The Heart of Green Awards honor those people, organizations, and companies that have taken the green message to the mainstream — to the "heart" of the American people.
In 2009, The Daily Green will host the first annual Heart of Green Awards Ceremony in the LEED Gold-certified Hearst Tower in New York City. Sponsored by the eBay Green Team, the ceremony will take place April 23 — the day after Earth Day. Why? Because these honorees take the Earth Day message into the rest of the calendar.
Below are the nominees for the food category:
Your Local Organic Farmer
Your local organic farmer isn't dousing crops with toxic chemicals or overdosing the soil on fossil fertilizers. He doesn't process peanuts at a rodent-infested plant crawling with salmonella. Your local farmer doesn't slaughter cattle in such conveyor-belt high volume that E. coli contaminates the beef. She isn't pumping up her dairy cows full of synthetic hormones or cramming so many cows into such small spaces they need antibiotics to stay free of disease. Your local farmer isn't letting "foreign materials" like bits of plastic into processed foods — because he isn't processing foods at all! Your local farmer has had a pretty good year, providing fresh, healthy vegetables at farmers markets and community supported farms. If you've been eating foods from a local farm, you've had a pretty good year too. The rest of the U.S. agricultural system seems a little off-kilter these days.
Let's hear it for the local organic farmers of the world! For providing us nutritious and safe food — with a smile and a handshake — they each deserve a Heart of Green award.
Roger Doiron
Who is the voice for the backyard gardening movement? Who reminds us of the simple pleasures and enduring wisdom of harvesting our own food? Who relentlessly asks the common-sense question: Why did the White House have 18 acres of grass, and no vegetable garden yet?
Roger Doiron isn't alone, but his voice — as the founder of Kitchen Gardeners International and the Eat the View campaign — has been loud, clear, and influential. The Downeast, Maine, resident has simple aims (inspire and encourage more home gardening) and sophisticated methods. Who else thought to auction off one-square-foot plots of White House lawn on eBay to raise money and awareness for Eat the View, the campaign pressuring President Obama to plant an organic garden within walking distance of the Oval Office? The same guy who grew a 10,000-member-strong organization in the space of just five years.We love Doiron's populist foodie vision. The KGI website answers the question, "What is a kitchen gardener?" In part: "Unlike mere foodies who flit from one trendy spot to another in search of instant culinary gratification, Kitchen Gardeners set out roots in a place and begin planning their pleasure months in advance."
For reminding us all how easy and good it is to grow our own food, Roger Doiron deserves a Heart of Green award.
Environmental Defense Fund
Quick, which of these headlines is true:
Fish are healthy and essential for a healthy diet!
Fish are so contaminated with mercury they are toxic!
Omega-3 fatty acids are so important for pregnant women that the brains of their children won't develop properly without enough fish in the diet!
Pregnant women should avoid fish because of contamination that will permanently damage their children's brains!
To eat fish, or not to eat fish? And how much? And which species? These are questions that could have tied a modern Hamlet in knots.Fact: Many species tend to be highly contaminated with mercury, PCBs and other contaminants that can cause serious harm to children, which is why the Environmental Protection Agency warns against eating many species, or limiting the number of meals eaten, particularly for pregnant women and young children.
Fact: Fish are an excellent lean source of protein and other nutrients, and the omega-3 fatty acids in fish are an important brain food — particularly for pregnant women and younger children.
Fact: The world's oceans are being rapidly depleted by overfishing and a host of other environmental threats.That's why the Environmental Defense Fund deserves a Heart of Green award. Its Seafood Selector, available on the Web or in a pocket-sized downloadable document, serves up a simple lists of do's and dont's at the fish counter. Just choose fish from its "eco-best" list and you know you're eating the least contaminated, most nutritious, and most sustainably harvested fish on the market.
Whew!
Sidwell Friends School
When Sasha and Malia attended their first day of classes at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., the nation got a sudden insight into a simple truth advocates have been trying to hammer home for years: School lunches can be healthy and delicious. They can be sustainable and they can be sourced locally. How many local school districts include tomato basil soup, organic spinach salad, roasted local veggie melts, organic baked French fries, and organic pears on a typical menu? The occasion of the Obama girls' first school lunch sparked a media frenzy, and inspired the cottage industry in foodie fan blogs tracking anything that passes an Obama's lips.
And a good thing! If every school in America followed the Sidwell Friends lunch model, it would go a long way toward boosting local agriculture, reducing obesity, and no doubt improving test scores. (President Obama himself seems to be encouraging public schools to follow the lead of Sidwell, a private school.)Sidwell Friends School focuses on regional vendors and uses organic and fair-trade ingredients whenever possible. It uses recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable products. (How about adding those words to the next spelling test!) It composts food waste and uses the compost to fertilize school gardens and grounds. It even uses vegetables that students bring in from home and serves them up as soup for the homeless.For perhaps the best side benefit of Obamamania, Sidwell Friends School deserves a Heart of Green award for inspiring an overdue school lunch revolution.
