maniiiiiif!

Roulez bio, roulez vélo.

"Ride organic. Ride a bike" was the message of the day. Joe & I got ourselves out and participated in our first "manifestation". The translation for this is tricky, since it depends on the mood. Riot. Protest. Demonstration. I'd say today was a solid mix of protest & demonstration. We met near the station to get ourselves excited before starting the ride around town.

The demonstration was led by a group of bicycle advocates pushing for more logical traffic regulations: Give fines to cars parked on sidewalks & in bike lanes. Give fines to bikes on sidewalks. Do NOT give fines to bikes that are dodging traffic because they are forced out of their bike lane. Do NOT give fines of 50 euros to someone on their bike who has to go on the sidewalk to get to a bike rack.

Don't want us riding on your tram line? Give us another option, because "On en ai pour deux minutes," as the signs said. We're only there for two minutes. We're decreasing traffic. We're decreasing CO2 emissions. We're decreasing the price of the gas you still use. So decrease the aggression towards bikers.

This is a cause that Joe and I have gotten increasingly passionate about while being here. We've loved being without a car, & we hope to make it as much of a lifestyle choice as possible when we get back to the States, where bicycler's rights are also still a point of confusion for most people. (I rarely ride without someone shouting, "Get on the sidewalk!")

It was fun to get out & support the cause, which got us more excited about continuing the fight when we get back to the States. It was even more fun to note that the average age of the protest (especially for the rollerbladers who shot ahead of the group to block intersections that we could cruise through) was 50. It was fun to watch the children in their safety seats or on their tricycles, shouting with the rest of us to "Make way for the bus" or "Get that car out of the bike lane!"

The rollerblading groups would block intersections like teachers on a field trip with elementary school kids, then our group would slowly ride through the intersection ringing out bells & disregarding the red light. For the most part, people were patient (even the police that drove past). Those that weren't served to prove our point: We're not respected and neither are traffic laws.

Two motorcyclists got tired of waiting & sped around us. While we closed in on one, he eased off to the side & sped up on the sidewalk, zipping past us & revving his engine all the way. We stopped to clap & cheer for the expensive gasoline he was wasting for himself & the lack of people he was impressing, because what boosts spirits more in a rally than mocking your opponent?

The second motorcyclist wasn't nearly as entertaining. While we filled the street (this time on a green light & moving at a fairly normal speed), he zipped along the far lane & didn't slow down when he nearly clipped the bike in front of him–which held a two-year old child. It made one parent's sign all the more pertinent: A baby on board in Nancy = a baby dead? (The baby seemed unaware of the potential danger & sat happily in his buggy, sipping juice box.)

Things got most heated when we passed a car parked on the sidewalk, in the bike lane, in the middle of an intersection. This was too much, & one of the veteran bike advocates couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a point. This parking is common when the French want to pop into the post office or bakery. They leave their hazards & assume that all traffic laws disappear in the flashing lights. So, one of our leaders began wrapping the car in red & white police tape.

When the owner of the car returned, he began unwrapping the car. It continued this way for several minutes: one wrapping while the other unwrapped. "It's funny, ok. Enough," the owner would say. "But it's not funny. It's illegal," the crowd replied. So, the evil, gas-guzzling, law-breaking villian balled up the police tape & threw it to the ground.

BAD decision in front of a group of aging environmentalists. Bells ringing. Trumpets blasting. Children chanting. Bikes closing in on the small, European SUV. The older "leader" finally gave the man his ball of police tape–forcibly showed it into his back seat–and told us to carry on, up the narrow streets where cars were forced to stop & take note.

I don't know how much gasoline was wasted today as cars stopped to let us pass. I don't know how many drivers were inspired by us instead of completely enervated. I do know that I felt a lot of support from the kids on the sidewalk, who'll soon have to make the choice between driving & biking. I felt support from shouted from the windows & from shoppers walking between stores. I felt like I was a part of something too right, too big & too exciting to die out.

We'll keep riding & people will keep joining. Vive la Révolution!

For more pictures of our adventure today, click over to my Flickr.

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food rules: what's a CSA?

Tell me what you eat, & I will tell you what you are.

Leave it to a French epicure (one with a "refined palate") to give us this famous food quote. Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) was a busy man–defending capital punishment as an active citizen, defending people as a lawyer, fleeing the revolution when they wanted his head, defending food & refined taste. In fact, he spend so much time defending good diets (especially diets low in sugar & white flour, which is fascinating), that he has a cheese & a cake named after him.*

The "gâteau Savarin" matters because it is the same style as the "rhum baba"–& both cakes were "introduced to France" via Stanislas, right here in Lorraine.*  Since our friends who passed their oven on to us also passed on a mold for this cake, it's the next cake I'll be baking.

The quote above matters because we all say it. We've all heard it, but many of us don't take the time ot think about it. If we are what we eat, then most Americans would be an ear of corn in a cardboard box. We would be heavy on fat & light on lean (which is true, really*).

Organizations like Slow Food & countless community-supported agriculture groups are working to bring food back to the center of the community. It's what human life has always centered around. Look at classic examples from Christianity–the sermon on the mount, the weekly sharing of "communion" or the Eucharist. Humans have always broken bread together, have always spent these intimate moments in their communities.

So then what is community-support agriculture (CSA)? The program is all over Europe, as it started in Germany & Switzerland before reaching us in the States. The focus is on local agriculture & sustainable farming practices. It means we're relying on local farmers (of all sizes), the seasons, the weather & each other. The CSA Wikipedia page gives us three key points to the program:

1. a transparent, whole season budget for producing a specified wide array of products for a set number of weeks a year

2. a common-pricing system where producers and consumers discuss and democratically agree to pricing based on the acceptance of the budget;

3. a ‘shared risk and reward’ agreement, i.e. that the consumers receive what the farmers grow even with the vagaries of seasonal growing.

Communities all over the United States (search for yours here). They're subscribing to a monthly fee that gives them access to local produce, seasonal surprises, a sense of community, a better understanding of farming & largely organic produce at lower prices. A huge help: you go pick up your box of produce (or in some cases delivered), which really cuts down on your grocery shopping.

We were lucky enough to sample a CSA while staying in St. Louis when one of our good friends was out of town. She & her family gave us their CSA allotment for the week. We came home with two sacks of produce, fresh honey, & some things that were a bit of an adventure to cook with–lemongrass & fish. (We were broke & not branching out much.) We're excited to join one when we get to Bloomington, but I'll be honest. The initial payment is a little frightening, ranging from $150 to $500.

