Locavore News – World by Elbert van Donkersgoed
Posted: February 22, 2010
Categories: Uncategorized
February 22, 2010
The U.S. Food Environment Atlas
Food environment factors—such as store/restaurant proximity, food prices, food and nutrition assistance programs, and community characteristics—interact to influence food choices and diet quality. Research is beginning to document the complexity of these interactions, but more is needed to identify causal relationships and effective policy interventions.
· To assemble statistics on food environment indicators to stimulate research on the determinants of food choices and diet quality
· To provide a spatial overview of a community’s ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so USDA Food Environment Atlas website.
Food Miles: Growing Local Food Connections
This module aims to enlighten and inspire your students about where their food comes from, and the importance of a healthy diet. The program will aid to develop environmental citizenship and individual appeals to reduce food miles as a conscious contribution to long-term environmental health. It also aims to provide hands on activities to explore simple, earth-and-people-friendly gardening practices.Produced by Falls Brook Centre (1.15 MB PDF)
A Grand Tour of a Very British Empire
Mark Hix made his name serving vols-au-vent and other fancy dishes to London ladies and other correct folk at the plummy Caprice. But then he got serious, and seriously downmarket, opening four of his own gritty, Britty locavore emporia. Next month he’ll take his wildly successful versions of bubble and squeak, local oysters, game birds and offal to their fifth venue, at the tony London department store Selfridge’s, with Hix Restaurant and Champagne Bar. Mr. Hix is not the first young British chef to make his mark with indigenous dishes that local foodies once made a lifestyle out of rejecting in favor of foreign grub. Wall Street Journal story
Organisers postpone Edible Garden Show
Just days after the Garden Industry Manufacturers’ Association (GIMA) announced a deal for its members to exhibit at the Edible Garden Show “the painfully slow recovery from recession” has forced organisers to postpone next month’s (19-21 March) exhibition. The first national event dedicated exclusively to grow-your-own fruit and vegetables was targeted to reflect the phenomenal explosion of interest among the public for home-grown produce and healthy eating. But organisers have said they found “increasing difficulty in securing commitment from enough exhibitors to justify the scheduled launch”. The Edible Garden Show will now debut on 18-20 March 2011 at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. Horticulture Week story.
Boycott of oil sands fuel called ‘greenwashing’
U.S. grocer Whole Foods joins campaign by environmental group ForestEthics to reduce reliance on Alberta’s bitumen. Globe and Mail story.
Green Belts: a greener future
Fourteen Green Belts cover nearly 13% of England. Green Belt land could be improved and marketed more effectively, could provide more local produce from community farming, orchards and allotments and by encouraging school farm partnerships. There is also scope for more trees and wetland to improve urban fringe landscapes and provide forest products, renewable energy, new wildlife habitats and recreational space. Better advice on encouraging and supporting wildlife should be provided to the managers of Green Belt land. Natural England and Campaign to Protect Rural England summary report. (1MB PDF)
Checking the food odometer
Food miles are the distance food travels from where it is grown to where it is ultimately purchased or consumed by the end user. The term food miles has become part of the vernacular among food system professionals when describing the farm to consumer pathways of food. A Weighted Average Source Distance (WASD) can be used to calculate food miles by combining information on the distances from production to point of sale and the amount of food product transported. This paper calculates the WASD or food miles for various types of fresh produce delivered to Iowa institutions from local sources. Leopold Center for Sustainable AgricultureStaff Report.
Food miles slashed
More than 124 million HGV miles have been taken off UK roads in three years, according to the international food and grocery organisation IGD. It says its UK Sustainable Distribution initiative has met its four-year target of cutting 120 million road miles a year early – the equivalent of removing 2,000 lorries from Britain’s roads and conserving 60 million litres of diesel fuel per year. National Farmers Union (UK) Online story.
How Low Can We Go?
A new report from WWF and the Food Climate Research Network documents the role played by the food industry in greenhouse gas emissions – and concludes the only way to make significant cuts is through big changes in food technology and consumer behaviour:
• decarbonising the energy used in the food chain – at the moment most fertilisers, processing equipment and transportation is dependent on fossil fuels
• making the whole industry more efficient, from field to fork – including improved crop yields and changes to animal feeds to reduce methane emissions
• changing our eating habits – particularly the amount of meat and dairy products we consume. World wildlife Fund (UK) report.
The City Food Lecture
An annual, invitation only fixture in the City of London (UK) and food industry calendars. Held at the prestigious Guildhall, it is organised by the seven City Livery Companies whose roots are in the food industry – namely the Worshipful Companies of Bakers, Butchers, Cooks, Farmers, Fishmongers, Fruiterers and Poulters. Six hundred guests from the food industry were at London’s Guildhall on January 19th to hear Sir David King deliver the annual City Food Lecture: Managing the Earth’s Resources to Deliver Food for Nine Billion. Website includes podcast.
AND if You Have Time
‘United States of Meat’ by Dominic Episcipo
Here’s “United States of Meat” by the Philadelphia-based photographer Dominic Episcipo. Also see his photograph of the United States (as a whole) represented with meat. Photos on Eat Me Daily.