In 2009, The Daily Green will host the first annual Heart of Green Awards Ceremony in the LEED Gold-certified Hearst Tower in New York City. Sponsored by the eBay Green Team, the ceremony will take place April 23 — the day after Earth Day. Why? Because these honorees take the Earth Day message into the rest of the calendar.
Below are the nominees for the food category:
Your Local Organic Farmer
Your local organic farmer isn't dousing crops with toxic chemicals or overdosing the soil on fossil fertilizers. He doesn't process peanuts at a rodent-infested plant crawling with salmonella. Your local farmer doesn't slaughter cattle in such conveyor-belt high volume that E. coli contaminates the beef. She isn't pumping up her dairy cows full of synthetic hormones or cramming so many cows into such small spaces they need antibiotics to stay free of disease. Your local farmer isn't letting "foreign materials" like bits of plastic into processed foods — because he isn't processing foods at all! Your local farmer has had a pretty good year, providing fresh, healthy vegetables at farmers markets and community supported farms. If you've been eating foods from a local farm, you've had a pretty good year too. The rest of the U.S. agricultural system seems a little off-kilter these days.
Let's hear it for the local organic farmers of the world! For providing us nutritious and safe food — with a smile and a handshake — they each deserve a Heart of Green award.
Roger Doiron
Who is the voice for the backyard gardening movement? Who reminds us of the simple pleasures and enduring wisdom of harvesting our own food? Who relentlessly asks the common-sense question: Why did the White House have 18 acres of grass, and no vegetable garden yet?
Roger Doiron isn't alone, but his voice — as the founder of Kitchen Gardeners International and the Eat the View campaign — has been loud, clear, and influential. The Downeast, Maine, resident has simple aims (inspire and encourage more home gardening) and sophisticated methods. Who else thought to auction off one-square-foot plots of White House lawn on eBay to raise money and awareness for Eat the View, the campaign pressuring President Obama to plant an organic garden within walking distance of the Oval Office? The same guy who grew a 10,000-member-strong organization in the space of just five years.We love Doiron's populist foodie vision. The KGI website answers the question, "What is a kitchen gardener?" In part: "Unlike mere foodies who flit from one trendy spot to another in search of instant culinary gratification, Kitchen Gardeners set out roots in a place and begin planning their pleasure months in advance."
For reminding us all how easy and good it is to grow our own food, Roger Doiron deserves a Heart of Green award.
Environmental Defense Fund
Quick, which of these headlines is true:
Fish are healthy and essential for a healthy diet!
Fish are so contaminated with mercury they are toxic!
Omega-3 fatty acids are so important for pregnant women that the brains of their children won't develop properly without enough fish in the diet!
Pregnant women should avoid fish because of contamination that will permanently damage their children's brains!
To eat fish, or not to eat fish? And how much? And which species? These are questions that could have tied a modern Hamlet in knots.Fact: Many species tend to be highly contaminated with mercury, PCBs and other contaminants that can cause serious harm to children, which is why the Environmental Protection Agency warns against eating many species, or limiting the number of meals eaten, particularly for pregnant women and young children.
Fact: Fish are an excellent lean source of protein and other nutrients, and the omega-3 fatty acids in fish are an important brain food — particularly for pregnant women and younger children.
Fact: The world's oceans are being rapidly depleted by overfishing and a host of other environmental threats.That's why the Environmental Defense Fund deserves a Heart of Green award. Its Seafood Selector, available on the Web or in a pocket-sized downloadable document, serves up a simple lists of do's and dont's at the fish counter. Just choose fish from its "eco-best" list and you know you're eating the least contaminated, most nutritious, and most sustainably harvested fish on the market.
Whew!
Sidwell Friends School
When Sasha and Malia attended their first day of classes at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., the nation got a sudden insight into a simple truth advocates have been trying to hammer home for years: School lunches can be healthy and delicious. They can be sustainable and they can be sourced locally. How many local school districts include tomato basil soup, organic spinach salad, roasted local veggie melts, organic baked French fries, and organic pears on a typical menu? The occasion of the Obama girls' first school lunch sparked a media frenzy, and inspired the cottage industry in foodie fan blogs tracking anything that passes an Obama's lips.
And a good thing! If every school in America followed the Sidwell Friends lunch model, it would go a long way toward boosting local agriculture, reducing obesity, and no doubt improving test scores. (President Obama himself seems to be encouraging public schools to follow the lead of Sidwell, a private school.)Sidwell Friends School focuses on regional vendors and uses organic and fair-trade ingredients whenever possible. It uses recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable products. (How about adding those words to the next spelling test!) It composts food waste and uses the compost to fertilize school gardens and grounds. It even uses vegetables that students bring in from home and serves them up as soup for the homeless.For perhaps the best side benefit of Obamamania, Sidwell Friends School deserves a Heart of Green award for inspiring an overdue school lunch revolution.
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