But remember–you're buying weeks of groceries with that payment, & you're getting all fresh, safe produce. I encourage you to at least look at the options in your area. If nothing else, it's fun to see what local farmers are up to.

I've really enjoyed sharing my passion for sustainable food with you this week, & I hope you've all gotten something out of it. Next week, I'll get back to telling you about life in Nancy. I look forward to hearing about your food adventures!

Have you considered or participated in a CSA? What have you liked/disliked most about this week's posts?

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food rules: why organic is expensive

"You're charging me four dollars for lettuce that you didn't even DO anything to? It sat in the sun for a few months. You picked it, put it in a truck & now I pay FOUR DOLLARS?!"

I know. I've had those thoughts, too. I get made that all-natural shampoo is more than twice the price of the others that smell equally pleasant. I know it seems contrary to do less to a product & charge more for it... but it turns out organic isn't "hands off" farming. The absence of chemicals & genetic modification (mostly the case with organics, but not always) means the farmer has less of an output in supplies, but he has a much harder time getting the produce to market.

Obtaining organic status is an arduous process, which you can start here or read more about here. Part of the process is annual investigations & testing. Not only does farmers have to use organic farming methods–relying only on nature & the heartiness of plants–but they must make sure the soil remains uncontaminated by chemicals. Do their neighbors have chemicals sprayed? Do the chemicals drift on the wind? Unlike most farmers, it's more than their crops they're forced to worry about.

So let's break it down, according to the USDA's requirements:
1. Products labeled "organic" have at least 95 percent of their ingredients coming from organic farms; the remainder must be from the approved (& vaguely titled) National List of other things. The USDA explains that "organic products cannot be produced using excluded methods, sewage sludge, or ionizing radiation." This makes me wonder about other products...

2. If processed foods say "Made with Organic Ingredients," you're looking at ingredients that are at least 70 percent organic. If they have less than 70 percent organics, they can't list the product as organic in on the "principal display," meaning it won't say Organic Soup but the ingredients will list organic carrots.

3. The USDA has no restrictions on "truthful labeling claims" like “no drugs or growth hormones used,” “free range,” or “sustainably harvested.”

Looking past the extra care this takes, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations gives us a great list of reasons for higher prices of organic foods:

1. Organic food supply is limited as compared to demand.
2. Production costs for organic foods are typically higher because of greater labour inputs per unit of output and because greater diversity of enterprises means economies of scale cannot be achieved.
3. Post-harvest handling of relatively small quantities of organic foods results in higher costs because of the mandatory segregation of organic and conventional produce, especially for processing and transportation.
4. Marketing and the distribution chain for organic products is relatively inefficient and costs are higher because of relatively small volumes.

This doesn't make us feel any better about buying that organic label or increase our grocery budget, but it does put the work that goes into organic food in a little better context. If you want "organic" but can't afford it, don't feel discouraged! There are loads of unofficial, uncertified organic options. Many of them can be found in co-ops or farmers' markets. Do you grow your own food? Do your neighbors have a garden?

And don't forget–I mentioned in Monday's post that some produce is less necessary to buy as organic (those foods you can peel, where the pesticides can't get to the flesh inside) while others should be your first-priority organics (things like berries, where there is virtually no difference between skin and flesh).

How do you feel about organics? Are there products you always/never buy in the organic section? What got you buying them?

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food rules: animals RULE!

On January 1, 2009 I decided to be a vegetarian. There were several occasions where I broke down & ate meat: times people made me dinner or times when I had a craving & went to the local butcher. Since moving to France, I've had the chance to eat more meat. The packaging is required to tell me where it came from and, in some cases, how it was raised–in a cage or in open air.

Before I begin this post, it's important that we establish something. While I love animals & can't stand to see them in pain, I did not become a vegetarian because I wanted to save some chickens. I didn't stop eating meat so that I could be friends with cows. Stop thinking that right now. I stopped eating meat because industrialized farming stopped providing me with healthy options. Just because it's white meat or lean meat or not fried meat does not mean it's healthy. To begin making this point, let me ask you a question...

If you spend a few days eating a bunch of processed sugars–bread, pasta, cake, cookies, candy bars, soda–what happens to your body? Do you feel more energetic or less? Do you feel lighter or heavier?

If this diet becomes your lifestyle, do you become more athletic or less? Could you more easily run a marathon or even bicycle to work instead of drive? Could you play basketball with your kids more easily? Could you lose weight & have lean muscles?

Then it is illogical that we take animals from their natural diet (grass) to a diet that a diet far higher in sugary starches–a diet that is almost only corn. The argument is that corn "beefs" up animals faster. They get market-size in around six weeks, which is convenient; after six weeks the diet will start to deteriorate their digestive system*. So while we're searching for the leanest, most skinless meat, the industry is producing heavier, fatter animals that rely on antibiotics to support the changes in their body. Here are two quick facts from two quality articles:

Switching a cow from grass to grain is so disturbing to the animal’s digestive system that it can kill the animal if not done gradually and if the animal is not continually fed antibiotics.*

Corn has been criticized as being unsustainable based on the unusual amount of fertilizer, water and machinery required to bring it to harvest...*

So let's summarize: While America tries to break itself from an epidemic of obesity, our farmers are forced (based on subsidies & increased demand) to rely on unsustainable practices. They're forced to sell us lower quality meat–meat that has less meat per pound & more corn/soy than ever before.* We're feeding animals corn, a crop that has become dependent on a constant supply of chemicals (WOW–is that a post for another day!). Conclusion: Bad news bears...

This sort of farming produces 16.6 billion tons of excrement a year*, making it the leading the leading cause of air AND runoff pollution. (Read: The excrement is tainting water supplies & increasing E. coli outbreaks in food.)

I haven't even touched on the industrial processing yet... And I'm not going to in this post. I want to leave this on a positive note: There is a butcher in your town. A real one. I know it. No one is asking you to be fully vegetarian (though in some countries its rather easy, & you can find pieces of those diets everywhere). "Well what can I do to fight 16.6 billion tons of excrement?" you're asking yourself.

Go to the butcher. Ask him where the meat comes from. Ask him what sort of farms they are. Avoid CAFO meat. Yes, it's a bit more expensive. Grass-fed is even more expensive. Bison is a bitchy meat. Free-range eggs feel like they should come dipped in gold. But don't feel guilty splurging on it.

Spending extra means you'll buy less–you'll consume less meat, which we know is good for our hearts. You'll enjoy the flavor more, since it's hidden under less corn additive. You'll be supporting your local economy. Animals on their natural diets never ravel as far. That means you're ALSO saving CO2 emissions. Look at you! You're dominating environmentalism & sustainable eating!

