Why Shop Locally

Believe it or not, I actually had a great shopping experience this weekend - even amidst the dreaded Black Friday. My plan for the long weekend was to get the house decorated for the holidays and I had a few small things I still needed to find. Wanting to avoid the malls, I visited local stores instead.

What a refreshing experience! On Sunday, in search of a tree skirt, I stopped by J. Matheson in Everett and found the owner outside hanging lights on his store. Although the sign indicated they were closed, I inquired anyway since there were a few lights on inside. Saying he never liked to turn customers away, he offered to open the store up for me and his wife met me inside. I found a beautiful and unique skirt in a few minutes, and even my boys didn't mind shopping because the store comes with a cute dog that loves to play.

I also shopped at Christmas Gifts on Broadway and was instantly transported back to another generation. Each room of the old home is filled with decorations and classic gifts for children (books, Madame Alexander Dolls, wooden blocks, tea sets). You can nibble cookies and drink hot tea while you wander through the rooms. There was no hustle or bustle and my boys were amazed to see a shop owner who actually used her math skills to total up the purchases. No calculator, no computerized register, just pen and paper!

With the economy still hurting, I love the idea of keeping the money I do spend in my community. While the items I bought weren't necessarily made in my local area (which would have been even better), research shows that local businesses reinvest in the community 3 to 5 times more than chain or "big box" stores. In the end, they were both great shopping experiences that warmed the heart, rather than leaving me tired and jaded.

What about you? What local stores do you support and why?

Dark Days Challenge Week Two

On to week two of the Dark Days Challenge of eating locally... Thanksgiving offered the perfect opportunity, but I didn't quite have my act together to pull off an entirely local meal, so instead I did a leftover meal the next day.

We had Open-Face Turkey and Cheddar Sandwiches, accompanied by Potato Pancakes and Honeycrisp Apples. The turkey was our leftover Thanksgiving turkey from Shelton, WA and the cheddar cheese was Organic Valley. (Note: I bought the cheese thinking it was from Washington because it was labeled "local" at my co-op. I know Organic Valley has locations near me, but now that I look at the label it says it is certified organic by Oregon Tilth so I'm guessing it's from Oregon). The potato pancakes were leftover mashed potatoes (also from WA) making their debut the next day in a new form. The honeycrisp apples gave us something light and fresh to go with it all.

Now, it would have been ideal to have fresh home-made bread for all of this, but I am not yet a breadmaker (tune in later in the Dark Days Challenge to see if this changes...) so I bought some local organic bread - Dave's Killer Bread.

I hadn't yet fully defined "local" for the purposes of this challenge, but after discovering the bread came from Milwaukie, OR which is 200 miles away from my home, I decided I would define local as Washington and Oregon. Many places in Oregon are actually closer than Eastern Washington.

One thing is for sure, this challenge has absolutely made me more cognizant in the store about where everything is coming from. I'm hoping to get on a weekly delivery schedule for a local farmer to make my cooking life a little easier in these upcoming weeks!

Which is Better: Real vs. Fake Trees

Thanksgiving has passed and, if you celebrate Christmas, it is on to the decorating. Which do you favor - a real or fake tree?

I was a big believer in real trees until I finally gave up the romantic vision of our family trekking off to the woods to chop down our own. More often than not, it was me and two children standing in the rain in The Home Depot parking lot trying to figure out how to wrangle the tree home. My husband appreciates a lot about the holiday season, but buying and decorating a tree are not on that list.

Putting the tree in the stand was another issue all by itself - one that was complicated many years by a persistent pug who liked to knock the tree down. If you think getting the tree straight once a year is bad, try doing it several times! Of course, if you ask our children, they'll tell you the biggest reason we switched was because our male dog kept confusing the Christmas tree with some of his favorite outdoor trees. So, for a variety of reasons, we are now an artificial tree family.

Better for the environment? I thought so at the time, but it turns out that's not necessarily true. The book Celebrate Green covers this subject and points out that fake trees take a lot of energy, chemicals, and petroleum to make, package, and ship. The box that ours came in says Made in China, so it is definitely no exception.

A live tree supports your local farmers, and helps the Earth while it is growing (by making oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide). While it may be better to leave it growing, keep in mind these trees were usually grown with the intention of being cut down after several years. Still feel bad? You can always buy a potted tree and then plant it in your yard when you're done with it.

