Ode to Summer Fruit-Wish You Were Local

Peaches, cherries, watermelon. How I have missed you. True summer fruits, you never taste the same in other seasons or plucked from the freezer. Nothing seduces me into summer-style cooking like cherries. Suddenly, my interest in the oven wanes. I want to subsist on caprese and fruit for pretty much every meal. Throw in grilling just about anything and everything and I'm good to go.

Since diving head long into summer eating in the last week or so, I've been noting where the fruit is coming from... news flash, eating local is hard.

We didn't get into a CSA for the summer (too much travel to know that the food would always be used), so local farmers markets and stores are my go-to sources. In DC, we have wealth of markets to choose from, so its more about effort and organization to take advantage of them.

Exploration of the markets (new and familiar) is still to come, but for now I'm debating Whole Foods and how "local" they really are. As I searched for peaches yesterday, I noted they had two sources, South Carolina and Mexico, $1.99/lb. and 2.99/lb. respectively. I opted for a blend of both based on my need for really ripe fruit, but wondered if the price difference was a reflection of the longer distance the peaches traveled or something else. Of course, peaches don't grow right around DC, so there's no true "local" source for me. So should I not buy them at all?

But what about cherries? Whole Foods and Trader Joes both are carrying "USA" cherries, but when you inspect the packaging they both come from California. Now, I have nothing against farmers and orchards in CA, but it's not exactly even close to local. Should I skip until Michigan or Pennsylvania cherries arrive?

What about blueberries? They're not from Maine, not even close.

So what am I willing to NOT eat because it comes from too far away? And what's too far? The Mississippi? The Mid-Atlantic? The eastern time zone? I'm torn. What's local to you?

Fetching Organic for Fido

Woof. Owning a dog, a large dog in particular, introduces you to a whole series of products and choices you really didn't care to ponder previously. Up front, let me clarify that our dog (all 75 lbs.+ of him) does not wear clothing, get massages, or ride in a stroller. He's a dog. We love him and his long, blue ears, but we are not trying to turn him into a toddler. (Not sure what toddler goes to the spa, but somewhere, someone is totally thinking about this.)

However, our four-legged friend has continuously presented us with a series of challenges as it relates to his diet over the past few years. During one of his training classes we were guilted into changing his food from Iams to Nutro because it was a healthier choice. He lost all of his hair along his back a week later. Turns out after a frantic trip to the vet, he's allergic to lamb. Awesome. After special pulverized, centrifuge food- the kind you can only buy from the vet, we eventually settled on Blue and Mason's been enjoying the sweet potato and fish for a couple of years now and still has all his hair.

Now, there are far more organic choices out there, including the raw food diet that I flat out refuse to entertain for my dog. By some accounts, this makes me a bad owner. I'm willing to deal with that. I don't think the pup is deprived.

Separate from food, I've recently begun evaluating the other products we buy for him. Take treats for example, if the product has too much excessive packaging, it's off the list. If it contains artificial coloring or superfluous processing forget-about-it. And then there's the dog bed. The reason I thought this post was worth writing at all.

We've been perfectly happy with his dog bed from L.L. Bean for the past four+ years (I can't speak for the dog, but he seems agreeable). We even ordered a replacement cover at one point. But a few months of listening to the dog turn, and turn, and turn, to try and nest in the bed made us realize maybe the stuffing is a bit worn out.

But what to buy? Crazy daisy, there are a lot of beds out there. We were inspired by our hip friends in KC to look at eco beds. We ended up with a West Paw Organic Bumper Bed that is 100 percent recycled plastic soda bottles. It is currently en route from Montana to our door step. Was it worth it?

Does my buying organic dog products really matter? How large can that supply chain be anyway? Well, at least I know our weim won't be poisoned by his own bed. Now his polyester chew toy that he can't live without is a whole other matter.

Sandwich Bags Are So Last Year

Naively my PBJ has been going to work in a passé plastic sandwich bag. Tucked neatly into my reusable lunch bag, I was so pleased with myself for taking and not buying my lunch. Then, my super chic friend Jen rolls in with a cool shark lunchskin. Suddenly my celery sticks look claustrophobic in their little bag.

