The High Line, one of New York City’s newest and most unique
parks, is in full bloom this spring as the park readies itself for its first
anniversary on June 9. The park
blends wild, flowering plants and trees with sundecks, viewing platforms of the
Hudson River and the city skyline, an amazing water feature, and a
traffic-viewing theater all housed on an elevated trail that winds its way
through three of New York’s most vibrant neighborhoods.
Creative
and forward-thinking New Yorkers have found a way to go locavore with
innovative solutions. Ben Flanner and Annie Novak—-along with the chefs at places like ABC Kitchen and
Soho's Crosby Street Hotel—are leading the way in a new kind of urban
locavorism: rooftop farms and gardens. Flanner and Novak have transformed an
old, unoccupied bagel factory in a corner of Brooklyn (Greenpoint neighborhood)
into a rooftop farm complete with honey bees and chickens.
Santa Barbara Farmers Markets make it easy for anyone in the South County to have access to fresh, local produce, eggs, poultry, beef, breads, cheese, fresh fish, pasta, plants... and on and on. With markets happening every day at every end of the city, there's no excuse for not supporting local farmers and eating healthy and with the seasons. Here's some of my current favorites....
Roots Farm. New batches weekly. Try these for yummy sauces with long-stemmed artichokes.
One Percent for the Planet: The Weekend Hippie Way
When I conceptualized Weekend Hippie it was Yvon Chouinard’s 1% for the Planet model I had in mind, but on an individual scale. If my friends, and family, and distant friends, and future friends and supporters of Weekend Hippie could just give 1% of their time….it could really make a difference for them, and for mother earth.
When Chouinard hatched his brilliant idea, 1% For The Planet, in 2002, he asked corporations and non-profits to give 1% of their annual sales to environmental groups around the world. Just 1% was all he asked. Years later we can see how it has all added up: Chouinard’s 1% for the Planet now has nearly 1300 hundred business members worldwide that give 1% of their annual sales to just under 2000 environmental groups. One percent can make a difference.
And that’s how you can be a Weekend Hippie. Dedicate just 1% of your time, your life, to making a difference. Go ahead, make a small statement—change your light bulbs, wear TOMS shoes, give a micro loan to a Kiva entrepreneur, travel eco-mindfully, shop at your local farmers’ market, pick-up Patagonia clothes made from recycled plastic or an organic cotton t-shirt from Weekend Hippie! It works. Each small statement adds up… It is not important what you do: just do!
Want to join Chouinard’s 1% for the Planet, here’s how you can help.
For you—and your friends, and their friends—that 1% will add up
pretty quickly, and eventually you’ll find yourself living the Weekend
Hippie lifestyle not just 1% of the time, but 100%. The Weekend Hippie way!
Wow! What a season! The fruits and vegetables and culinary arts now available at farmers markets are the best of the year. The late summer meets the early fall, and the rewards are many!
Shopping at a farmers market is the easy way to eat locally. The food source is known to you, in fact, the farmer is right at the stand, so ask any questions you need to about how something is grown, what's in season, and even how to prepare fruit and vegetables that are new to you.
In Santa Barbara, eight farmers markets spread from end-to-end of town and happening on varies days of the week, make it easy to eat locally and healthy. Plus, you get to support local farmers while doing it. Like many farmers markets, Santa Barbara's markets have grown quickly to now include almost everything you need to make a healthy meal for your family, while contributing to the local economy...including meat,
eggs, fish, bread, pasta, vegetables, jam, olive oil, and fruit.
Take the Locavore Challenge and Support Local Farmers
There are plenty of ways to support local farmers—no matter where you live. Finding fresh, local produce in Santa Barbara has actually become quite
easy. If you don't grow your own food, you can find a farmers market in
the County on almost every day of the week. Garden exchanges hosted by Food Not Lawns provide a place to trade what you grow, and locally-owned produce centers help fill the gaps.