Since I already have an artificial tree, I'm going to keep reusing it, but the real trees do seem to be the better choice. Celebrate Green mentions that most trees are discarded after four years, but we're planning to keep ours as long as we can.

I'm Thankful For...

Happy Thanksgiving! Today, I'm reflecting on a few of the many things I have to be thankful for.

• The AWESOME readers who visit this blog. Your comments, suggestions, and encouragement motivate me every week!
• Rainbows in the sky that can even brighten a rainy November day.

• The beauty mother nature gives us - the lakes, oceans, mountains, valleys, sunsets, waterfalls, wetlands, high plains, deserts. All so unique and beautiful.
• Global leaders who are willing to talk about climate change next month in Copenhagen.
• Children who always find the wonder in our Earth and help us see it through their eyes.
• Thanksgiving cards with turkey handprints from my children.
• The Wampanoag Indians who helped the Pilgrims when they were in need in 1621.
• Abraham Lincoln who made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863. Setting aside a day to truly think about what you are thankful for is important.
• A husband who loves to cook!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

29 Cent Turkeys

The newspaper inserts this week are full of ads for 29 cent Thanksgiving turkeys. I had already been planning to buy my turkey from Manna Mills, a local organic store and knew that I was paying more, but ten times more?!?

That big of a difference made me stop and pause. Is it worth it? I bought a 16 pound turkey for just under $50. That is definitely a big expense, but I am feeding 12 people a special holiday meal. Less than $4/person for the meat seems reasonable. When you think about it, what are you really getting for 29 cents a pound? Perhaps the stores are using the turkeys as loss leaders, but it also shows how mass-produced turkeys have become.

What do I get for 2.99/pound? A local free-range, antibiotic-free turkey. There are other ways to save money on the holiday and I'll concentrate on those instead. Some suggestions: be realistic in how much food you make (and eat!), send guests home with leftovers, reuse your own in something creative - soup, potato pancakes, sandwiches, etc.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Dark Days Challenge

Challenges in November must be the new thing to pull ourselves out of the winter doldrums. Maybe if we're busy, we won't notice that it is cold, rainy, and miserable outside? As if attempting to write an entire book this month isn't taxing enough, I've decided to take on The Dark Days Challenge.

I first read about this in The Everett Herald on Sunday - the challenge is to make one local meal each week between November 15th and March 31st, 2010. Sure, eating local in the summer is easy when the farmer's markets are teeming with fresh fruits and veggies. Even local meat is easier to come by then. But, the winter? Nah... that's too hard. I would need months to prepare for that.

Yesterday, the Eco Geek columnist/blogger wrote about it again in the same newspaper and announced she was taking the challenge. She also mentioned that she didn't have hens out back, a freezer full of her bountiful summer garden, or anything else. And she has a toddler. We all know that makes cooking, eating - everything - more difficult!

Okay, if all these other people can do it, I decided I can too. Having just decided this morning to take the challenge, I have done absolutely no preparation. They are already 4 days into their first week so I had to think fast. Voila... the smoothie. I know some might not consider it an entire meal, but it is what I eat for breakfast so I'm counting it!

I actually do have a ton of frozen fruits that meet the SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) requirements of the challenge so it was a natural starting point for me. I started with the Organic Valley milk (Duvall, WA) and added local strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and peaches.

Stay tuned to see if I can handle this challenge... My husband is stopping by the buffalo farm on Whidbey Island today so maybe he'll bring home next week's meal! I'm thinking that dusty pasta maker may finally get pulled off the shelf too!

Anyone else want to sign up??? If not, then feel free to encourage me, give me ideas, and go check out the (not so) Urban Hennery blog to see what the other Dark Days people are up to.

Are the Little Things Enough?

I'm sitting in Starbucks and supposed to be writing my book, but, instead, I've been distracted by their garbage cans. On a completely unrelated note: in case any of you ever dream of writing your own book, you should check out National Novel Writing Month which challenges, motivates, and pushes you (beyond the procrastination!) to write 50,000 words in a month!

How could the garbage can be compelling enough to distract me? It is the little sign on it announcing that it isn't a garbage can. Actually, it contains free packages of used coffee grounds that you can take home to your garden. Coffee grounds make a great mulch for your flowerbeds. I also remember my mom using them when I was young to change the color of her hydrangeas (enough coffee will change the pH balance of the soil).