Every day 20 million plastic bags go into landfills. Every day. Holy plastic bag batman. That's massive waste. Remember when we all started cutting the rings up from soda six packs to save the dolphins?  I kept a manatee from choking, but have been contributing to Kilimanjaro-sized landfills. Awesome.

For those still pondering the paper vs. plastic debate, here's a great article/blog I found that spells out both sides.

Needless to say, I'll be ordering a few lunchskins come pay day.

Four Less Wheels

I could pretend that we sold our second car because we are that committed to reducing our carbon footprint. I could then piously write about how many pollutants we've kept out of the air as a result of our choice. But, you would be reading a complete line of BS.

The reality is, we sold our SUV this past year because we wanted to get the money out of a depreciating asset before Saturns had absolutely no value on the market. Yes, we did sell the newer, bigger car and held onto our 10 year old little compact. But let's be honest. It has a lot more to do with our race to eliminate debts and save for tomorrow than any environmental soap box.

Yet, the return to a single set of wheels has absolutely changed a lot about our habits. Sure, we are lucky that we live in a large metropolitan area. Yes, I have six bus lines within less than two blocks of my house (and still none of them run when I need them). Yes, those buses can get me to the metro that can whisk me to all various corners of the city.

Now my SmartTrip card is always loaded (except for this evening when I found out I had -.95 cents when I exited the metro). I have a running list of bus schedules in my head, and I am reaching master status of knowing which buses connect where in NW DC. These are all things that before a single set of wheels, I would have never prioritized.

The impact on my/our schedule is sometimes acute. We shuffle carpooling and car possession daily. Who needs to be where and when. We end up carpooling in the morning a lot more. So I guess you could say reducing our carbon footprint is helping us spend more time together...

So while my increased reliance on public transportation has come about in a none purist fashion, it has made me more aware of how many cars really could come off the road. Planning the time to take the train is worth it. Yes, it's a bit of pain, yes you have to plan ahead, but taking one more car off the road at least a few days a week is meaningful.

The EPA estimates that the U.S. consumes 26% of the world petroleum. As a country 43% of our petroleum use is for our cars. Yuck. Gas near or over $3, double yuck.

Cars impact more than the air. Water pollution, noise pollution, solid waste, land use, and wildlife are all impacted by our car use obsession. The EPA also believes that driving a car is the single most polluting activity a private citizen can undertake in a given day.

According to the APTA, "If an individual switches a 20-mile round trip commute to public transportation, his or her annual CO2 emissions will decrease by 4,800 pounds per year, equal to a 10 percent reduction in a two-car household’s carbon footprint."

But, come on. We need to get there when we need to get there. The time saved now is more valuable to us.
This, this is the argument I'm having to rework in my head as I am standing in line waiting for the bus or jockeying  my schedule to catch a train (while fighting the urge to hail a taxi).

May 13 was Bike To Work Day. I did not. I contemplate it often and always stop short when I start thinking about the showering, getting ready at the office logistics. Way too complicated and I'm paranoid I'm going to get clipped in traffic by a @$#* driver. Baby steps people. I did think this one BTWD site had some interesting points though,

"During its lifetime, on the road, each car produces another 1.3 billion cubic yards of polluted air and scatters an additional 40 pounds of worn tire particles, brake debris and worn road surface into the atmosphere."

It's worth mentioning we certainly are saving additional cash by having lower insurance, buying less gas, etc (although those savings may be going to SBUX). However, we also have been using the little organic market next door to us more. We pop down to grab milk or avocados rather than rush off to Whole Foods.

So while it's not always enjoyable, we are starting to adjust to our return to four wheels. Any chance you'll be letting your wheels rest at home soon? Or does having them make it too easy to not have to choose?

Washing the Toxicity Out of My Hair

Knowing brilliant people makes the task of learning new things infinitely easier. This often means gaining knowledge you had no idea you were missing. This would one of those times. My brilliant friend Sarah pondered aloud on her blog awhile back the fact that hair/body care products could be toxic and the choices she made to replace the products she and her family use.

No it wasn't just her masterful spidey-sense that caused her to evaluate, she pointed to a nifty database. Where you too can go and enter your various products and contemplate the level of chemicals you're cool with ingesting.