Millions of people around the world are also participating in Meatless Mondays, a sacrifice that started during WWII to help with rations & show solidarity. Show solidarity to the farmers & to the health of our species by participating now. Then, look! You're only buying healthy meat for, at most, SIX days a week. It's all about baby steps, but you've got to start walking at some point.

P.S. If this got you interested, continue reading here for facts that you can use to share the idea of sustainable farming & eating with others.

Are you eating meat? Where are you getting it? How do you feel about industrialized farming? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

*Facts from Food, Inc.

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food rules: ingredient lists

Yesterday, when this week of posts started, I talked about reading labels of processed foods you want to bring home. (Not sure what qualifies as "processed food"? It's hard to tell sometimes, & they're not ALL out to get us. Click here to read more about how we define them.)

One of the most important things to look at when picking up anything outside of the produce section is the ingredient lists. We know the four big bad guys, but often the names of these ingredients are changed. You add up the other kinds of fat, & a gram isn't accounted for... This tells you something. It says "vegetable oil" when really it means "palm oil". You only learn what's in the vegetable oil by calling the manufacturer. 

In his book "In Defense of Food", Michael Pollan suggests not buying anything with more than five ingredients. I realize that if your buying frozen pizza or minestrone, you could have five vegetables in there. The rule may not work for ALL processed foods. The rule is helpful when you're looking at things like, say, the standard loaf of bread. Bread is a simple thing to make:

bread, pinch of salt, yeast, water–maybe grains or seeds or cinnamon to change it up

The standard list for a loaf of bread at a grocery looks something like this (Wonder Bread, in this case):

Whole wheat flour, water, wheat gluten, high fructose corn syrup, contains 2% of less of: soybean oil, salt, molasses, yeast, mono and diglycerides, exthoxylated mono and diglycerides, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium iodate, calcium dioxide), datem, calcium sulfate, vinegar, yeast nutrient (ammonium sulfate), extracts of malted barley and corn, dicalcium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, calcium propionate (to retain freshness).

But okay, we know we need preservatives. We know white bread is the devil. So let's look at a healthier example, like Nature's Own. No High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)–which deserves its own post & still has yet to be fully tested for negative effects on human health– & no "artificial" things... but lots of other extras:

STONE GROUND WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, BROWN SUGAR, YEAST, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: SALT, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN OIL OR CANOLA OIL), DOUGH, CONDITIONERS (SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM, STEAROYL-2-LACTYLATE, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM IODATE, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, DATEM), CULTURED WHEAT FLOUR, VINEGAR, CALCIUM SULFATE, MONOCALCIUM, PHOSPHATE, YEAST FOOD (AMMONIUM SULFATE), SOY LECITHIN

I don't know about you, but I don't want to eat ammonium sulfate. And I don't have to. "Yeast food"? Yeast don't exactly have discriminatory tastes. They eat sugars. Give them sugar or malts. We adding to our foods to make them stretch, to produce them for less. Over the last fifty years, our priorities have shifted. We've gone from spending almost a quarter of our budget on food to spending less than 10 percent*.

This is not because it takes less money to feed a family, or because it's gotten more affordable. In fact, prices around the world have jumped higher this year*. Millions more are expected to depend on international aid. But we miss the increase, because we're not buying any real corn or wheat or soy beans. We're buying them broken down & mixed with conditioner, chemicals & preservatives. Our foodstuff prices are staying the same.

This means we're getting less of less, instead of more for less. We're giving up real food for the sake of convenience. So this year, take some time & read the labels. Put the food–the grains, real vegetables & nutrients–back into the grocery cart. Look for ingredient lists that are...
1. comprehensible: Can you pronounce the words? If not, does it explain to you what they are?
2. without HFCS: Independent studies (studies NOT funded by the farming industry) show us that it does not satisfy the sugar craving & results in overeating. Our bodies don't know what to do with it. 
3. without colors: Nix, for example, red 40–a natural substance, but not one you want to eat. It's 99 percent coal tar derivatives (and not ticks, like we thought)*. 

So start there. Start getting the fake things out of your diet. You may be unable to buy things like Pop Tarts or fitness bars, but that means you'll be replacing them with heartier, more energy-packs whole grains–or at least less sugars. Baby step into it. THEN start counting your ingredients. Sift through the canned green beans until you find the one that really is just salt, canned beans & water. It's possible, & the price difference isn't remarkable.

We can do it. We can cut out the chemicals & demand better food. Remeber: it's for us, our own health, the health of future generations &, thank goodness, the farmers. This is how democracy & "free markets" work: they're produce more vegetables & varied crops if we tell them we want it. 

Do you have suggestions for watching what we bring home? How are you avoiding processed foods? Have you finally stopped putting plastic-covered plastic dishes in the microwave? I'd love to hear about your experiences, too! Comment below.

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food rules

Don't get me wrong. I hate rules of all kinds. I think we've made food too full of rules already. This much grain, that much fat, heart-healthy, protective against x cancer... most foods fall into both categories–coffee is good for you AND bad for you. The tannins in red wine can cause AND protect against cancer? Let's face it. We're not sure what we know about food.

But when a good friend asked how she could start eating locally, I had time to stop & think about how much Joe & I have learned, are still learning. I'm by no means an authority, but I certainly hope to be in my future. Here's how I would summarize what I know. The focus of these rules is to increase healthy eating & decrease the CO2 stamp of our food: process food less, make food travel less.

Watching a French documentary yesterday from Capital Terre, we watched crawfish be caught off of France's coast, then shipped to Southeast Asia to be processed, then shipped back to France to be sold in a discount grocery. Our "modern" food industry is filled with mind-boggling nonsense like this.

One of the things that's most important to me, more than my health, more than seeing happy trees (not more than saving the planet for a future generation)–more than almost anything else–is taking America back to a time when it was the bread basket of the world. We could feed ourselves much better, independent of even industrial grocery stores, if we focused on sustainable agriculture instead of having the biggest crop yield, which then limits us to soy and corn. These rules are a nice help, but when it comes to food rules, nothing is better than shopping at local farmer's markets and shops.

Let's look at how we can add diversity into our hometown or home state food supply. I feel like I'm giving away a secret, since I just sent my friend this e-mail... but I can't resist. Hope this helps you!

1. BUY IN BULK
If you can find things not packaged in plastic & cardboard, they're probably be more nutritious–brown rice, whole grains, unsalted nuts. It's usually less expensive, healthier & covered in less plastic. Win, win, win. Really, just bring home as few boxes as possible. Boxes are always a sign that people have ruined your food.