Several like-minded organizations including the the Isla Vista Co-op, Santa Barbara Farmers Markets and Edible Santa Barbara, are challenging you, your friends, and your family, to eat local for the month of October (and if you can do it during October, then try November, December.... and well, you get the idea. The idea being to make an effort. It's really not that hard.)
Follow these steps to become a Locavore:
1. Attend one of the many Farmers Markets. Buy only in season produce. Can't go to a farmers market? Have your produce delivered by Local Harvest.
4. Shop at non-chain stores that supply at least 50% of their produce from local farmers (in Santa Barbara Mesa Produce, Isla Vista Co-op). The Isla Vista Food Co-op has a long history of supporting local farmers and providing fresh, sustainably-harvested goods to the community. If you haven't visited the Co-op recently, you should check out their selection; you'll be pleasantly surprised.The Co-op is also the forerunner in setting locavore standards. Take their challenge to see how local you are. Download local resource guide.
5. If choosing a chain, make an effort to shop at one that supports local farmers by actually selling local produce. Many chains have categories of 'local' produce. In Santa Barbara the trend is towards three categories of local produce: California Local, Tri-County Local, and Santa Barbara County Local. Lazy Acres, in Santa Barbara, sells 30% Tri-County Local produce and 40% California Local produce.
Whole Foods, which opened their doors in Santa Barbara this week, makes a visible effort to sell, advertise, and educate the consumer about their commitment to local farmers. They also use the same three local categories, but only buy produce within a six hour drive of a selected store.
Through Whole Food's Local Producer Loan Program, Whole Foods also gives $10 million annually via low-interest loans to small, local farmers or producers. Trader Joe's sells no local produce. They buy and ship produce from around the world, shipe it ship it to a central warehouse for packaging, then re-ship to each store. Wow, that's some carbon footprint. The new Santa Barbara store features produce by John Givens Farms, including prominent promotional material.
The bottom line: It is easy to support local farmers. Eat what's in season, follow the guidelines, and before long it'll be second nature.
You don’t have to live in Santa Barbara to
participate in this
grassroots effort. Food Not Lawns works to reduce lawns and increase
food. It doesn't matter where you live, replacing your space-taking,
water draining, pesticide-using lawn promotes sustainability. If you
replace your lawn with
food, you can then share what you grow, trade what you grow for
something
you don’t grow…..and meet your neighbors. It’s that
easy!
A recent issue of Sunset
magazine featured a special report on how to reduce your family's water usage
further highlighting the need to streamline water consumption throughout the Western
states. I’ve long been a proponent of reduced water usage in the home
(especially the use of water to grown your lawn).
Sunset's article outlined a 12-step approach—simplified for quick application. It was a relief to
see that kind of sustainably-focused content instead of another preview
of a kitchen makeover.
One item Sunsetdidn’t directly mention is the growing movement to replace lawns with
edible landscapes. Food Not Lawns, widespread
throughout the United States, helps you achieve these goals by
promoting urban sustainability and encourages growing food,
implementing ecological design, sharing resources, and interacting with
your community. Started and by Heather C. Flores, author of Food not Lawns, How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community,
the movement is widespread throughout the world.
The scary truth about lawns Today,
about 80% of U.S. households spend approximately $40 billion every year
to maintain over 21 million acres of lawn. That’s about a third of an
acre for the average American lawn.
I first met John Warner, half of the team at Santa Barbara Natives, two years ago at Rancho Arroyo Hondo. He was managing the property. We were booking a significant event and John acted as manager, tour guide and plant specialist. That’s also when I learned about his new venture, Santa Barbara Natives.
John and his partner, Jeff Nighman, grow locally propagated native plants. The plants are used for restoration and mitigation projects by landscape architects, designers, contractors and the weekend hippie. John and Jeff have grown hundreds of thousands of genetically, local California native plants since 2003.
Welcome to Weekend Hippie: forays into realistic ways to live sustainabily in our busy modern world...because good food and a happy earth are good for everyone.
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