USDA and EPA Want You To Stop Throwing Away Good Food!

Agencies unite to reduce food waste 

Did you know that Americans throw away up to 40% of perfectly good food, while millions go hungry in this country and other? The USDA and the EPA are teaming up to understand exactly how much food is being wasted and how do divert this waste from going into the landfills to the bellies of hungry people. This is good news! What are your ideas for reducing food waste?

Black and Into Green and Pink! Grist Recognizes Women in Agriculture

To often when we think of women growing vegetables, we may think of women gardening at home, working farmers markets, community gardens or women chefs, but did you know that there is another demographic of women growing vegetables? They are women farmers! I've been recently re-introduced to women farmers through the magazine MaryJanesFarmers and now via Grist, that gritty and informative environmental website. I loved this slideshow which highlights Farmer Fatales growing huge yields of produce which help us to enjoy our wonderful fruits, vegetables and fungi. I even discovered a Cleveland farmer fatale (loving that name) who is part of a mushroom operation. I must find her to enjoy some her meaty and tasty tumor blasters. Featured below are two of my favorite slides from the Grist article, photos of the members of the National Women in Agriculture Association and Monique Grider, co-farmer at Kai's Kultured Mushrooms. Be sure to check out all the slides as they are pretty cool.

Members of National Women in Agriculture Association, rockin' that pink!

Monique Grider of Kai's Kultured Mushrooms. Cleeeev-land!




 

Mango Banana Lavender Raw Smoothie w/Cacao Nibs

Today was one of those days when I wasn't hungry for breakfast, but felt compelled to put something in my stomach for fear of tearing up the refrigerator this evening! LOL! Filling smoothies are perfect for these kinds of mornings. Since I've been on a edible flower kick recently, I was determined to get some in my smoothie. This recipe was influenced by a delicious honey lavender ice cream treat created by Mitchell's Ice Cream, a local favorite in Cleveland. So here is an informal recipe:

Add to a blender the following:

1/2 large very ripe mango (broken into chunks)
1 small banana
Large handful of ice cubes (about six)
Dash of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon dried lavender or 1/2 teaspoon of fresh lavender flowers
1 cup of almond milk (give or take some according to how thick you like your smoothies)
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
Tablespoon of cacao nibs or 2 teaspoons of chocolate chips
Agave or honey to taste (if you have a crazy sweet tooth, because mangoes and bananas are pretty sweet)


Crank it up in the blender on high speed!

Makes one very large serving or two medium size servings

Enjoy. Ahh!

 Mango Banana Lavender Smoothie in Chill Mode

Herbalicious! I Eat Flowers.

So now that gardening season is upon us, let's think about eating some of those delicious flowers that you are thinking about planting. While you are at it, think about using these glorious lovelies on your skin to cleanse, scent, tone and moisturize and in your house to clean and beautify. The beauty of using herbs and edible flowers for these purposes is that you can plant a grand bounty in a front yard, a community garden plot, that secret guerrilla garden spot that you cultivated, on your building's rooftop or just enough in your grandma's garden patch, on your balcony or in a sunny windowsill. Since I've become familiar with permaculture principals (mindful, practical planting), I've become more interested in planting edibles and to my delight, have discovered that some of the beautiful flowers in my perennial garden are actually edible! (Not all flowers are edible, some are poisonous, so do your research) See how God works it out?

Thyme and Savory, below, Lavendar, Chamomile, Oregano, Pansies

 As such, I've been investing in books about edible gardens, crops in pots, edible flower cookbooks and the like. I happened upon the magazine "MaryJanesFarm" last summer and found some nice recipes and picked up a special "Nature Knows Best" issue yesterday. It is filled with ideas and recipes for using flowers, herbs and oils to create medicines, delicious breads and ice cream, soaps, cleaners, dream pillows and good stuff for mama and baby.I think I will even send a copy to my son, who has started a backyard garden with his roommates. I recommend that you make the $5.99 investment and pick up an issue, even if you are an urbanista like me or a manly man. You can pick up your supplies for your edible garden and toxic free personal care and home products from the herb and organic seed section of your garden center/nursery, an organic farm (for edible perennials like roses, daylilies and bee balm) or a wonderful, green, amazing award winning website specializing in bulk materials for your inventory like Mountain Rose Herbs. This year, I'm planting some of the following edible flowers and herbs:

• Lavender (delicious added to tea, cookies and smoothies)
• Chamomile (cancer fighter)
• Savory
• Oregano
• Borage (will complement my Morrocan themed patio)
• Dill
• Fennel (more of it)
• Thyme
• Calendula
• Geranium
• Nasturtium
• Organic Roses

So are you inspired to grow and eat some delicious flowers? Tell me about it!

Black and Green Job-apalooza!

I would like to thank Marc Littlejohn of the Google Group, Fair Climate Network, for always sending such great information around environmental justice and sustainable communities. I've not had the pleasure of meeting Marc, but hope to one day. Today I received a glorious email which contained nearly dozens of exciting green job opportunities from the likes of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, National Wildlife Federation and many more. It appears that in the spirit of the type of green diversity that I've posted on recently, these organizations reached out to the NAACP to post career opportunities within their organizations. Bravo! This is the kind of outreach that I hope to see more environmental organizations pursue in an effort to be more representative of this country's diverse population. I don't have a link to Marc's share, because it is an email, but if you want receive these job listings that are part of the NAACP Black Green Pipeline Digest, send an email to BlackGreenPipeline@naacpnet.org.

The Africa Yoga Project

Yoga in Africa - NYTimes.com

Cool Green Job

Project Intern, Product Stewardship Institute

First Copper Pipes, Now Solar Panels

Growing Black Market for Solar Panels

Lisa Jackson To Lead Apple Environment Initiatives

Apple Moves on Environment, Hires Former Head of EPA

Environmentalists Want White House To Stop Teasing On Climate Change

Where's President Obama's climate agenda? - Erica Martinson and Jennifer Epstein - POLITICO.com

Transformational Boost Comes From China On Climate Change

Transformational Boost Comes From China On Climate Change

Glow in the Dark Plants for Sustainable Lighting

Glow in the Dark Plants for Sustainable Lighting Not sure how I feel about this development...What do you think?

Goats And Into Green: O'Hare Airport Contracts for Sustainable Vegetation Grazing Services

O'Hare Airport Contracts for Sustainable Vegetation Grazing Services, A New Term for Goats!

Soul Food Junkie Rehab

 

The Movie "Soul Food Junkie" is being shown this afternoon at the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival. See the trailer and director interview above to learn more about the film, but the title is reflective of the message the film conveys. I have to confess, I love soul food as much as the next person (minus the pork, yuck). I also love sweets, Trader Joe's Mango Lemonade, staying up late on work nights and many more things that are not good to indulge in on a frequent basis, but can be fine when enjoyed on a limited basis. The list of things that I love has changed over the years as I've matured, adapted to healthier approaches to having fun, enjoying life and dealing with stress or loss, changed relationships, experienced life threatening illness, read more and the like. One of many benefits of being open to change is the process of investigating, discovering and embracing new, healthier, satisfying and enjoyable things to love. This is something that we need to do as soul food junkies or western diet junkies (white carbs, meat, sugar, fats, salts). With this in mind, I've posted some links to websites that can help you transition from garbage based soul food to garden based soul food. So get on board, join in and enjoy the ride.

1. PETA Vegetarian Soul Food
2. Pinterest - search vegan soul food
3. Vegan Soul Kitchen
4. The Sweetest Vegan
5. VegNews - search soul food
6. Vegan Crunk - more of lifestyle of a Dirty South Vegan 
7. I Eat Grass
8. By Any Greens Necessary
9. Vegetarian Times - Cajun Food

What are your favorite sources for creating healthy soul food?