2. GROW SOMETHING
Even if it's just a few herbs on your window sill. I had basil, chive & zinnia, which you can't eat but was nice. I tried desperately to grow an avocado & failed about seven times. I wish you better luck. You'll feel good about it and start to understand how hard it is to make things grow, if you're like me. Tomatoes are easy to grow and not expensive. I use a LOT of tomatoes, so that would save me like $5 a week. There are tons of "urban gardening" ideas now for people in cities or apartments.

3. IF YOU CAN PEEL IT, DON'T BUY THE ORGANIC
Avocados, oranges, onions, bananas. You get the idea. While I would love to buy everything organic, I can't afford it. You have to know what you can get away with.

4. IF THE SKIN'S THING, GET IT ORGANIC OR LOCALLY
Potatoes, berries, cherries. Again, you get the idea. These tend to be the most riddled with pesticides, since they're either IN the ground or more fragile. Can't find them locally? Scrub them. Then scrub them again.

5. FREEZE, DON'T CAN
 I'm not trying to take down the famiy tradition of canning. Salsa, jams, soups. Great. But canning "fresh" vegetables means boiling them & adding salt, which lowers nutrient value. Freezing requires less salt & preservatives, and it also means your food wasn't overly boiled. You get more in bigger bags instead of smaller cans. So whether you're buying more in summer to save for winter or buying off-season stuff at the store, you have more nutrients.

6. READ LABELS
No. Really read them. This rule has several parts, because everything has several labels. Ask yourself...
(a) Is this healthy? Everything has palm oil & chicken parts. Learn the code words for these things. Palm oil is a disaster for your health and the environment. It has taken over Borneo, and it absorbs 1/3 of the CO2 that the natural vegetation would (from "Capital Terre" last night). It's often disguised as "vegetable oil" as well.
(b) HOW was the food produced? If you can find a fair trade version of the boxed foodstuff you want to buy, do it. Solidarity & safety here. Most of the ethical companies use less pesticides by nature, because they rely on smaller farmers. It is also a way to "justify" the traveling that the food had to do. Killing two birds with one box.
(c) Where did it come from? Look at all those stickers on your apples & potatoes & tomatoes. If you search hard enough, even in big stores, you can find a more local option of seasonal produce. It takes some dedication, but you can find something closer to you.

7. LEARN ABOUT THE SEASONS
This was something I'd been wanting to do, and something that France forced us to do. We know what the obvious foods of the seasons are, but we don't pay attention to the rest. We can buy whatever we want at any time of year. Here, they have a lot more seasonal produce. Some things, you just can't find in summer/winter (berries or butternut squash or peaches). Food is more fresh & therefore more nutritious when it's in season. Make this fun–try seasonal recipes & new foods, like turnips or squash in the fall, to enjoy each season.

8. ADD SOME SOY
America grows more of it than the rest of the world, so why not learn to eat it? Then we might keep more of it in the domestic food supply. If you want to buy organic, soy is cheaper than cow's milk. It's also better for you. The estrogen business they scare you with doesn't kick in until you have about an entire carton a day. (I've lost the source for that fact, but I promise I've researched that.) It also has a great, nutty taste. If you substitute it in some baking things (not all, as it's hard to do better than real, whole milk for baking), it adds the same flavor as a bit of hazelnut oil. Want something even sweeter & nuttier? Try almond milk. Sip those saved dollars & savor it.

9. MAKE IT FUN
Research new recipes. So many cultures have mostly vegetarian diets by nature. So many recipes can be converted to vegetarian. Try to replace one thing you make a week by making it yourself. Make a batch of potato chips or a loaf of bread or some tortillas just for the experience (and the taste--oh, man the taste). That way, you can have fun, change it up & save some processed foods from your diets. (Assuming you're using whole wheat flour or local corn. Also assuming you like baking/cooking, which I think you do.)

To make all this less overwhelming, I'll be doing a post about food each day this week.
Monday: Food Rules
Tuesday: Ingredient Lists
Wednesday: Animals RULES! (eating meat)
Thursday: Why Organic is Expensive
Friday: Community-Supported Agriculture

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le st-valentin

*Photo from Lady L, taken from this blog

Joe & I are planning on getting our Yellow Bird Project shirts for each other for Valentine's Day, since we have yet to order them. We're also hoping to go to an art nouveau restaurant in town, since it's where a lot of that movement happened in town. (A post on that later, which should be fun.) This got me thinking, though. Instead of more roses or more teddy bears, how could we treat ourselves & the planet better this Valentine's Day?

Like I did for Christmas, I'm putting together a list of fun gift ideas to show that just because you're thinking sustainably doesn't mean you're giving everyone incense & a hemp sweater. So, let's see what we've got. (Apologies for most of these things being focused on the ladies. Guys don't get as much attention on this holiday... though let's be honest. Who's enjoying the lingerie more?)

1. Jewelry: Don't worry. We're not talking diamonds (though it's easier and easier to find ethical diamonds). Ten Thousand Villages, along with hundreds of other fun things for your home, has great jewelry that you can feel good about wearing everyday. I love buying my sister jewelry, and the flower necklace I got her from Ten Thousand Villages is still one of my favorite finds. You can find all styles & things to fit your small, college student price range.

2. Clothing: Green Earth Bamboo has lots of  sustainable linens & clothing, like this simple, sexy nightgown that–if you're a bit daring–they say doubles as a dress.

3. Skip gifts & go for experience: Instead of giving lots of plastic packaging, wrapping paper that will get tossed or lotion that will get used up, Mother Nature Network (in their own collection of gift ideas) suggests buying future memories–tickets to a favorite sports team's coming game or yoga classes. (Hint :)

4. Valentine's Day Dinner: Instead of going to the restaurant that needed reservations a month ago, check out what your hometown has to offer in terms of local food. Can you find local fare, or restaurants that buy food from local supplies? Can you buy ingredients at local co-ops or groceries to make a unique meal–maybe trying turnips or fresh yogurt for the first time?

And what dinner is complete without a cheers with some bubbly or wine? If you're like us & enjoy trying new wines as much as possible, why not check out some of these organic options for similar prices?

5. Chocolate: Duh! We all love it, but what we don't realize is that chocolate is a nasty business–damaging to the environment & to the human spirit, as one of the biggest sources of human trafficking. So when you're buying your sweetie those extra somethings special, make it EXTRA special by removing the guilt. Most cruelty-free or ethically-traded chocolate says so right on the label. They usual tells a nice story or gives facts about how much the workers appreciate it & love making chocolate for you. So love them back & learn moderation. Instead of the jumbo-sized box, buy a nice bar in your Valentine's favorite flavor combination (mine's ginger & as dark & bitter as possible).

