Sarah's Sustainable Life

i was totally shocked wednesday morning. for first time in probably years i stopped at a starbucks for a cup of tea (because it was on the way to my destination). though i was hungry, i went in search only of tea, for any vegan knows that mainstream coffee shops are not the place to find healthy vegan munchies (except the occasional overpriced banana). but there they were! baskets of vegan goodies waiting to be devoured! i settled on a “two moms in the raw” granola bar because it was a brand i have been wanting to try anyway. according to vegnews magazine, vegan meal options are on the rise. in a nationwide survey of chefs, vegan menu additions were number 13 on a long list of major trends in the food industry for 2010. can we expect to see a veggie grill open on every corner? unfortunately not, but i am already starting to see the progress and, after years of suffering through dry salads and naked baked potatoes in most restaurants, I AM READY!

be sure to stop at “the cove” the last sunday of the month! the cove is a restaurant i have written about previously as a good place to dine on local, organic, and sustainable foods; that is their specialty, and they do it well! february 28th, 2010 marked the second monthly brunch held at the cove. i partook of a vegan special (cornbread and tempeh sausage with gravy) and washed it down with some ayurvedic coffee. there was some bluesy live entertainment and, as always, an open and friendly atmosphere in the restaurant. dining at the cove is like joining a social club, except all you have to do is show up and you’re one of the gang. 20% of the money collected from this now regularly scheduled event goes to support girls, inc. the crowd was lively, the food was tasty, and the cause was good. this is worth going out of your way to attend!

i just had to make a post in praise of the follow your heart brand’s line of vegan gourmet products! i was introduced to vegan gourmet cheeses and veganaise while living in ohio, but just this week got a chance to try the cream cheese alternative – WOW!! you will not miss dairy with these items in your fridge! while not all of follow your heart’s products are vegan, the items that are have wonderful flavor and NO TRANS FAT, which is a huge relief to all of us who have been suffering the wrath of partially hydrogenated tofutti all these years. the full line of cheeses and veganaise is available at my local whole foods market, but i had to go to central market to find the cream cheese and sour cream alternatives. i highly encourage you to give these products a try. the company is based out of a cafe in california, where i’d love to go eat some day. check out the website and find out more about their green business practices and their commitment to healthy, delicious foods!

i was able to catch a few lines of the newspaper the other day, and i’m very excited to share with you what i read! nissan is introducing in 2010 a new all-electric, zero emissions car called the leaf! i know this is not the first electric car invented, but as far as i know, it is the first to be mass marketed. the leaf is due to hit nissan dealerships late this year, but only in certain states (including texas!). what nissan did to introduce this product is, i believe, what sets it apart from earlier models and what will ultimately make it a success. this fall, nissan took the leaf on tour to the states in which it will be sold; leaf execs met with major energy companies (like CPS here in san antonio) to discuss recharging stations. the car is designed to go about 100miles in between charges. this means the leaf would be great for getting around town, to and from work, but on long trips, you would still need to take the old-fashioned gas guzzler as there may not be any recharging stations on the way to your final destination. how much will a recharge cost? that will largely be up to the regional power companies, and in the end, having an electric car might not save you as much cash as you’d hoped. however, as more electric cars become mainstream, the cost should even out nicely and we will have taken a huge step toward our independence from oil and oil producing countries that have had us under their thumbs for so many years.

i wanted to share with you this most interesting website i found. treehugger.com has created a climate culture calculator section where one can commit to taking a small action (say, riding a bike to work), calculate the carbon impact, and join an online community of folks taking similar actions for the environment. this is a GREAT idea; people are more likely to follow through on commitments others know about. also, and my favorite part of it all, it’s nice to know you are not alone. it seems most of the actions we take to be more green seem so small and isolated, it’s wonderful to know there is a large group of people making the same commitment, and to immediately see the results this action will have in the future. go to the website and see what other climate culture calculators you can find. this could be the new year’s resolution you were looking for!

if you have not visited a public school for many years, i think you would be surprised to find that in many places they are improving. when i was a kid, it was a dare to eat anything that came out of the cafeteria, let alone the playground, but all that is changing. it seems to be a focus of education these days to end the childhood obesity epidemic, and that’s only appropriate considering how many children in this country get the majority of their meals from the public schools (no finger pointing intended, well, maybe a little bit…) alice waters a restaurateur in california, and the author of several cookbooks (including one for children) has begun a program called “edible schoolyard“, encouraging schools to grow edible produce on their grounds where students can help cultivate their own food and learn more about agriculture while partaking in healthy eating. similar programs are springing up in other areas of the country as well. when i was teaching at the ohio state university, we did quite a bit of work with adventure central, an after school venue dedicated to helping inner city kids get back in to nature (including a very nice veg garden which they eat from and help sell at a local farmer’s market). i have also recently become aware of the white house garden started by the first lady, the first of its kind since the victory garden of WWII. michelle obama thus far has used the garden to educate and feed children in need in the greater DC area. what is going on in your neck of the woods? is there a program to encourage healthy eating habits for kids, or do you need to get one started?

