Eyed Pea Nut Loaf with Sweet Potato Gratin &...

A Profound Hatred of Meat: Black Eyed Pea Nut Loaf with Sweet Potato Gratin &...: Another great meal from the prolific vegan chef, xCarly of the blog, A Profound Hatred of Meat. Of course she is from Portland! I gotta visit that place one day. Anyway, back to the meal. It features my favorite foods...black eye peas, nuts, fruit and sweet potatoes. The vegans at your Thanksgiving meal, will really be thankful if you surprise them with this feast! Could be a great Christmas, Kwanzaa or New Years meal too.

Contaminated culture: Native people struggle with tainted resources, lost identity — Environmental Health News

Contaminated culture: Native people struggle with tainted resources, lost identity — Environmental Health News

Cool Green Job: Communications Manager Womens Enviro Group

Communications Manager, Rachel's Network Rachel's Network is a non-profit organization for women environmental funders. Looking for someone to help the world know that women's voices are loud and clear as it relates to stewardship of our beautiful planet.

Amazon Farmers Seize Chevron Assets or Life Is Not Always Black and Green

Amazon Farmers Seize Chevron Assets A reversal of fortune for some multinational oil companies, as Latin American and African countries attempt to hold them accountable for environmental hazards. I was first exposed to the type of environmental degradation taking place in these countries (and our own) in 2008 when I read the eye-opening book, "Building the Green Economy, Success Stories from the Grass Roots", by Kevin Danaher, Shannon Biggs and Jason Mark. I was truly shocked and dismayed by what I read, yet encouraged by the tenacity of activists fighting to preserve their land and their health.The pictures in this post are from a report I found on the tropical rainforests of Ecuador and the stories of inhumanity are just as shocking as my readings in 2008. While I'm sure that Ecuadorians were thrilled with the prospect of jobs and a boon to their economies when these drills and pipelines arrived, I don't think they could have ever imagined the long term costs to be paid with lives and communities that will be impacted for generations. So the debate continues in the United States today, what is the priority - a flush of cash and wealth to support struggling and economically dying communities now or making some temporary or permanent sacrifices of economic gain for long term sustainability of the community? As economic options become increasingly limited for today's citizens, in this knowledge based and global economy, it's difficult to not feel compelled to go for the precious gold ring. Kind of not unlike many of the high risk and literally life threatening choices folks in poor communities have to make everyday. Life is gray folks, not always black, not always white, not always green.

 

Recycled Food And The Green Start-up Economy

Food Waste In, Renewable Energy Out: Startup Re-Nuble Is Crowdfunding the Local Green Economy - The Huffington Post

Green Your Halloween or Harvest Day Activities

Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays. I reveled in the eerie celebration and thinking up ways to scare people, baking themed treats and really enjoyed trick or treating! Then came church. We are discouraged from celebrating Halloween and to replace the scary themes with celebrations of the harvest bounty(which in itself has some connections to pagan traditions, but I guess you have to replace Halloween with something). Enough about me, let's talk about you and your families. A big issue for those of use that try to be socially and environmentally responsible is how to have fun with your Halloween or Harvest Celebrations and reduce the impact on our family's health and the environment. Green America, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to "harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society" has developed a great and comprehensive guide to greening your late October celebrations. A few highlights from the article:

• Replace candy treats with non-food treasures (homemade bracelets, pencils, stickers, cool looking pebbles decorated as eyeballs, interesting knick knacks, mini pumpkins, hair accessories, dried mini-floral bouquets bundles, bouncy balls, acorn or monkey ball crafts
• Instead of buying costumes - create your own from stuff around the house or swap with neighbors and family members, there are lots of great ideas online
• Have a neighborhood celebration in the community garden - you could encourage everyone to bring some homemade baked goodies for a harvest tasting
• Hand out fair trade goodies in place of non-fair traded chocolates, include with tags that promote and educate on fair trade
• Avoid non-toxic face paints

When my son was younger, we would have Harvest Parties with his little crew. There was usually a video game tournament, a Beyblade tournament, lots of goodies, leaf  pile diving and given that I was entertaining boys - a good ole pumpkin smashing contest to work off all of that energy and sugar to cap off the night!