6. Good Clean Love: You knew it was coming. If you're, umm, looking for extra spice & extra sexy, why not go for all natural products? Good Clean Love has a great slogan: Chemistry without chemicals. So instead of smearing God-knows-what on your most precious parts, why not try out these (truly innocent-seeming) products or these (less innocent-seeming, based on the book covers) gift sets?

If you do try them out, please. Please. Do not feel obligated to come back & tell me how great they are. I'm happier for you when I don't have to hear about it.

7. Flowers: I know. It's the best feeling to open the door to an armful of flowers. They touch all the senses, & it's an emotional experience that is hard to match. So when you head to the florist, try a gift that'll keep on giving. Instead of a dozen roses, buy a rose bush. Check out your state's native species & bring back a bit of true natural habitat. My favorite spin on bouquets?

"Stranger than Fiction"


Truly thoughtful, which is the point of the holiday, isn't it?

So there we have it. An update on all the classics. Hugs & kisses from France. We love you. With red & white hearts & boxes covered in tissue paper & doilies & conversation hearts & naked children with dangerous primitive weapons.


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day 9, someone you wish you could meet

Day 9. Someone you wish you could meet

Mr. Pollan,

I read my first book by you when I was a sophomore in college, only three years ago. I haven't stopped reading them, stopped passing them on to my friends and family, or stopped feeling like you beat me to writing the books I'd always wanted to write.

I haven't stopped being inspired by you either. Since I started reading–while researching a paper that ended up changing my life & e-mailing you everyday, naively thinking I could get an interview with you–your web site has gotten a lot better. You've had more appearances. You've given great TED speeches (like the one I showed in this blog post). You've sold millions of books.

I wanted to apply to Berkeley because you're there. I wanted everyone to read your book, to understand the thoughts that had been running through my head that you had made so easy for people to understand.

Like the wine that surrounds me in this country, my excitement for your work has mellowed and matured, come into itself. I would love to meet you, to thank you for what you've done–for me, for the millions of people that have read your books, for farmers in communities where people are starting to seek local produce again. I want to ask you what the next step is.

Where do we go from here? What do we do after we read, before we can afford to buy a house and have a garden? What do we do when we know better, but we can't yet afford to do better? How do we break the idea that this is a yuppy trend–to eat local food and care about the ground that held it? How do we stop making rules and start making sense?

Thanks for writing,
Megan

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day 24 of the 30 day book challenge

Day 24. A book that you wish more people would’ve read

Michael Pollan is one of my favorite people, writers, journalists & food activists. He's written books–from talking about his experience trying to grow weed & potatoes, having his own Thoreau-ian experience & changing what he eats.

He started out as a journalist who just happened to be a garden. Now, he's an authority–the strongest voice of the movement to start knowing your food & its sources/ingredients again. "The Omnivore's Dilemma" launched him into the national spotlight, & he's since been talking all over, writing more & narrating one of my favorite documentaries.

I found Pollan while researching my big journalism project during my second year of college–write a really, really long paper about a public policy question. Mine: Should the government allow us to continue with destructive genetic mutations & industrial farming that are, in the end, harming our environment, food supplies, water supplies & diet? (Now, it was a journalism course. I framed it a BIT more objectively than that at the time.) I haven't let this cause go since. Neither has he.

Though "The Omnivore's Dilemma" was his greatest success, I don't want to recommend it for a first read. It can seem too didactic & snobby for those of us that still only have the budget for Wal*Mart & imported goods smothered in chemicals. (Though, if we're honest, most local corn would be smothered in chemicals, too.)

Instead, I suggest "In Defense of Food," Pollan's next book that was, in a sense, a response to the response to "The Omnivore's Dilemma." It says, "Hey. This is our situation. This is what's happening to our food, & we can't all change everything at once." He then walks you through ways you can change your diet–new ways to start looking at your diet to add or subract foods–in a way that's inspiring. The inspiring bit is important, because I know I'm not the only one that could read a book like this & leave feeling like a failure.

Before you start judging this book by its topic, I want to promise something. I promise that you'll learn something. I promise that it is possible to make changes to your diet that brings your food closer to home. I promise that you'll look at Wal*Mart differently. I promise that a small group of people in your community, no matter where you are, is working on increasing accessibility to locally-grown food; you can find them.

Pollan's argument is that over the past few decades, the amount of money each family is willing to pay for food (versus furniture, clothes, travel...) is disproportionately low. We NEED to be willing to spend more for good food, to support a local structure & to SUPPORT our bodies with fewer chemicals & more nutrients. I know. It already sounds overwhelming. So let Pollan walk you through it, because we can all make small changes together.

I truly love this guy. Listen to his small TED talk to see what he's like before reading:









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the philosophy of "choosing one"

There are several passions in my life that pull equal weight–my writing, my draw to environmental/feminist-related nonprofit organizations & the French language. And then there is my number one dream: to open a café/bakery in the traditional style that would serve as a nonprofit forum. I've always known that these things were meant to play a role in my life, each in a different way. I knew I couldn't give one up. I just didn't know how they would come together yet.

When I began choosing graduate school programs, I began getting even more advice about "choosing "one" than I'd gotten when I casually talked about what I wanted from life (to write essays, to dedicate myself to nonprofit work, to bake everyday). "It's best if you choose one," they said. "You'd have better chances of getting in; you'd look like a stronger candidate."

This idea was terrifying to me. It felt as if I would be tearing my soul–I'd be forced to horcrux myself, hiding my passions in bits of my past to feel like they were still, in some way, a part of me. I couldn't bear it. I couldn't choose one passion without having it be intrinsically linked to all other desires.

Yesterday, Joe showed me an article about an incredible man that was seemingly in a similar state of mind. Shelton Johnson is a poet, an activist and an employee of the national park service. He has won awards for his writing, got Oprah to visit Yosemite and has published books. Here's a bit of his awesomeness*:

He served with the Peace Corps in Liberia and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, where he won several writing awards, including a Hopwood Award in poetry.

Johnson didn't choose one of his passions when he began earning his MFA. He found a way to bring them all together. He didn't limit himself to one way of changing the world: he touches lives through his writing, his work at national parks and his efforts (via Oprah) to bring more Blacks to national parks.

Johnson reminded me that it's possible, that passion doesn't mean choice. It means struggling to bring it all together. It means those feeling in your gut, in your throat–the ones that tear at you when you when you try to let it go, when you try not to worry or to fix or to push for–are meant to be a part of you. You just have to find the reason.

