I’m in New York as a newly anointed ‘Green Girl’ from Cali.  For the past week, its been like living ‘Opposite Day’.  Ethan has special days every so often at school when kids get to be silly and wear their clothes backwards...a day when something you’ve done so many times that it becomes routine and automatic; is turned upside down and on its head...

 
photo via Bastian Labelle

By nature, I am learning that I am very adept at adapting.  Perhaps its been my training as a producer--I can make anything work.  Professionally and personally.  Except for a cheating husband (sorry, I couldn’t resist).  

Its the ‘it is what it is’ mentality.  Why strive for this idea of perfection and drive yourself batty when you can make the most of what’s right in front of you.  Now and again, though, it takes a little digging to find what’s right under your nose.  Like food for example.  I had my farmer’s market routine down in LA; along with the ease of foraging through my garden for simple greens and citrus; but now I am amongst skyscrapers and left to fend for myself in a concrete jungle.  Tragic, I know.

On my first night back in New York, I quickly found my neighborhood joint--a place I could make my own; that would always have something delicious waiting for me.  I didn’t have to go far, because right around the corner from where I am staying is a restaurant called, ‘Artisanal Fromagerie Bistro’.  It is a wine and cheese bar.  The food gods were smiling upon me--two of my favorite things.  

A few years ago on my last long-ish term stay in New York, I had the pleasure of frequenting another wine and cheese bar in New York called ‘inoteca on the Lower East Side.  ‘inoteca is definitely more my speed; dark, bustling, rustic and very Italian.  The Formaggi selection included Latte (cow’s cheese), Latte di capra (goat’s cheese) or Latte di Pecora (sheep’s cheese)--all made in the Italian tradition.  There were small appetizer size dishes--Italian tapas; and the wine selection consisted of over 600 Italian wines.  Amazing artsy, creative looking New Yorkers--you just felt the next great Independent film or indie rock tune being conceived over some obscure (but delicious) Rosso wine and cured meats.  Which by the way is all sourced from local, pasture-fed, sustainable farmers and meat purveyors such as Heritage Foods and Vermont Quality Meats.  I believe there is a correlation here; that creativity is a by product of sustainable and delicious food.

The vibe at the uptown, and upscale Artisanal was decidedly more French Grande Cafe than country side Southern Italian.  They are known for fondue at Artisanal, which is kind of funny, since fondue is not so French, and usually made with Swiss cheeses.  But nonetheless, I do love a good fondue--a symbiotic pairing of wine + cheese molten together in a pot of gooey goodness.  At Artisanal, the cheeses know no cultural boundaries (with almost all cheese from America and Europe), but divided by animal of origin (cow, goat, or sheep) on one menu; and on another menu paired alongside flights of wine.  Instead of trying to find all my favorite cheeses, I opted for the ‘Champagne Flight’ selection of three cheeses.  The recommended wine pairing was a Prosecco, but as much as I love a Prosecco (and especially a bellini); my past association with champagnes never ended before 4am.  So I chose an Albarino, which turned out to be a fantastic complement to my cheeses.

Humboldt Fog (a goat’s cheese from Northern California); Manchego (a Spanish sheep’s cheese) and Beaufort (a French cow’s milk cheese) were my choices.  I was familiar with the Humboldt Fog and Manchego never disappoints.  The Humboldt Fog was like a piece of savory cake--buttery and creamy, with the trademark line of ash running through it.  A basket of bread accompanied the plate of cheeses, but I am not a fan of bread.  I ordered sides to accompany my cheese and they were perfect.  I’ve always been a fan of quince paste with Manchego, and found that it went well with the Beaufort as well.  The Beaufort was a solid cheese--its the kind of cheese you can eat pieces of and call it a meal.  Ethan’s favorite snack is pieces of solid cheeses--Gruyere, Emmenthal and now, the very similar Beaufort.  I guess the French do know a little something about Swiss cheeses.  The other side that replaced the bread and brought out the delicious flavor of the cheeses were walnuts in a honeycomb.  Perfection with the crisp and fruity Albarino.

While the cheeses and their accoutrement were a great meal; I still went home to a corporate apartment with nothing in the refrigerator.  For the next few days, I kept trying to block out a few hours to walk over to the closest thing I could find to my farmer’s market--the Whole Foods near my office. But something always came up.  It rained and I was miserable.  And here’s a NYC observation--no one walks around with groceries.  How do NY’ers eat?  Then I discovered the secret--delivery!  A new world had opened up to me and it was called Fresh Direct.  Local and organic produce delivered the next day!  Fresh Direct even delivers wine and cheese pairings, recipes, lists local in season produce, links to the seafood watch list AND my favorite--the 4 minute ready meal, prepared fresh by New York restaurants! Now I could have my own wine and cheese bar and restaurant meals from Tabla and Rosa Mexicano, waiting for me at home after a long day of production.  So I ordered the essentials--several 4-minute Ready Meals, coffee, arugula, grapes, avocados, lemons, almonds, cranberries, pears, olive oil and an assortment of cheeses; including a brie, manchego and parmesan.  