I am sipping my non-fat Chai latte (and enjoying my 10cent discount for bringing my own cup), while watching the Starbucks guy point at the lightbulbs. I assume he is here as part of their recent announcement to convert 8,000 more stores to LED lighting.

Changing a lightbulb is a small step, but does it contribute to the bigger picture? In the case of Starbucks, they are aiming for a 7% reduction in energy use per store as part of a broader goal to decrease their total energy usage by 25% by the end of 2010. When they first looked into changing light bulbs, they weren't happy with the choices available (any of you have CFC lightbulbs at home that are a little funky in terms of brightness or color?) so they worked with GE to create something that worked for them.

I won't say that Starbucks is great for the environment, but I do think they are offering a good role model of a company who is looking at their individual footprint and finding a way to lessen it - while keeping us Seattleites (and the rest of the world) in warm, caffeinated drinks. Oh...and in regards to those millions of cups that get sent to the landfills? Here's their answer: use a commuter cup if you're on the go, ask for a ceramic cup when you're in a store (I didn't even know that was an option). By 2015, they are aiming for 100% recyclable or reusable cups.

What do you think? Do the little steps add up or is it entirely missing the point about changing our ways?

Moon Reveals Its Secret

On October 9th, NASA crashed a rocket into the Moon's surface in an attempt to challenge the theory that the moon is dry and desolate.

Image via Wikipedia

Success!

Results are now back that prove the Moon does have water. Apparently, lots of water. Does this mean that it could one day support humans visiting the Moon? Hmm... it's amazing to think what might be possible in our kids' lifetime. Of course, even if it could support human life, I would question whether we would want to send people up there given our history of exploiting the Earth's natural resources.

Interesting fact: It took the rocket 113 days to travel the 5.6 million miles to get there. That would be a very long family road trip!

The data is still being processed so stay tuned for the Moon to reveal more secrets.

New Non-Fiction for Kids

Just in time for the holidays... There is a new trend in the book publishing world with more adult books being adapted for children. Because of the issues these books tackle, I wouldn't call them easy reads (check out the age recommendations below), but they do present some interesting topics for older kids to ponder, or for families to read together. Check out the bottom of this post for recommendations good for all ages.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Young Readers Edition, by Michael Pollan. Although it's definitely geared to kids 12 and up; the lighter text, pictures, and graphs help bring it down a level. With the knowledge of this book, your kids will be vastly more knowledgeable about what they're putting into their body. It's divided into 4 meals or sections: The Industrial Meal: Food from Corn; The Industrial Organic Meal; The Local Sustainable Meal: Food from Grass; and
The Do-It-Yourself Meal: Hunted, Gathered, and Gardened Food. Don't be surprised if your kids are more interested in the backyard garden and local farmer's market after reading this book!

Next up is Our Choice: How We Can Solve the Climate Crisis, by Al Gore. This book is just out in hardcover and is a young readers edition of the follow-up book to An Inconvenient Truth. This full color book is geared at kids ages 9 - 12.

The final book on this list doesn't deal with climate change or scientific facts, but rather social change. I read Three Cups of Tea a few years ago and was amazed to learn how far one man (author Greg Mortenson) has gone to build schools in the lands of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Opening with an American hiker who has failed in his attempt to summit K2 and then becomes lost in Pakistan, the reader is introduced to the meaning behind the title: "With the first cup of tea, you are a stranger. With the second ... a friend. With the third cup of tea, you are family." The School Library Journal pegs this at grades 6 - 8, but I think it has enough of a story that it could also be a read-aloud for younger children.

If you're looking for book recommendations for younger kids, check out my earlier post, Earth-Friendly Fiction for Kids. Or, if you are just looking for some new fun reads for kids (on all topics), check out a great blog, The Booknosher.

Anyone else have favorite books to share with the list? Feel free to put them in the comments.

What Food Does Your Food Eat?

I am currently reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, and I'm finding some of the information in this book shocking. I haven't finished it yet, so I haven't reached his conclusions, but the book examines what humans eat and what happens to the food before it ends up on our plate. Suffice it to say, I think reading this book is going to have a dramatic impact on my eating habits.