As Vladimir Nabokov wrote in Speak, Memory,

I like to fold my magic carpet, after use, in such a way as to superimpose one part of the pattern upon another. Let visitors trip.

Though I don't speak of memory, the sentiment is the same. We take the images that matter most, the feelings that form who we are, and fold them together to superimpose or image on the world. If others can't see where it all comes together & how this brings out meaning to the work you share with others, then by all means, let them trip.

changing life goal #1

I blogged a few days ago about our efforts to be green–with money savings & low energy usage. Today, we're having to figure out how to adapt that plan a bit.

We have a wall-mounted, electric heater. We keep it set around six, keep a rolled up towel at the base of the door to block a draft & keep the bathroom door closed. This does two things: keeps our apartment very warm & keeps the bathroom freezing.

Because the bathroom stays so cold, the moisture from our showers can't evaporate. This means the tile surround for the sink stays damp. This means our apartment becomes very humid. THIS MEANS MY HAIR JUST ISN'T GOING TO LOOK RIGHT. No, but really. The humidity is threatening to cause a mildew problem, & it's making the trash smell terrible.

We're trying not to use too many trash bags & not too much energy. So, what's a broke, enviro-centric couple to do? For now, we're buying sponges & a bucket, scrubbing the walls of the bathroom before anything gets started, leaving the bathroom door open & buying some air freshener.

Why does trying to help the earth get so complicated?

an hour in three countries

To celebrate the start of our fall vacation, we headed to our landlord's house in Sierk-les-Bains for the weekend. This was a big test for us: Could our poor American stomachs handle the tartiflette, anise-flavored pastis, & the pressure of living in a language we're struggling with?

In short, yes. In short, we loved every minute of our time with our landlord's family & their good friends that were visiting from Les Vosges–from attempting to help with the kids to feeling like we were a married couple among other married couples.

One of the highlights of the weekend was a driving tour around their small French town's neighboring cities. In less than an hour, the drive took us from Sierck-les-Bains into Luxembourg, the richest (& cleanest to the point of being almost alarming) country in the world & then swung us through Germany.

We enjoyed talking about the changing architecture & languages on road signs, but the trip also opened up a discussion of the countries' energy production. Along the German border stood a row of "éolienne." It took us the rest of the day (& next morning) to get the word right: wind turbines, named after the Greek god of wind.

While swerving along the hairpin curves of the European countryside, our landlord's husband & our tour guide explained that Germany was leading the way with wind power. One article by Reuters that I read while trying to figure out how they had managed to be so ahead of the U.S. on this trend said that 16 percent of the country's energy already comes from wind–and their on track to "kick fossil fuels" by 2050.

We crossed back into France & saw a large wind turbine surrounded by the region's white wine vineyards. After winding up the hill & down a dirt road, we got to the energy park. The earth was buzzing & my ears were fuzzy from the wind when my feet hit the soggy ground outside the van.

Standing underneath the turbine was the strongest sense of fear & hope I've experienced. The near silent swoosh of the unfathomably large blades was sending power down the hillsides. The house working as an education facility near the base of the windmill had two sets of solar panels: one converting light into electricity, one heating the water.

In the distance, we could see a nuclear power center. Nuclear power now supplies 80 percent of France's electricity. While this fact is largely due to the lack of natural resources found in France, the friends we were talking with said they & those they know see nuclear energy as a positive thing for the country.

While nuclear energy requires a lot of water & has a dangerous reputation, it is serving France well & helping lower their pollution levels. France is pushing toward renewable energies & exploring all of their options by acting on them instead of falling back on oil when we're still facing a massive offshore crisis.

It was inspiring to stand on a hill & see all that's possible–four kinds of energy including the diesel moving our van along. I'll borrow words from Professor Jacquinot, scientific advisor to the French High Commissioner for Atomic Energy, found in Alysen Miller's article for CNN.

Would you rather live next to a coal power station or a nuclear power station? I have no doubt that I would choose to be next to a nuclear power station.

Be sure to check out the latest installment of Where's Joe's Head? from our wind turbine adventure, too.

I want to ride my bicycle.

After a few weeks away from throwing two euro cents into the blog, I am back.  Not only am I back, but I am back with a bicycle, a first week of teaching finished, and a story.

Story:  I was almost run over by a bus.

Of course, this happens all the time for anyone who rides a bicycle, especially on roads with no bike lanes.  Quick note:  it is legal to ride on the road, and illegal to ride on the sidewalk.  Road bike.  Side walk.  Quick note: busses don’t care because you are small and they are massive and their brakes are like sharp objects down old blackboards that seem to be saying ooooouuucccchhhhhh.  air brake.

The elementary school where I teach is roughly 15 minutes away by bicycle.  The ride is pleasant and I don’t get honked at as much as in the U.S.  The road to the school is a mix of downhill sprints and awkward intersections.  In the mornings, I pass moms and dads, nannies and grandparents, taking little kids to school, hand in hand.  Sometimes they wave, I think, because I look awesome.

My bike is used and filthy, but is solid.  Soon, when it stops raining and the sun decides to lift the city’s depression, I am going to clean it.  I think, if it were shiny, I will be less likely to be destroyed.

Now, with the first week of classes over and my route from school to home mapped out, I’m excited to add a few posts about the French elementary schools, the teacher’s lounge, and the Disney cards children hoard like canned goods in a famine.  

Here's a look at our bikes from Atelier Dynamo, a really fun group of guys helping the town fix their bikes. For more bike pictures, look at the flickr photostream.  

how we're saving

 Joe & I have high expectations for ourselves. While we can't act on all of our environmental urges at the moment, we're definitely keeping our priorities in check: looking at food labels & shopping for things that don't come wrapped in plastic an preservatives, using our feet more than our bus system, using more cold than warm water.

In some ways, being in our small apartment in our small French city has made many of these things easier. No, we don't have a garden, but we do have a fresh fruit & vegetable store that focuses on French products–and French farms are just inherently smaller than American (industrialized) farms. All of the vegetables are in bins, so  you use their paper bags to take what you want of each thing. We're limiting our waste by bringing home less plastic & bringing home the perfect amount of food for two people.

We're also drinking a lot more water. Instead of buying the bottles, we keep a jug out on the table. Nancy doesn't have the greatest water quality. (A friend told us that for some pregnant women, the amount of nitrates in the water has been a problem.) Keeping it open in the air actually allows the chlorine to evaporate, and a few other chemicals in some water treatments as well. This means that after an afternoon at work, the water on our table is better tasting & better for us than most bottle water. (No BPAs from plastics.)

