Just in case you’re doing some last minute online searching for barbecue tips and recipes, make sure you check out our latest feature article “Outdoor Cooking - the Sustainable Table way” as well as our Camping and Grilling Recipes.

More later - we’re now off to a few sustainable picnics of our own!

According to Greenbiz.com - “In a bid to offset the rising cost of fuel, Wal-Mart plans to expand its offerings of fresh fruits and vegetables grown and shipped from local farms across the U.S.

During the last two years, partnerships between local farms and the world’s largest retailer have jumped 50 percent, and the company anticipates it will source about $400 million in local produce this year, making it the country’s largest buyer of produce that is grown and sold within a state’s borders.” (You can read the full post here….)

Isabel Cowles from The Huffington Post wrote a piece on Walmart’s move to buy local, saying it was a good thing. Personally, I don’t know….

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This article was written by Sea Stachura from Minnesota Public Radio (June 27, 2008)

A battle is underway for the hearts and stomachs of meat eaters and, it’s taking place on YouTube.

The video to video debate is between animal protection groups and the National Pork Board. Both sides see the most trafficked entertainment Web site as a marketing battleground, and each has posted multiple videos.

Rochester, Minn. - Let’s view the “Meatrix” on YouTube, shall we?

This video is a cartoon spoof on the “Matrix.” A bull in a trench coat named Moopheus, instead of the “Matrix’s” Morpheus, unveils to young pig Leo the reality of feedlots.

The group Sustainable Table commissioned the video. Founder Diane Hatz says feedlots degrade animals, workers and the environment. She says the video is a way to educate consumers and prompt them to eat local, sustainable meat. It targets women ages 25 to 50.

“They’re the influencers in the families, and women tend to care more, especially in the child-bearing years,” Hatz explained. “If a woman is pregnant, has kids or is thinking about having kids they get militant about food.”

People at the National Pork Board were watching the “Meatrix,” too. So, unbeknownst to Moopheus and the makers of the “Meatrix,” Pork Checkoff, the media-arm of the Pork Board, made and posted its own YouTube videos. This one is called “Pork Farmers Take Action.”

Check out the full article on Minnesota Public Radio website.

And check out all of Pork Checkoff’s videos on YouTube.

And to balance that out, watch all of The Meatrix movies too.

Huge congratulations go out to Chef Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff-Gray of Equinox Restaurant in Washington, DC. They just won the 2008 “Fine Dining of the Year” award from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington!

What makes this so special is that Todd and Ellen are both committed to local sustainable food - Todd was promoting it in his restaurant before people even knew what the term “local” meant. The mission on their website states, “Chef Gray uses fresh, organic, and local ingredients giving his food a distinctly Mid-Atlantic flavor. Equinox is fully committed to the connotation of its namesake, seasonal cooking using products harvested in accordance with the environment and the earth’s natural tempo.”

And what makes it even more special for us here at Sustainable Table is that we not only support the work that Todd and Ellen do (and love their food!), we’re hoping to be able to do something together with them in the future. Perhaps a Washington DC Rock the Grill?…. You’ll have to stay tuned to find out….

This article made me laugh and so I thought I’d share it with you.

Study finds hormone may make dairy farming greener (Reuters) “Cornell University paid for the study, done with the help of Roger Cady of Monsanto Co, maker of the bovine growth hormone Posilac. The study focused on environmental, not safety, issues.” Hmmm, if we aren’t so worried about our own safety or the safety of the animals, this might be a good idea.

A little about rBGH: A 1991 report by Rural Vermont, a nonprofit farm advocacy group, revealed serious health problems with the rBGH-injected cows that were part of a Monsanto-financed study at the University of Vermont. Problems included an alarming rise in the number of deformed calves and dramatic increases in mastitis, a painful bacterial infection of the udder which causes inflammation, swelling, and puss and blood secretions into milk. To treat mastitis outbreaks, the dairy industry relies on antibiotics.

Continue reading about rBGH here.

Dawn and I are back and (nearly) recovered from LOHAS and our Bonnaroo to Boulder trip, so I thought I’d share a little information about LOHAS and why we were there. LOHAS stands for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability – it’s basically a segment of the market that’s been identified by business so companies can target their products toward green consumers. (You didn’t think big business would ignore the sustainable movement forever, did you?…)

Each year, there’s a LOHAS conference, where all types of green (and maybe some wannabe green) businesses come together to talk about sustainable trends and what’s happening in the marketplace, and to connect with each other. Sustainable Table went because we’re interested in seeing where sustainability and green is going in business and to see if there might be any opportunities for us with a for-profit sustainably-minded business.

First, I can say green/sustainable is going to be everywhere, if it isn’t already. In just a few short years, we’ve gone from 20 percent of the population knowing about green products and 80 percent not knowing anything to a complete flip, with today 80 percent knowing about green and 20 percent not aware of what’s happening. What that means is big business is now getting involved in the green and/or sustainable movement (I consider them two things – which might be another post in itself…), partly because consumers are demanding it, partly because companies can make more money from it, and partly because there are employees at companies who do care about our environment, health and the future of the planet.

In my opinion, the highlight of the conference was the discussion between Whole Foods and Walmart, led by Simran Sethi (who joined us last year for a few days on the Eat Well Guided Tour of America). I have to admit up front that I’m biased. Even though some people in my food world put Whole Foods down and criticize their practices, I think they mean well, and I think they’re trying to be sustainable.