Up until that moment, I had  not considered the possibility that my shampoo might be bad for me. This has gnawed at me now for more than two months as I wash my hair with the Tresemme Natural jumbo bottles I bought on sale at Target. It may or may not be bad for me. I've submitted it to the Skin Deep database to receive a rating. Other products by the same brand are between 5-7, moderately hazardous. What? My shampoo is hazardous?

Now, I'm not running down the block fearful that my hair is going to fall out of my head, but does give me pause that more than one-third of personal care products contain at least one product linked to cancer.

The Skin Deep Database provides a list of worrisome ingredients: Placenta, Fragrance, Mercury, Animal Parts, Lead, Hydroquinone Skin Lightener, Nanoparticles, Phthalates and Petroleum Byproducts.

Now sure, I don't actively buy products with these ingredients, but I'm also not checking every single label of everything I buy. We went fragrance free awhile back with our laundry detergent and dryer sheets without any thought of the environmental impact, but now I'm wondering about the other ingredients.

So, I'm slowly working through an inventory of the various products we have and deciding if I would buy them again when they run out based on their toxicity level. Right now I'm thinking a five or below...maybe a four? Is that even possible with readily available, affordable products?

I've also decided that I'm through with my current makeup, Prescriptives. They have not signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics (see signers). Sarah wrote an interesting post on her makeup on this same point as well. Taking each product through the paces of the database. I'm not sure yet what I'll replace it with, but I'm using each of the products until they're gone and then hoping to make a wholesale change. Suggestions welcome.

So it's an evaluation in progress. I'll let you know what I find out along the way.

Eating that Cow is Like Driving an SUV or Be More Friendly with Veggies

Let's be clear. I am an Omnivore, but I have not finished the copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma that's been on my side table for more than a year. Nor have I consumed In Defense of Food, the Caveman Diet, or the myriad of other writings on healthier, organic eating. (I do plan to make my way through at least Pollan's work as a start). So at this moment, I am not yet scarred by the horrific images of our food chain.

My Midwestern roots currently keep me firmly comfortable with consuming most meats and veggies. And no, I do not know 100 ways to prepare corn just because I know how to detassel it.

I also have no aversion to vegetables. With very few exceptions (sorry lima beans and collard greens) I am friendly with produce. Bring on the roasted brussels sprouts, steamed or grilled asparagus, peas by the pound, and so much more.

Yet, when putting together a dinner menu for the week, I am always following the unspoken triangle in my head: meat, veggie, starch. This does not mean only pot roast and pork chops. We eat a lot of fish (a potential problem and separate post) by way of tilapia, salmon, and sea bass. We also tend to use ground buffalo now more than ground beef thanks to the Buffalo Lady at the Kansas City farmer's market. (Note: Only Whole Foods and Wegmans in our area consistently carry Buffalo and even then, very little variety.)

So, when the idea was presented that eating one additional meatless meal per week could have a real impact on the environment, I was intrigued. After all, I'm pro-veggie, so why not consciously make a choice to eat a meal entirely built around them (fruits too, but I am not a fruitarian).

The environmental cost of meat. Eating one pound of meat emits the same amount of greenhouse gases as driving an SUV 40 miles. It's the supply chain and the product itself that hurts us on this one.

An interesting piece in NewScientist reviews new research on this issue:

• Cutting back on beefburgers and bacon could wipe $20 trillion off the cost of fighting climate change.
• The livestock sector receives surprisingly little attention, despite the fact that it accounts for 18% of the greenhouse gas emissions and for 80% of total anthropogenic land use.

"The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are generated during the production of animal feeds, for example, while ruminants, particularly cows, emit methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide. The agency has also warned that meat consumption is set to double by the middle of the century."

Many of us could argue, we already eat at least one meal a week that doesn't contain an animal protein. So, why not add another? That is the question I am pondering as I plan my weekly meals.

The easy solution of course is stir fry (I know, you thought I was going to say cheese pizza). This past year I have started to embrace wok cooking. For the record, the wok is genius. Why on earth I didn't bother before and why I don't use it more is a perfect example of why we cook what we know. I didn't grow up with wok cooking, I didn't have an early exposure to wok cooking, so I just didn't do it.