While we've focused more on saving money than saving resources with our cleaning supplies from the dollar store, we've made sure that the daily products are as low-impact as possible. These are easy thing to look for and easy switches to make like...
1. buying matches (not lighters) made from sustainable farming to prevent deforestation.
2. buying eco-friendly laundry detergent, which is the same price as your fancy name brand (& better for me, since I'm allergic to a LOT of laundry detergent).
3. buying all natural dish soap or making your own!
4. keeping our organic waste (food trash) in a separate bin than the trash can.

Separating the trash means we can use small bags, like our plastic bags from shopping, for organic waste and save the large black bags until their really, really full since there is nothing to stink up the apartment in them. It's a bit of a tight fit at times, since the apartment is small, but it's a huge help and even fun to see how long we can make it last. If one couple can have no trash for a year by simply watching what comes into their home, we can make a trash bag last a month. (Big money saver too–those bags are pricey!)

The other big thing we're doing to save is not something that I honestly expect a lot of readers to start doing for themselves, though you'd be surprised how much it saves. In France, laundry is a very expensive service: 4 euros to wash a SMALL load, and most times the same amount to dry. Some places are nice & let you dry for free... but they're few & far between. The laundry mats tend to be a bit, um, rougher than a gentle cycle as well. We don't want to buy a new wardrobe, so we're doing as much as we can to save our clothing & our budget. Eight euros for one load of laundry or for two pints at the bar? Come on.

So we've started washing our laundry in the bathroom sink. If we do a small load each day–rinse, wash, rinse & really squeeze them dry–we stay pretty much on top of it. We alternate days, so I haven't even gotten blisters or calluses like I did when I studied in France last time & washed my laundry by hand. So far, we've spent 4 euros on laundry detergent & 4 euros on a drying rack. We can hook the drying rack to the end of our bed (since it was designed to hang in an RV window), and from their the clothes hang in front of the heater to dry. We're already paying the electricity for the heater to be on, so voilà. Low energy, low water & low effort for clothes that are clean & dry by the next morning.

While we don't particularly love doing laundry, we didn't look forward to going to the laundry mat back home either. It's a fair trade for the savings, and we're much more confident in our "gentle cycle" than any washing machine. When we get back to the states, I expect that we'll continue washing the more delicate pieces & our "unmentionables" by hand to continue the savings.

So now your turn. Look around your house. What can you nix? What can you trade out without really noticing? What can you turn that savings into? A date with your loved ones? More money for fresh produce? The movie you been dying to see?

The environment is a big focus for me–as are efforts to bring more "domestic" tasks home to reduce our impact & really see what we're consuming. I'd love to hear what you what kinds of projects you're up to, what kinds of things you do to save. If you have a fun story, send me an e-mail or draft a post. I'd love to share your stories, too. meganveit @ gmail . com (Remove the spaces.)

17: sunblock

So it's still going. I'm still casually packing, telling myself that this will make the end mess of big packing and cramming easier.

While with Joe, we picked up some more natural products Trader Joe's, and I was excited to see their (again, not completely but more) natural sunblock. I have serious issues with slathering white chemicals all over my body.

Granted, I haven't been the greatest at using the stuff. I was in high school. It was more important for me to be tan. I went tanning. I used tanning accelerator. Now, as members spread throughout my family struggle with cancer, I realize that there are more important things.

Like loving the way I look all year.
Like preventing skin cancer.
(And let's face it. Like not becoming one of those leathery old dames that spent too much time dipped in iodine and baby oil.)

I looked into making my own sunblock. I knew it wouldn't be as easy for our year in France (because I am afraid to translate all the ingredients correctly), but I wanted to know what that process would look like. I will spare you the re-typing and explaining. I will instead send you to instructables.

If you don't feel like jumping into making the whole thing yourself, eHow had a great idea. (Instructables mention this too, but I saw it on eHow first.) The active ingredients in store sunscreens are either zinc oxide or titanium dioxide (like I said, scary-sounding things to put on your skin!). Both are in powder form, so you can add the stuff to your favorite (all natural) lotion in a ratio of one tablespoon powder to one of cup lotion.


So if you have a kitchen of your own (wow, calling Woolf to mind) and a bit of time, try it out. The initial investment can get a bit expensive, but once everything is in stock, you're set for more than a summer.

I may choose to navigate that mess one day, but for not I'm sticking with Alba Organics' green tea sunscreen. Don't go getting all snotty on me. You know you pay too much for your Banana Boat or your Coppertone. You know that shit's overpriced. You don't know (and I don't either. Another post perhaps?) what it could be doing to you besides blocking a few rays.

So if we're already protecting ourselves with a pricier product, why not spend the extra $2 to get one that will truly wash off or let botanicals instead of chemicals seep into those tanned arms and legs?

42: cleaning & laundry detergent

On Thursday, my sister Chloe and I did some Spring cleaning in our bedroom. It brought me face to face with just how much stuff I have... not including the life I have in boxes, packed away in my parents' attic.


70 pounds? I kept repeating it to myself as I found books, sweaters, sewing kits, yarn and binders of French notes that I wanted to take with me to France. But when we get on that plane, my life can only weigh 70 pounds: 50 checked under my seat and 20 stored above my head.

I had a list of things to buy before heading over there: industrial-sized shampoo, razors, camera film, socks. Then I saw some dresses I'd forgotten about, wedged in the back of my closet. I found some shoes that would look great with those dresses. So we'll be buying those items in France. Hello, Monoprix! Ditto for my new yoga mat... I've been really wanting one since Baby peed on and chewed all corners (and most edges) off of the poor pink mat.

In an effort to save us packing space and money all around, I'm looking into money-saving, earth-saving do-it-yourself projects. For example, Kittenish posted this great recipe for making your own laundry detergent, which I already have memorized:

2 bars of soap run through the food processor/cheese grater, Borax, and Washing Soda.

Use one tablespoon per regular load. CAKE!

This works out great, because while cleaning I found a ton of those little hotel soaps. Chloe's been saving them for the end of the world, so I stole them from her. Those will go to France with us and will become our detergent.

So, in honor of this new laundry detergent discovery, I am starting a "Do It Ourselves" (DIO) series. There are tons and tons and tooooons of ways to eliminate chemicals that find their way under your sink, then drained into your water supply. I can't wait to look into them and share them here. Some will come primarily from:
The Good Housewife's Encyclopedia
bits of Real Simple  that I've saved
Mom & Grandma
E Magazine

While cleaning and having all of these thoughts run through my head, I added more cleaner to the bucket we were using to wipe everything down. It was Murphy Oil Soap, a product that's been around for more than 100 years... and is made of earth-friendly vegetable oils.

