Blogs & Ecology

“America better prepare for some uncomfortable changes. Things might get really ugly.” – A Farmer, recently quoted in Esquire

No, this guy’s not talking about the recent economic crisis, but the cost of food. Yes, food. "The American food system today faces unprecedented challenges," says Maisie Greenawalt, Vice President of Bon Appetit Management Company. "High oil prices threaten farmers' already slim profit margins. Consumers' grocery bills have skyrocketed. Food safety risks are increasing.”

We don’t eat lions, tigers or bears for protein, so we shouldn’t eat shark, tuna or swordfish either. We need to be eating further down the ocean food chain if we want an ocean food chain from which to eat in the future.

Those are statements from Paul Johnson made on a panel during Changemaker’s Day at Slow Food Nation this weekend in San Francisco, CA. The panelists and audience were interested in how fishers, distributors, and chefs could work together to ensure the viability of the oceans upon which their livelihoods depend.

Picture a hot summer afternoon. Neighborhood kids running in slow motion around a New York City block, the corner fire hydrant shooting out an elegant geyser into the air. All of a sudden of “The Entertainer” sounds from a distance, paralyzing every child within earshot with the prospect of the ultimate summer respite—ice cream.

Recently, there has been a flurry of press in the UK talking about how the economic downturn there has caused organic consumption to falter in the past few months. With headlines talking about how organic food is toast and society’s latest casualty, it appears that many are writing it off as this decade’s fad. Who would have thought that organics would get lumped in with 8-tracks and neon?

At the heart of Elements is a community. So describes one of the newer and more interesting examples of crowdsourcing, started by Linda Welch, the owner of a pet day care company and the former campaign treasurer for Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential bid. And the idea is fairly simple—a restaurant formed by a “beta community” of over 400 online members that will be opened in 2009 in Washington, D.C. serving raw and organic foods.

From Wolaver’s to Dogfish Head Ale, walking down the refrigerator aisle at your local natural or organic grocery store, it’s easy to find a smattering of green beers dotting the section. What one might not necessarily think of talking about organics or sustainability and beer, though, is Anheuser-Busch. However, that is a perception the beer giant has been trying to change for the past couple of years.

Believe it or not but academic research published in the highly reputable Springer journal Human Ecology suggests Americans eat less to combat global warming.

Organic fast food appears to be a viable business option and is growing fast as demonstrated by the chain, Organic To Go's expansion from the West to the East, this month announcing its 5th café and a catering business to be active in Washington D.C. It is a public company with more than 34 cafes in Seattle, Los Angeles (including at the airport – frequent flyers take note!), San Diego and Washington.

Last night, as is the case most days, I was quickly skimming through the barrage of MediaPost newsletters I get in my inbox.

Here in Lawrence, KS, we have a special restaurant called Local Burger that serves local, organic, and natural fast food - burgers, hot dogs, fries, milkshakes. Local Burger founder, Hilary Brown, and her restaurant have been featured by Outside, Gourmet, Bon Appetite, Vanity Fair, the Sundance Channel, Sprig.com, and elsewhere. Local Burger is loved by people and critics alike, including myself, for its unique business model.

At first blush many may ask “who’d want to eat a green hamburger?”, but the truth is there’s a growing market for green burgers, as well as fries, milkshakes, fajitas, pizza – all manor of fast food is, in fact, turning green.

Or at least greener – and that’s a great thing.

Fast food has become emblematic for much of what ails modern society – attaching “Mc” has come to mean too much of a bad thing.