So whether you celebrate Halloween or Harvest Days, there are lots of fun, green options to do so in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

Ocean Trash As Raw Material For Soap Bottles

Method Uses Ocean Debris to Make Soap Bottles · Environmental Management & Energy News · Environmental Leader
Wowza!

Cool Green Job: Climate Change and Health Specialist, Engility

Climate Change and Health Specialist, Engility

Fossil Fuel Lobby Targets Matt Damon's New Film About Fracking

Fossil Fuel Lobby Targets Matt Damon's New Film About Fracking

Outreach & Communications Coordinator, Midwest Environmental Advocates

Outreach & Communications Coordinator, Midwest Environmental Advocates

US Supreme Court Takes Up Monsanto GMO Patent Challenge

US Supreme Court Takes Up Monsanto GMO Patent Challenge

Research & Publications Intern, Environmental Law Institute

Research & Publications Intern, Environmental Law Institute

Breast Cancer Rates for Military Men & Women on the Rise | The Afro-American Newspapers | Your Community. Your History. Your News.

Breast Cancer Rates for Military Men & Women on the Rise | The Afro-American Newspapers | Your Community. Your History. Your News. Could it be exposure to toxic chemicals and extreme stress?

Latinos a ‘Core Conservation Community,’ Poll Finds - New America Media

Latinos a ‘Core Conservation Community,’ Poll Finds - New America Media Muy bien!

Soul Food Vegan Black Eyed Pea Meatballs

A Profound Hatred of Meat: Chipotle Tomato Soup, Black Eyed Pea Meatballs wit...: Soup again!? Yes! Get into it! Spicy tomato soup with chipotle peppers, garlic, black eyed peas and red onions served with tender meatballs...

Okay, here is one more meatball recipe from the blog, A Profound Hatred of Meat. It features black eyed peas and kale greens! Couldn't pass this one up. With the bounty of kale from my garden pictured below, I must prepare these meatballs this fall.

Vegan Spaghetti & Meatball Recipe

A Profound Hatred of Meat: Spaghetti & Meatballs: This list is long for these little meatballs but the flavor is huge and well worth it.

I love this site. She has the best vegan recipes and great photos. Tonight, I made a delicious vegan spaghetti using leftover gmo free chorizo by Tofurky, the last vestiges of a bag of frozen peppers and onions sauteed with leftover baked beans that had been staring at me everytime I opened the fridge. Added to this, leftover Paul Newman's spicy spaghetti sauce. Topped over whole wheat spaghetti. It was a wonderful, easy to prepare late night dinner. Best part is that I have enough for lunch tomorrow....very appropriate for a meal made from leftovers!

Debate Attacks Green Jobs

Washington Post Check out this article highlighting the attack on green jobs during the debate last night. Interestingly, green jobs are actually growing faster in conservative parts of the country. Guess someone didn't get his talking points from the many conservative employees that are benefiting from these new economy, innovative, green jobs. It's okay for old economy companies to continue to benefit from "job creating" subsidies, but not okay to provide subsidies to develop the American jobs of the future. There will be some winners and some losers, but subsidies are supposed to provide capital to encourage growth and investment and build knowledge in new, riskier industries that have great potential. This is what SBA loans and SBIR grants do to support entrepreneurs that show potential, but may not be attractive enough to get capital from banks or even equity investors, given their risk profile. Many successful businesses have benefited from that early boost that an SBA loan or government grant provided and have grown to become job and wealth creators for their communities. I'm pretty sure that Big Bird wasn't the only one making the famous Scooby Doo sound..."RRRR?", during last night's debate.

Hershey stuns critics with commitment to source 100% certified cocoa by 2020

Hershey stuns critics with commitment to source 100% certified cocoa by 2020 

Growth in Fair Trade Chocolate Market Share in Brands like Divine

This is great news folks!!! Note that Hershey's was starting to fall behind it's competitors. Not sure if there is a causal relationship between this and people like you that were voting with their pocketbooks to not buy unethical chocolate, but it certainly had to be a factor. As much as we can feel that one person can't make a difference, the growth in organic, local, sustainable and fairly traded goods, demonstrate that change starts with you.

Fair Trade and Green Job Opportunities

More green and fair trade job opportunities for you. Check them out here.