It's companies like these (actually owned by Colgate) that make me confident in a (mostly) chemical-free lifestyle. It wasn't until about half a century ago that we changed our lives and our impact on the earth–post WWII when we didn't need to endlessly make bombs. This used to be common sense. These now odd seeming home remedies used to be essential; they were all that we had. Now, they're essential for our safety. For preserving our water supply. For getting ourselves healthy again, getting the chemicals out of us. For saving a bit of environment for the coming generations.

44: driving

My car is getting dangerously close to that little, red E. I am not refilling yet. While running about in my car this morning–I can count on one hand how many times that's happened this summer–I passed gas stations. The massive oil hemorrhage  is starting to catch up to us. The lowest price in town was $2.70.

So far this summer, after driving back from St. Louis in mid-May, I have put $10 in my gas tank. This is partly because I have done absolutely no socializing. This is partly because I plan my errands around trips my family is already making or around weather, so that I can use my bike.

My goal this summer was to rely on my bicycle. I am doing much less cycling than expected, but more than any other season of my life. It's how Chloe and I get to the tennis courts and back, how I pick up my paychecks, how I run the the library and bank.

But there are more constraints than expected. For example: the humidity is averaging 80 percent. I am a news correspondent, interviewing people throughout my community. I cannot arrive at an interview in a soggy Oxford. I'm making it work, though. And I'm learning how to bike in a town that is not used to people on the roads (not that it's much different than college, when three people I know were hit by cars while riding). I'm digressing.

So the low gas consumption has been great–for my thin, thin wallet and for my mileage. I'll put another $10 in on my next trip and hope to finish out the summer with only one more purchase. Ok, so that will be a clump of purchases, for the trip to and from St. Louis in July. I'm so proud of my car and her miles/gallon, her reliability.

I bought my car from my parents when I was 16. I covered its interior with leopard print, which has been removed with the exception of the seat covers. (It was mostly a joke, but also looked great with the red. Why not?) I drove it all over Hell. To and from college on average one weekend a month. To St. Louis. Back to college or home. To Chicago, multiple times in a summer to get myself to France.

Now, I'm nearing the end of my time with her. My sister will be buying the car from me, so that it can carry her around town while she's in high school. I hope she'll keep the leopard seat covers.

I also hope this summer of little driving makes the coming trek to St. Louis less of a strain on her (the car, not my sister). I hope she'll come back ready for another high school experience (again, the car and not my sister).

I'm sad to see her go, sad to see more money go into the gas tank, sad that I slammed the poor Corsica into the side of my too-small garage after hitting an ice patch this last winter. (The old girl was looking pretty good before the white streak on her driver's front quarter panel.)

I am not sad that the next year of my life, from August to August, will include zero (said with a French accent) miles of driving and complete reliance on public transportation. What a transition this summer has been! I look forward to returning to the states, continuing a focus on public transit, biking more and finding a family car (!) that's at least a hybrid.

52: travel shopping

It's Wednesday. That's been grocery day in the Veit house for as long as I can remember. Going out shopping got me thinking of all of the this-and-thats Joe and I will need to grab before heading to France.

I've created a (still growing) list of things that we need to stock up on to get us started, focusing only on hygiene. We'll deal with any apartment/home needs once we're there. (Not that that is stopping me from bringing my wildflower seeds and sewing kit. A woman can hope.)

We're trying to start of on a very sustainable foot and keep that going for our lives, sharing it with others as much as possible. These are some essentials that were on the list from the beginning:

Okay, so these suitcases are on the wish list rather than the attainable list. They're $340 for not-so-large suitcases, but they're 100 percent post-consumer products, incredibly durable and in gorgeous colors. Of course, my parents step in and remind me to be practical. I guess buying non-recycled suitcases is okay... but that means a lot more traveling to make the investment worth it.

Now for the real essentials: Toms of Maine is my all-time favorite toothpaste, and I want to take loads of it. (Okay, two tubes to last a few months. I have to come to terms with buying a lot while we're their. It's easier for everyone.)

This Burt's Bees sunblock is another wish-ish item at $15/3.5 oz. Confession: I have not been the best at caring for my skin. I always wanted a tan, rarely got one (only that softball tan, with arms and the bit of knee that sticks out between ball socks and sliding shorts). I hated rubbing oily block all over me.

Now that I'm a bit more mature (wearing sunblock and SPF-sporting moisturizer and lip balm), I hate the idea of smearing chemicals and unknown consequences all over my body. I'd love to stick only to the all-natural stuff, but we'll see what happens. I'm looking for a more economical alternative. (Isn't there a vitamin I can swallow that completely blocks UV rays? Come on.)

As I said, I love SPF lip balm, and I have at least four tubes/tubs of Burt's Bees. (I'd be their spokeswoman in a heartbeat. They are, ready for it, the bees' knees. However, I've recently discovered Evolution of Smooth (eos more commonly), and I can't wait to get my hands on their adorable lip balm tubs--price similar to Burts' Bees. They have SPF 15, all natural flavors and neat designs for their product lines.

And, because of the writer in us, I'm making sure we head over their with an Ecosystem Life journal each. We're not shy about our need to write, and I'm not shy about my love of Moleskines... but I'll admit that these have stolen my heart. You can tell that the design was inspired by the Italian original (down to the optional pocket insert), but these manage to be a bit less expensive and sustainably made.

54: strawberries

On Friday, Dad and I took a break from work to get his oil changed. On the way back to work, I saw the red barn for Suter's Produce sitting in the lot between an Aldi and an auto part store.  Mom had mentioned strawberry shortcake, so I got really excited and insisted that we stop.

So, so glad we did. I've been munching on them ever since, eating absolutely everything but the stem because they're beautifully ripe. They were by far the best strawberries of the summer, and I was almost sad to see them sliced up and tossed in sugar.

Then I ate a whole bowl of them and thanked God again for Suter's Produce.

I love having a chance to support local farmers and local food initiatives, even if that means paying double or more than I would at Wal*Mart. Americans spend less than 10 percent of their income on food, and Michael Pollan has a lot of great things to say about it. (I recommend In Defense of Food, though Omnivore's Dilemma was the book that changed everything for him.)

It's time that our culture took control of our food again. As the Slow Food movement would tell you, know your food; know what happened to it; know what season you're in. I can't wait for Joe and I to get into this. France will make it a lot easier, with all of their markets and local shops... but I'm enforcing a rule on us: Absolutely no food that comes in a box. If we want to see change, we have to push toward it relentlessly.