 

 

 

 

 

Biodiversity, but No Real Diversity in Environmental Organizations

So the GOP wasn't the only entity pursuing a relationship with the students at Howard University this spring. The Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental advocacy group which describes itself as "passionate, pragmatic environmental advocates who believe in prosperity and stewardship", has forged a partnership with Howard University to put sustainability in the curriculum and introduce environmental careers to students. There will be yearlong fellowships and internship positions for the students and sustainability will be integrated into the curriculum of the business school. Like so many environmental groups and political groups, the EDF has seen the maps of 2020 and realizes that in order to survive as a non-profit and meet its goals, it must be more inclusive. Realizing is one thing, doing is another, as evidenced by long time African American advocates in the field like Norris McDonald of the African American Environmentalists Association , quoted in this article on diversity in environmental groups. My observations of environmental groups that are more actively pursuing inclusion are, The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Service,  and the Association of American Geographers. The Natural Resources Defense Council, one of my favorites, says that it is going to try to be more inclusive, but when I type in the words inclusion and diversity in their search engine, all I get is biodiversity and the like. Guess they are just getting started?? There are many more less well known, regional based organizations that are also working towards being more inclusive - Green for All, Center for Diversity and The Environment  to name a few. From my experience in inclusion work, the best ways to start becoming more inclusive are 1)  Be where the diversity is (outreach and listening), 2) Hire a diverse staff and  3) Bring on a diverse board of directors. If anyone from those organizations are reading this post....I know some great green living and environmental bloggers with diverse points of view, that write on the topic and would love to hear from you..from So Fresh and So Green to Outdoor Afro to African American Environmentalists Association and of course there is my blog.

Black and Into Green readers, which environmental organizations have you found to be most inclusive?

Broccoli Pistachio Soup

A Profound Hatred of Meat: Broccoli Pistachio Soup: Even a broccoli lover like me, gets tired of eating it occasionally. I try to eat a lot of it because it is an especially good cancer fighter for black women, it is delicious and so easy to prepare. I like this dish because it also features another one of my favorites - pistachios. MMM! Like peanut butter and chocolate, broccoli and pistachios. We will see. Looks pretty simple to make too! The recipes from this website are always amazing, so add it them to your reading list.

By Any Greens Necessary Talks Vegan Pregnancy

Top 5 Tips for a Fab Vegan Pregnancy | byanygreensnecessary.com

Finally, You Can Buy an Eco Conscious Smartphone

Smartphones: The Latest Products to Get Certified Finally, smartphone manufacturers are thinking green. I can't tell you how often I have Googled "green cellphone" and come up empty. One more way to vote green with your wallet!

Langston Hughes, Poet and Gardener

Langston Hughes' Children's Garden, Harlem, 1955 In honor of National Poetry Month, I share this article from a garden historian, on one of my favorite poets, Langston Hughes. Apparently this great intellectual and poet also shared an appreciation for the greener things in life and children. A black and green poet, nice.

Photo by Don Hunstein, 1955

Monsanto's Sneaks Into Budget Bill, Faces Farmer in Supreme Court

Monsanto's Sneaks Into Budget Bill, Faces Farmer in Supreme Court

Efficiency Resource Fund to Finance Upgrades in Smaller Buildings Across US

Efficiency Resource Fund to Finance Upgrades in Smaller Buildings Across US

Bloomberg Set To Eliminate Packaging Waste

NYC mayor declares war on packaging waste
Finally, an end to those ghastly styrofoam food containers could be near! So annoying.

Puma Launches First Closed Loop Clothing Line

Puma Launches First Closed Loop Clothing Line

35,000+ March at Forward on Climate Rally

35,000+ March at Forward on Climate Rally Black people and polar bears were representing together at this event. That's probably a first since the day of that great artic explorer, Matthew Henson!

Bad News For Pescatarians In Europe

EC approves animal meal in fish food
Okay so I guess it's not enough that poultry and cows are being fed animal by products, now farmed fish will be expanding their diets. One more reason to consider going fully veg. Also, if you didn't catch the story on NPR's This American Life, you need to be careful about where you buy your calamari. All is not what it seems...

Corporations, investors 'grabbing' land and water overseas — Environmental Health News

Corporations, investors 'grabbing' land and water overseas — Environmental Health News