looking for a new year’s resolution that will:
*slim your waistline
*save you money
*green your lifestyle
AND
*give you more family time?
have i got the website for you! check out notakeout.com! this amazing website has everything you need to start cooking meals at home that will have your family so satisfied they will never miss the take out food! and, as i have stated in previous blog entries, eating at home rather than eating out is guaranteed to save you money, calories, and carbon output. with this website bookmarked on your home computer, you are sure to save stress as well! i am looking forward to trying it out myself, and to hearing what you all have to say!

i’d like to start by saying that i hope everyone had a nice, relaxing christmas break. now it’s time to go back to the business of greening our lives.
as i have stated in previous articles, i do not believe in global warming. however, those of you that do may be interested in this clip i found from the UN climate change summit. i take the UN about as seriously as i do global warming, but i think this fellow makes a good point. basically, whatever you may have read to make you believe in unnatural climate change there is just as much if not more compelling evidence that meat consumption could be a major player in global warming. click here to see photos. what it has come down to are leaders from around the world calling on wealthier nations to eat less meat as a means of cutting down their carbon footprint. for many years i have heard vegan activists and cookbook authors chiding prominent americans who call themselves environmentalists (namely al gore) for never mentioning the impact that factory farming has on the environment or, more importantly, how much it could help if people cut down on or cut out meat and dairy. i am very interested to hear what you all think about this!

from the same company that has been supplying us with “sugar in the raw” (cumberland packing, ironically enough) comes a WONDERFUL new product that is topping my list of must haves in the kitchen. the product: “stevia in the raw”! stevia is a non-caloric, non-chemical sweetener; it is made from the leaves of a plant and can be found in both liquid and granular form. i was introduced to stevia at a brunch in college. the lady hostessing grew her own stevia plants and just crushed up the leaf in the bottom of her tea cup before pouring on the hot tea (kind of like a mint leaf in a mint julep). i thought it was the oddest thing i had ever heard of, but once i tasted it, i was completely addicted. although at times it has been difficult to find, i have been a loyal stevia consumer for (gulp) over eight years now and am thrilled to have tried this new form of stevia, “in the raw”. it is lovely, and if you are looking for a sugar replacement without all the chemicals, i highly recommend it. my only foot note is that, despite all the advice to the contrast, in my taste stevia is not quite as sweet as regular sugar, and if you normally use just one packet of sugar for your favorite steamy beverage, you may need two packs of stevia. well, what are you waiting for? go check for it in the sugar section of your local market or order some online!!

ah, christmas gifts. we fret, we panic, we overspend, and we regret. avoid the traditional christmas gift grief cycle by buying sustainable this year! sustainable gifts can be thrifty, thoughtful, and creative, so don’t think you’ll be stuck buying everyone on your list a backyard compost bin (although some people might enjoy that, too!).

give the gift of quality time and use your christmas dollars to support local, sustainable cuisine. most cities have at least one restaurant that focuses on using local organic ingredients. give a gift certificate for one of these restaurants to any couple you know for a nice holiday treat of quality time. for an extra wow factor (with no extra money involved), volunteer to babysit the night the certificate is used!

give the gift of compassion and make a charitable donation in someone’s name. i actually did this as a “secret santa” when i was in college. i was a little nervous about it at first, seeing as how most people got some pretty cool stuff. when it came time for me to reveal the gift, everyone loved the idea, especially the person whose name was on the donation slip! you’d be surprised how many people are happy to forgo the usual plastic junk to know that they helped someone in need.

give the gift of happy memories and find a new way to share your family’s trusted and loved recipes. it’s easy to find a store that will bind your favorite recipes (once you type them up), or try a recipe box made from upcycled materials. what could be a more appropriate holiday gift than gramma’s recipe for pecan pie?

if none of these seem to fit your family’s wish list, consider the following options:
1) Sony’s Daily Reader or an Amazon Kindle, both download books to read electronically at your fingertips without the paper, ink, and shipping of traditional books.

2) a reusable lunch kit, for anyone who has to eat away from home (and who doesn’t occasionally?). these are great for kids and adults, and the link leads you to a site where the lunch kits can be customized to fit any personality and are made from repurposed antique materials.

3) a new shower head that delivers great pressure and uses less water. i don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy a really great, hot shower. this would truly be the gift that keeps giving (and saving) all year round!