A Brand New Victory Garden!

Eat the View is petitioning the new president to a replant a large organic garden on the First Lawn with fresh fruits and veggies going to the Whitehouse and local food pantries. In the 1940s, to the support the war effort, Eleanor Roosevelt revived the First Garden and encouraged others to do the same, calling them Victory Gardens.

And now, this uplifting video, The Garden of Eatin': A Short History of America's Garden, tells the story of the Whitehouse garden, from its meager beginnings in the 1800s, when John Adams first planted it, to today’s call to bring it back. I say, go for it Mr. President!

Via CalorieLab.

Image credit: roger doiron

Eating to Live on the Outside: Green Elephant

Wow, it’s finally Friday! Good, I’m pooped. But before I pack it in, we’ve got to knock out Eating to Live on the Outside and this week we’re taking an internet trip to Maine and checking out Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro.

Okay, I just finished reading Green Elephant’s menu. It’s not perfect. I wouldn’t eat everything on it. But here’s what I might order:

Steamed Yellow & Green Beans

  • Spicy peanut sauce, yellow beans and green beans; very simple, very good!

Asian Vegetable Stew

  • Chinese broccoli, green mustard, cabbage, Napa cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, carrot and tofu; hopefully it’s low or no salt, because all those veggies are great.

Vegetable Clear Spicy Soup

  • Mushroom, butternut squash, onion, tofu and hot basil; same worry about the salt, but lots of cool vegetables.

Spicy Green Leaves Salad

  • Greens and spicy bean curd dressing; hard to beat greens.

Steam Assorted Vegetables with Peanut Sauce

  • Broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, sweet corn, snow peas, carrot, green beans, peanut sauce, 5-grain tempeh and brown rice; I’d ditch the tempeh and the rice isn’t the most nutrient-dense thing in the world, but I can deal with it and look at all those veggies!

Tofu Delight

  • Stir-fried tofu, snow peas, carrots, zucchini, corn, bell pepper, onion, organic egg, celery, scallions, yellow curry sauce and served with buttercup squash and brown rice; I’m nixing the eggs and same thing with rice.

Peanut Curry

  • Coconut milk, soy meat, chickpeas, sweet potato, carrots, onion, peanut curry, mashed buttercup squash and brown rice; no soy meat for me.

Tofu Tikka Masala

  • Tofu, spinach, edamame, chickpeas, Masala curry sauce, served with brown rice seasoned with curry powder, peas, carrots and shallots; the edamame beans make this a lock for me. I love them!

Green Leaves Wrap with Mango & Herbs

  • Mango, herbs, greens and tamarind dipping sauce; well, if the greens are the wraps, this sounds very intriguing. Mango is awesome.

Pineapple Brown Rice

  • Brown rice, pineapple, sunflower seeds, soy meat, sweet corn, peas, carrots, scallions and organic egg; again with the rice and no egg for me.

Green Elephant works! Plenty of good stuff to satisfy your veggie desires. But if I had to pick, I’d order either the Steam Assorted Vegetables with Peanut Sauce or the Tofu Tikka Masala.

Now, I think Green Elephant is cool. But I’m a big dummy. So, what do you think? Flip through Green Elephant’s menu and let me know what you’d order. Until then, eat wisely! Peace.

Image credit: GreenElephantMaine

Green-News: Tuesday 1.13.09

  • People are getting hip to green energy, like wind and solar. Now, solar panels might be the cool new thing to stick on your house. But there’s a problem. When it snows, they get covered, rendering them powerless! So, many solar system owners are calling for a solution; The New York Times investigates.
  • California is considering legislation that would require retailers to only sell the most energy efficient LCD and plasma TVs. Naturally, industry leaders are opposing the laws, saying it’ll drive up prices and some manufacturers fear they won’t be able to meet increased standards; The Los Angeles Times explains.
  • Nowadays, even fitness is high-tech. Most gyms look like arcades. Seems like nobody just runs in the park anymore! So, if you’re looking to green your workout, consider buying a reusable water bottle, taking a bike ride, wearing organic workout clothes or encourage your gym to go green; via Huddler.
  • States in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, including New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, have agreed to cut carbon emissions from transportation fuels. The effort will focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adopting sustainable usage of renewable fuels; SustainableBusiness News reports.
  • Drinking water in the U.S. is in trouble. A new report has detected 11 unusual pollutants, including gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug, and naproxen, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory drug associated with heighten asthma risk. Experts say the low levels do not pose a health risk; via NewScientist.

Fruit and Vegetable Lapse...

You’d certainly be better off eating them, but here’s a time-lapsed look at what happens to various fruits and vegetables left to decompose for 74 days. It’s pretty amazing to see how quickly the strawberries fall apart and how durable the onions are. And the potatoes are certainly opportunistic! That growth you see towards the end is sprouting out of the spuds. I’m part nerd, so I find this stuff fascinating.

Now, for the opposite end of the plant lifecycle, check out the organic tomato I grew on a pile of garbage this past summer. “On the path unwinding. In the Circle. The Circle of Life.”

FDA Cracks Down on Crushed Beetles in Food

Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth. Apparently food producers have been grinding up bugs to make food colorings for years! Beetles are a source of carmine or cochineal extract, which makes red, pink, orange and purple. And there’s been very little restriction on its use. A spokes person for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has lobbied to get carmine banned, said there is no way to tell how many products contain the dyes, it can be anything red. The FDA has decided to act now, due to reports of allergic reactions, requiring manufacturers to list carmine or cochineal in the ingredients; The Palm Beach Post reports.

Sounds yummy! There’s actually a big obsession with cramming bug parts into our food. Recently, Greenpeace unveiled a series of advertisements, featuring green onions shaped like spiders, scorpion carrots and peapod grasshoppers, to raise awareness for genetically modified ingredients in food.

Not to mention, a previous experiment showed rats fed genetically engineered corn developed signs of liver and kidney toxicity after 3 months. The corn contained a compound to repel insects.