Between a trip to China and a trip the Philippines our household suddenly became intrigued enough by the capable piece of cookware to ask for one (thanks mom!). But let's be honest, cooking veggie stir fry takes a lot of prep. Seriously look at all these veggies:

It is going to take some serious re-prioritization to get me to chop that many veggies more than once a week, so I think additional veggie dinner choices are going to have to be explored (again, beyond pizza).

In case you're wondering, all those veggies cook down in about 10 minutes and are delicious on  rice (in this case jasmine, it's what I had on hand).

So, I'm in pursuit of non-pasta, non-carb heavy meat free options to take our house from one meal meat free a week, to at least two.

Light bulbs

Conversations have moved from your mother reminding you to "turn the light out when you leave the room" to "what type of light bulbs do you use?"

As a part of the sermon series (if you want to listen, check out the April 25 audio file) I mentioned previously, we were challenged to change five light bulbs in our house from incandescent to CFL light bulbs. Of course, the U.S. phase out of the incandescent bulbs is coming, but the energy savings argument is compelling. From a piece in Fast Company:

Compact fluorescent bulbs emit the same light as classic incandescents but use 75% or 80% less electricity.

What that means...

• If every one of 110 million American households bought just one ice-cream-cone bulb (CFL), took it home, and screwed it in the place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people.
• One bulb swapped out, enough electricity saved to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island.
• In terms of oil not burned, or greenhouse gases not exhausted into the atmosphere, one bulb is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the roads.

I've heard this plea before and ignored it, I find the light from florescent to be harsh, not as appealing as the reveal light bulbs I have in most of our lights. Yet, this time I thought why not. So I went home, counted up the various bulbs and wattage's and came up with eight lights that we could change.

Home with my newly purchased lights, I switched out our light bulbs. Pleased and intrigued by these new bulbs I sat down to Google how to dispose of incandescent bulbs. Ah, how quickly we trade one problem for another. Green at Work reveals,

"I'm afraid the answer is - not much. Most redundant technologies end up as landfill and I'm afraid that your incandescent light bulb's are included in that. Use them up - then wrap them in paper and dispose of them in the general waste bin."

Well fiddlesticks, now I have eight working lights that I'm adding to a landfill. Smashing, exactly what I was hoping to do... but then it gets a little more messy as you read on and ponder what to do with the CFL bulbs when they eventually burn out,

"Things get a little more complicated when it come to disposing of your new energy efficient compact fluorescent (CFL's). As they contain mercury throwing them in the regular bin is a big no no as the mercury can pollute the soil and water. You'll need to dispose of them as part of your local council's Household Chemical Clean-up."

Awesome. I've changed eight light bulbs, calculated my savings, and its turns out I'm contributing to another environmental issue. Hmmm, not exactly the impact I was hoping to have on the environment from this little exercise.

So is it worth it? Do you think changing your bulbs before they burn out is a good idea?

There are of course LED lights on the market now. The comparisons are slow in coming as they aren't as widely available yet, but they lack the mercury issue of CFLs. So will we all be switching CFLs for LEDs soon?

Today as the sermon series wrapped the congregation was asked how many people went home and changed their bulbs as a result of the call to action. Less than 10 folks out of nearly 80+ at the service raised their hands. Is it apathy? Is it cost? What keeps us from making these small choices?

Writing to Make it Count

Perhaps it is the idea of accountability to and dialogue with the masses that makes blogging so appealing. Even if the masses are only in your head. For years I have propagated the importance of online dialogue as a means of engagement through my daily work. In turn, I have also enjoyed keeping up with friends and their lives through their own blogs and in recent years unearthed a plethora of food blogs that keep me inspired and well fed.

However, I have never crossed the threshold of creating my own blog for reasons both obvious and benign. Over the past few weeks, I have sat listening to Charlie Parker talk about the intersection of environmentalism and Christianity. Not a connection I readily make or regularly consider, but intellectually intriguing nonetheless.

The facts and figures we have all seen and heard in various contexts over the years were reframed for me sitting in a pew. How much does each act matter? How much impact can one person/one household really have? How inconvenienced are we willing to be by a choice?

So this blog is my effort to try and keep myself more open and accountable as I attempt to make my own life more environmentally sustainable, more balanced. I am confident there are thousands of individual choices that we can make as consumers that will influence the products and services available to us. The supply chain won't change until the consumer demands it.