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A few things to check out:

The New Amsterdam Market this Sunday in NYC.  It will be the 3rd market so far: “In its ongoing effort to foster a regional, sustainable food system by establishing a permanent, indoor public market in the City of New York, the New Amsterdam Public Market Association will hold its third market on Sunday, June 29th at the Seaport in Lower Manhattan.”

Get some Alaskan Wild Salmon from the Elfish Company - order by June 30th.  Turns out that California and Oregon have closed their salmon fisheries due to unsustainable practices, but the Alaska salmon are still abundant and returning to the stream.  The season is short and the demand for this certified Eco-Sustainable (by the Marine Stewardship Council) fish will be high.

Oh the mini roadtrip “From Bonnaroo to Boulder” does not end!  Check out the newest post about LOHAS and sustainable restaurants in Boulder.  There are some new pics too.  And you should be on the look out for the next posting from Diane about a very interesting panel discussion between Simran Sethi - Sustainable Journalist,  Michael Besancon - Whole Foods Market, and… are you ready? Rand Waddoups - senior director of strategy and sustainability at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.  Should be interesting!

Now that “From Bonnaroo to Boulder”, our mini-roadtrip, is over, it’s time to digest all we learned and look forward to our next adventure (we think it’ll be the end of August - stay tuned…). And we’ll probably have a few more posts with our thoughts about the trip and all the fantastic people we met along the way (and we really met some amazing people!)

While we were in Tennessee at the Bonnaroo festival, we were able to talk with people and learn about their efforts to make the festival as sustainable as possible. Following is an excerpt from our Sustainable Table Tour Journal about Bonnaroo and sustainability. You can read the full post here…. We also hope to bring you a feature article on all the efforts Bonnaroo is making to be as sustainable as possible.

Sunday, June 15: Bonnaroo is a four-day music and arts festival on farmland in Tennessee, so why would Sustainable Table be interested in being part of what some see as a rock concert for 80,000 people? Sustainability, pure and simple. Bonnaroo is on the forefront of sustainability when it comes to gatherings for large amounts of people, and what they’re doing is on the forefront of the sustainability movement within their field.

To give a little background on the festival, it started in 2001. The promoters were all Phish/Grateful Dead fans, and lived a sustainable lifestyle without really labeling themselves as such. They believed in giving back to the planet, reducing waste and consumption, and in community and being locally based. And that ethic has been with Bonnaroo since Day 1, and it only gets stronger each year.

Read more….

O!Burger grand opening in West Hollywood, sounds yummy (they’ve been open a couple of weeks now… has anyone given them a try?) :

HEALTHY, QUICK AND TASTY! LOS ANGELES’ FIRST ORGANIC FAST FOOD BURGER JOINT

Offering Grass Fed Beef, Free Range Turkey, Hot Dogs, O!Taters and a variety of other High Quality, High Taste, Healthy Dining Options

West Hollywood, California - May 28, 2008 - O!burger, Los Angeles’ first fast food burger house using only certified organic ingredients, today announced the launch of its flagship outlet on Santa Monica Boulevard in the heart of West Hollywood.

O!burger aims to revolutionize L.A.’s fast food marketplace by offering a quick, tasty and healthy alternative for Angelenos on the go. From grass fed beef to free range turkey to hot dogs, salads and French fries, the menu at O!burger offers the tastiest and healthiest options available to hungry locals. And that’s because every ingredient is 100% certified organic.

The restaurant, the brainchild of former personal chef Andy Soboil and film producer Martha Chang, celebrates its grand opening on May 31st, 2008.

“At O!burger, we’re giving diners the chance to have a delicious yet healthy and nutritious meal in a short time at a reasonable price - because more and more that’s what their busy lives require,” said co-owner and head chef Andy Soboil.

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I’m sorry that we have been neglecting our blog. I do hope that you have had time to check out pictures on our flickr.com account and read our tour journal to see that we haven’t been neglecting our jobs - we’ve just been focused on our mini road-trip, “From Bonnaroo to Boulder!”

We have made it to Boulder… driven from TN all the way to CO. It was a beautiful drive and it actually went by pretty quickly. Along the way we made as many stops as we could to visit with people who contacted us about places just off of our route. Every stop was amazing and you can read all about them in our tour journal.

I’m going to cut and paste a little bit of the most current stop we made at the largest heritage turkey farm in Colorado to visit with Dallas Gilbert:

Dallas Gilbert met us as we came up to the house and we got started on the tour of his turkey farm, called Tedach Ranch (he also has Pilgrim Geese, Khaki Campbell Ducks, Donkeys and a pet Rooster!). Dallas has owned these 70 acres since the 80s – but he hasn’t always had a farm here. Originally he was going to raise a just few chickens for himself… he wasn’t happy about where his food was coming from – not a lot of sustainable or organic options then. These few chickens soon became too many for himself, so he started sharing them with family and friends, and now he has a heritage turkey farm that is the largest in CO. Last year he had over 400 turkeys, while this year, due to a cold winter, he will only have about 300 for the season. Did I mention that in addition to all of this, Dallas has a full time job at the local post office? This man is dedicated to his turkeys!

He sells his heritage turkeys through his CSA (www.EasternPlains.com) where he also coordinates selling of local beef. The heritage turkeys are Blue Slate and they end up being 3 different colors- all blue, blue with black spots and all black. He keeps the males separate to control the blood lines of the birds. He also has geese – pilgrim geese which he sells as meat, and ducks that he has for eggs. The geese supposedly have a great personality and their babies are little fuzzy balls. The babies we saw were more like teenage size, but they were still pretty fuzzy and were completely entertained by a kiddie swimming pool.

Read the rest here.