I had stumbled upon Fresh Direct as a result of walking from my apartment to my office and seeing these trucks all over the city.  This was one of the more obvious and convenient New York adjustments I made in order to still eat consciously. When I get back to California, I am afraid I will go through the withdrawal of not having food, neatly packaged in a cardboard box waiting for me in my kitchen.

The other adjustment I had to make was not so obvious and I had to do a little more digging to find the answer.  It seems strange, but once you get in the habit of separating all of your garbage, it becomes automatic.  You can’t ever mix paper and plastic in a trash bin; much less even toss them into a container without a recycle symbol on it.  Same with the coffee grinds and vegetable peels I covet so much in my own compost.  I couldn’t just throw them in the trash; with all the coffee I drink when I work, I was sitting on a gardening gold mine!  It occurred to me that most people living in high rise buildings in Manhattan would have no use for compost, so all this amazing organic material was just being dumped along with other crap in a landfill somewhere, unable to reach its full organic and sustainable potential.  It’s a crime against nature.  What is also ironic about this is that we are programmed to recycle paper, plastic, aluminum.  But not food; although when you think about it, composting is the original recycling.  But of course, resourceful New Yorkers have figured this out too and made it as convenient as it can be to compost in the city.  Through the New York Compost Project you can drop off your coffee grinds, egg shells, and vegetable scraps at a participating Farmer’s Market or at the Lower East Side Ecology Center on 7th St.  And if you’re really adventurous, upgrade your apartment with a worm condo and compost on your own balcony, if you have one.  You’ll have fabulous potting soil to grow herbs and lettuce by summer time.

It’s Getting Haute in Here:

The Green Youth Movement Presents L.A. Fashion Week’s Eco Fashion Show

Nonprofit Greens the Runway to Raise Environmental Awareness

This season, green is the new black. Los Angeles-based nonprofit, the Green Youth Movement (GYM) will be presenting THE GREEN INITIATIVE: A Humanitarian Fashion Show at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, California. As part of Los Angeles Fashion Week, this highly anticipated event aims to celebrate sustainable living by showcasing collections from eco-friendly designers. THE GREEN INITIATVE is positioned to prove that fashion and sustainability can go hand-in-hand, and that eco-conscious alternatives can be just as “haute” on the runway.

Produced by The Gallery Los Angeles, THE GREEN INITIATIVE will feature collections from sustainable designers such as Emily Factor, Lizzie Parker and others. All designs are made in the United States, utilize sustainable materials and are responsibly produced – just the kind of environmentally sound solution that the Green Youth Movement advocates in its mission to promote sustainable living and green education amongst the younger generation.

“THE GREEN INITIATIVE is an opportunity to communicate the importance of living sustainably to the next generation of consuming adults,” says 17-year-old Ally Maize, Los Angeles’ resident “green teen” and founder of the Green Youth Movement. “We want people to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink the choices they make every day in every aspect of their lives, including fashion.”

Proceeds from THE GREEN INITIATIVE will go to the Green Youth Movement’s conservation and reforestation initiatives, notably a tree-planting project in the Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area to offset the fashion show’s carbon footprint.

“Fashion is such a big part of youth culture and serves as an ideal means of raising global awareness of sustainable living,” adds Ally. “We hope THE GREEN INITIATIVE gets people excited about being green and making environmentally-conscious lifestyle choices.”

To join in on the glamour, purchase tickets for THE GREEN INITIATIVE at http://gymfashionshowtix.eventbrite.com.

For more information on the Green Youth Movement, please visit http://www.greenyouthmovement.org.

Release via TylerBarnettPR

Generosity Water’s 2nd Annual Night of Generosity with live music, drinks and fashion

Generosity Water is celebrating the 2nd Annual Night of Generosity at Mondrian LA’s SKYBAR on World Water Day, March 22, 2010. The event, hosted by E! Personality Jason Kennedy, recognizes World Water Day and Generosity Water’s efforts to end the clean water crisis.

