How Green is My Town? - Water in Restaurants

The industrialization of food production in America has had consequences far beyond increased crop yields and the ability to fool nature through genetic engineering. In the process of learning how to create food using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics and a dizzying array of other chemicals, the intimate connection between people and their food has been severed.

Much of what now passes for food would be unrecognizable to a person living before the 20th century, and lacks both flavor and real nutritional value. And there is a high environmental impact: the items on a typical American dinner plate are produced by a global food industry that uses billions of barrels of oil to produce them, and then uses more billions of barrels transporting them an average of 1500 miles to your door.

"Locavore" was the Oxford American Dictionary's 2007 Word of the Year; given the rapidly increasing interest in locally grown food, it's easy to understand why.

Resources

Our friends at LocalHarvest.org have a great site where you can find both local farmers' markets and restaurants that serve locally-grown food. Just type in your zip code and you'll find locations near you. If you know of local markets or restaurants not already listed, please encourage them to register.

Dan Barber, a renowned chef and passionate advocate for local and seasonal food, is co-owner of the Blue Hill Restaurant in Pocantico Hills, NY. Much of their menu comes directly from the fields and greenhouses at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture that surround the restaurant. Dan's passion and knowledge about local food and the team of experts who run the center make these two sites go-to resources on the subject of local food production and dining.

"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver and Steven L. Hopp (Harper Collins, $26.95). This is the story of the Kingsolver family’s year-long journey away from the corporate/industrial food pipeline and into a rural life, where they promise to buy only food grown or raised in their local neighborhood. The book makes a strong case for returning to our culinary roots, and taking heed of the old adage, “You are what you eat.”

"In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press, $21.95). Who needs to defend food? According to author Michael Pollan, we all do. After all, he argues, what most Americans are eating today is not really food, it’s “edible foodlike substances” which have been engineered to look and taste appealing, even while the processes which produce these substances are robbing us of the nutrition we need and the natural resources the earth depends on.


MY BUSINESS COMMUNITY > BUYING LOCAL > RESTAURANTS FOR LOCAVORES
	The industrialization of food production in America has had consequences far beyond increased crop yields and the ability to fool nature through genetic engineering. In the process of learning how to create food using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics and a dizzying array of other chemicals, the intimate connection between people and their food has been severed. Much of what now passes for food would be unrecognizable to a person living before the 20th century, and lacks both flavor and real nutritional value. And there is a high environmental impact: the items on a typical American dinner plate are produced by a global food industry that uses billions of barrels of oil to produce them, and then uses more billions of barrels transporting them an average of 1500 miles to your door. "Locavore" was the Oxford American Dictionary's 2007 Word of the Year; given the rapidly increasing interest in locally grown food, it's easy to understand why. Resources Our friends at LocalHarvest.org have a great site where you can find both local farmers' markets and restaurants that serve locally-grown food. Just type in your zip code and you'll find locations near you. If you know of local markets or restaurants not already listed, please encourage them to register. Dan Barber, a renowned chef and passionate advocate for local and seasonal food, is co-owner of the Blue Hill Restaurant in Pocantico Hills, NY. Much of their menu comes directly from the fields and greenhouses at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture that surround the restaurant. Dan's passion and knowledge about local food and the team of experts who run the center make these two sites go-to resources on the subject of local food production and dining. "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver and Steven L. Hopp (Harper Collins, $26.95). This is the story of the Kingsolver family’s year-long journey away from the corporate/industrial food pipeline and into a rural life, where they promise to buy only food grown or raised in their local neighborhood. The book makes a strong case for returning to our culinary roots, and taking heed of the old adage, “You are what you eat.” "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press, $21.95). Who needs to defend food? According to author Michael Pollan, we all do. After all, he argues, what most Americans are eating today is not really food, it’s “edible foodlike substances” which have been engineered to look and taste appealing, even while the processes which produce these substances are robbing us of the nutrition we need and the natural resources the earth depends on.
	"How Green is My Town?" is a project of Grassroots Environmental Education 52 Main Street • Port Washington, NY • 11050 (p) 516-883-0887 email: gee@grassrootsinfo.org ©2009 Grassroots Environmental Education