I've lived in Nebraska before so I've certainly heard of corn-fed beef, but originally never thought about why the cows were eating corn? If you've never driven through the heart of our country, you may not know how much corn our country produces, but that will give you the beginning of an answer. The picture is from my drive earlier today in a rural area near my home. I don't know if these are beef cattle, but it was nice to see them munching on grass!

Corn is incredibly plentiful which gives the agricultural industry a way to raise beef cheaply. Cows used to be slaughtered at 4-5 years; today, they're slaughtered at 14-16 months. In order to fatten them that quickly, they need to be intensely fed, and a simple diet of roaming around and eating grass doesn't produce quick enough results.

Antibiotics are added to the feed to make sure the healthy cows don't get sick. That makes me wonder about all the lectures parents get from doctors about not giving children antibiotics at the drop of a hat. I agree with that, but who is out there saying that perhaps feeding our children with antibiotic-laden food (i.e. meat) on a daily basis isn't a good idea either?

Unfortunately, the problem isn't limited to beef. Chickens, turkey, even farmed salmon are being raised as cheaply as possible on a diet of corn and antibiotics. Is organic food the answer? I don't know, but I do know that we need to be aware not just about what we are feeding our kids, but also when animal products are concerned, what those animals are eating. What can you do? For starters: educate yourself, read labels, and get acquainted with your local farmers. Also, this blog has been all about meat, but don't forget the meatless options of fruits, vegetables, and grains which all have much small footprints on our Earth.

I have a local friend (check out her blog First Hand Food) who is experimenting with raising cattle and we have committed to purchase 1/4 of a cow from their small farm in January. The cows aren't certified organic (which is a very expensive process), but we know that they're wandering around right now eating grass, not antibiotics and corn. We bought 2 chickens from her earlier this year and the results were yummy!

Fall Has Fallen

Leaves, leaves everywhere. They're turning colors from crimson-red to pumpkin-orange and this morning, they were swirling around in the wind on my street.

When I was a kid growing up in New York, we had two giant Norway maple trees in the front yard. I know I was small and may remember things from a different size perspective, but the trunks were so big that my mom, dad, brother, and I could not wrap our collective eight arms all the way around them. Needless to say, trees that big can produce thousands of leaves! Those leaves created endless raking chores, but the good news was they also made leaf mountains for us to jump in and play hide-and-seek.

We're more evergreen than deciduous in our yard so we don't have giant piles of leaves, but we do still have giant leaves (see my biggest find above!). Here are some ideas for having fun and enjoying the season.

* Go on a scavenger hunt and send the kids in search of the different categories - biggest, funniest shape, best red color, best orange color, smallest...

* Press the leaves. We use a phonebook or stack of magazines, or you can save them permanently by pressing them with wax paper.

* Identify each leaf. Pick up a book from the library or try the Arbor Day Foundation's online Tree Identification Guide which will ask a series of questions and then give you the answer. Your kids might end up knowing better than you which trees are in your yard!

* Get crafty. Here are lots of ideas from Family Fun magazine. Maybe the kids' creations can spice up your Thanksgiving table!

Math Meets Nature

A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting where children's author Greg Pincus introduced me to

Image by Ethan Hein via Flickr

Fibs or poetry based on the Fibonacci sequence. I always think of Fibonacci as a math concept so the idea that he mixed it with poetry intrigued me. It also got me thinking about the curious way that Fibonacci numbers appear in nature. I had forgotten all about this until I got a dried sunflower from my mom this summer and remember hearing that they had some connection to the Fibonacci sequence. My kids and dog got to the sunflower seeds before I ever had a chance to count.

Just in case your math skills are a little rusty and your children haven't gotten to Fibonacci yet, this number sequence starts with 0 and 1. The rest of the numbers are the sum of the two previous numbers so the sequence goes 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144...

The interesting thing to me is that these numbers are repeated throughout nature from the number of petals on a flower to the number of spirals on a sunflower. I did find a technical explanation about why this works that I'm not going to even try to repeat. Next time you're outside with your kids, send them off in search of natural examples of Fibonacci. Pinecones are probably a good one to look for in the fall - count the number of spirals going each way and you should end up with a Fibonacci number.

In closing, here is my Fib for the day - a 20 syllable poem that follows the 1/1/2/3/5/8 pattern.

Big,
Blue
Planet.
Our Kids' Earth.
Beautiful. Fragile.
Protect it for their tomorrow.