WHEN: Monday, March 22, 2010 8pm-12am Media check-in: 7pm WHERE: SKYBAR Mondrian LA 8440 Sunset Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069

WHO:

Host Jason Kennedy and event chairs Chyler Leigh and Nathan West joined by Adam Gregory, Ben Lyons, Catt Sadler, Chuy Bravo, Danielle Panabaker, Robert Buckley, Sal Masakala, Stephanie Pratt and Zach Abel with music by Quddus and special musical performances by Samantha Mollen and American Idol’s Elliott Yamin

 

This cannot miss event includes live music, stunning visual art displays from Generosity Water’s work in Africa, and a glamorous fashion show sponsored by the Couture House. Eco-friendly cocktails will be provided courtesy of VeeV. This year, Generosity Water will release “The Generosity Water CD Project,” a new CD featuring Queen Latifah, with all proceeds going towards helping people gain access to clean water in the coming years. Special musical performances by Samantha Mollen and American Idol’s Elliott Yamin will be featured, along with a spectacular runway show presenting fabulous California and international designers including Hollywood Million Denim, NCL Couture and others. Hair and makeup provided by Studio DNA Salon and Polaris Cosmetics. International magazine EXOTIC Adventure and Travel is contributing to the event as well, offering sponsorship packages that include advertising space and a generous donation to the charity.


MORE:

Generosity Water dedicates itself to ending the clean water crisis one community at a time. Through innovative awareness campaigns, strategic implementation and in depth accountability, Generosity Water hopes to inspire people to think globally and live generously. Their mission is to inspire people to use their gifts, talents, and resources to bring clean, safe drinking water to those without access to it. After just two years, the charity has 108 water projects in 16 countries around the world, providing over 43,000 people with access to clean drinking water. However, they are just getting started. Generosity Water’s goal is to build 1,500 wells by 2012.

Release via syndicate-la.com

Congratulations to Archibald England this weeks Climate Community Citizen of the Week!

Archibald is a student at The University of Chicago and participated in our recent Chicago Challenge. In the Challenge students were asked to comment on the proposition: Agree or Disagree: The United States should end ALL fossil fuel subsidies. The entire question can be found at Citizen of the Week Special Contest and was posted by another one of our winners Kyle Gracey who is a teaching assistant to Professor Sabina Shaikh (one of our founders and authors).

The following is the answer that Archibald submitted:

 Agree: Fossil fuels create negative externalities in production and consumption, with this cost coming in a range of forms, from greenhouse gases that exacerbate the problem of climate change to air pollution in urban areas that have health implications. Between 2002 and 2008, $72.5 billion was spent on fossil fuel subsidies, over double the $29 billion spent on renewable energy subsidies. Ending subsidies would allow the total cost of energy to the individual, and society as a whole, equate (or at least more closely reflect) to the actual price. It is established economic fact that by subsidizing fossil fuels more heavily, they become relatively cheaper as a source of energy than renewables. By banning all fossil fuel subsidies, the relative cost of renewable energy will decrease, increasing its consumption while not having the negative externalities associated with fossil fuels.

Yet, the environment is not the only concern that should be considered in this discussion. If we are to assume that the overall goal is to maximize the benefit to American (or world) society, then we must weigh fossil fuels' negative externalities against the benefits of cheaper electricity and the aid that provides to the economy as a whole, particularly manufacturing, as well as the benefits to the individual realized by lower energy bills. Fossil fuels are integral to the U.S. economy, forming 71% of the electricity production and 97% of the transport sector's consumption, and so the removal of subsidies would have a powerful impact on the U.S. economy. Yet, if the payments that account for fossil fuel subsidies were instead transferred to subsidizing renewable sources, then the economic consequences can be somewhat ameliorated, although there would most likely be an increase in costs in the transport sector (although arguably this would be a good thing as true cost would reflect price, and thus people would travel less and produce less emissions, for example).

Since the essence of this debate revolves around what makes most economic sense in the long term, we must consider the economic cost of inaction, with fossil fuel subsidies maintained. The U.S., as the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China, while also providing international leadership should factor the long-term economic cost of emissions from within the U.S., and from the world as a whole. By eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, the U.S. would both reduce national greenhouse gas emissions as consumption decreases, while also making political discussions on emission reduction agreements more likely. The potential economic cost in GDP terms, by 2100, is expected to be 3.6% if no action is taken against climate change (National Resources Defense Council). Thus in the context of long term horizons, the economic costs incurred by removing fossil fuel subsidies will likely be dwarfed by the long term costs of failure to act against climate change. Therefore, although the U.S. is currently navigating turbulent economic waters, and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies will apply economic costs across the U.S. economy as energy prices, transportation prices, etc increase, the short-term economic cost borne is a price worth paying to help steer the U.S. economy away from a more dramatic decline caused by the impact of climate change in the long-term.

To conclude, the impact of climate change in the long-term is huge 3.6% of GDP. Removing fossil fuel subsidies is a key step to reduce the impact of climate change, while also producing benefits in the form of lower health costs, greater energy independence, reduction of acid rain, etc. as consumption of energy from fossil fuels decrease. If we, as Americans, want to seek the least-cost solution to ensuring long-term economic growth in this nation, a repeal of fossil fuel subsidies is an important, and necessary step; who knows, it may even spur more international action in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We would like the thank all those who participated!

Learn more about Allisyn & Become part of the community & learn more by visiting The Climate Community.