Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

What’s on Your Plate? The Film About Food Politics from a Kid’s Perspective

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by Alicia Lubowski-Jahn · 02/09/10

Planet Green is serving up some food for thought as it premiered the exciting documentary What’s On Your Plate? on February 6 at 10pm (airs again on February 11 at 11pm). Part of the Reel Impact environmental documentary series, director and producer Catherine Gund has captured the discovery journey of two eleven-year-old New York City kids, Sadie and Safiyah, to uncover sustainable food systems and a path to self nourishment.

The essential question of “What’s on Your Plate?” is answered through the girls’ exploration of the sources of their food through to its consumption. In addition to learning to make non-wasteful and healthful choices for themselves and the environment, the tweens also discover the community benefits of choosing food from local organic farms, greenmarkets, and community supported agriculture (CSA).

“What’s On Your Plate” is exactly the film we need now.
– Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto and The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Congratulations, Sadie and Safiyah! It is great to have you take us through the food cycle. As somebody said: “You are what you eat.” Thank you for helping us get it right. You will definitely capture the imagination of your peers and generations beyond.
– Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations

Although several documentaries, including Super Size Me (2004), Fast Food Nation, (2006) and Food, Inc. (2008), have exposed the dangers of the mainstream American diet for the well-being of our bodies and the earth, What’s on Your Plate? is speaking directly to children, parents, and the public school system. The powerful message of the kids’ compassionate determination to improve our food chain stirs us to make more sustainable choices for them, ourselves, our neighbors, and our earth.

Food, kids, Politics

Barefoot Walking and Running: Best of Both Worlds with Vivo Barefoot Sneakers

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by Starre Vartan · 09/11/09

My Viva Terras. Cute on the trail or off.

Last summer, I was walking up from the beach at Gay’s Head on Martha’s Vineyard. (They’ve renamed the place Aquinnah, but I’m sticking with the original name, thank you very much) and then headed up the steep dunes, and over the top. When I got to where the sand meets the more rocky soil, I stopped to put my Chakos back on, but then decided to go barefoot instead.

As I walked up the path, seagrasses waving in the setting sun all around me, I could feel what was beneath my feet change. It started more sandy, and warmed from the sun, then small pebbles cropped up, and as I went around a bend, I felt the ground cool and dampen and the pebbles recede into the soft, more claylike walkway. As I headed up another rise, warmth again seeped between my toes, and as I reached the road to wait for the bus, the concrete burned my feet and I put my shoes on.

On that ten minute walk, I remembered something I knew as a child, which is that you miss tons of information from the earth when constantly wear shoes. I used to spend entire summers essentially barefoot (I grew up at the end of a dirt road in the Hudson Valley) and when I was 8 I could have told you how long it had been since rain from the viscosity of the mud that pushed between my toes since I spent hours I playing in the wetland next to my house. I don’t know if I could tell you that now, though I’m certain I could learn again.

Men’s Vivo Barefoots at the Terra Plana store.

So when a couple months ago I heard about the barefoot running movement, and the new book, Born to Run, I was intrigued. The premise is that our fancy $200 uberpadded sneakers are actually BAD for our bodies when running, and can actually cause or exacerbate injury. Which makes sense if you think about the fact that we have only been wearing such contraptions for about 20 years (flat, unpadded Converse All Stars were the sneaker of choice for basketball players for years). So I went hiking with a friend in Connecticut and took off my sandals and did a bit of trailrunning with naked feet, which was fun as long as I was careful (and this forces one to focus on each step, which is interesting). And then…

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book, car, comedy, decor, eating, farm, farms, health, Home, humor, kids, media, MTV, Organic, shoes, spa, style, summer, Target, Technology, trike, tv

Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 06/03/09

Healthy Child, Healthy World is an organization founded by Nancy and Jim Chuda. After losing their daughter, Collette, to a non-hereditary form of cancer, the Chuda’s decided to dedicate their lives to environmental safety and children’s health. Healthy Child, Healthy World, (formally the CHEC, the Children’s Environmental Health Coalition,) serves to inform, educate and promote environmentally conscious practices in all aspects of our lives. Healthy Child’s new paperback book Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safter Home, has just been released in paperback and is receiving high praise.

Healthy Child has always been friendly and responsive whenever I contacted them. As a new mom and a writer I tend to do a lot of research and Healthy Child and its affiliates have come through every time. On a few occasions I received responses from the CEO himself. Even in his busy day managing a large organization, being a new father, and writing a book he took the time to answer questions and be available. Healthy Child is truly passionate about what they do. They have worked to initiate legislative change, they have lobbied politicians, and they have become one of the leading resources for eco-friendly families. So, I may be a bit biased about this new book, but I really enjoyed it and found it useful. This is resource you can come back to again and again.

Chistopher Gavigan, the CEO/Executive Director of Healthy Child, has written a guide for families that is more important today than ever. Gavigan addresses issues that need to be discussed, such as: what to do with the harmful products in our homes while we “go green”; why antibacterials are a no-no; why bright blue yogurt is bad; avoiding the word “fragrance” at all costs; how hair dyes contain lead; whether to binky or not to binky; which toys to freecycle; how to avoid electromagnetic overload; which are the best veggies for a kid’s garden (one of my favorite sections!;) and generally, how to do it all in a cool, calm and collected way.

Another item worthy of note: the back of the book features a lengthy summary of organizations and companies specializing in everything environmentally friendly. From sunscreen to biodegradeable dishware; to home water testing and non-toxic art supplies, there is a book, website, or phone number listed in reference to just about everything.

The tone of Healthy Child Healthy World is not alarmist or negative, but full of tips, guides (many that can be photocopied and put into one’s wallet,) and resources for all things eco-savvy. These days, before running out to acquire things they don’t need, many parents are thinking about health, the environment, and creating a minimal footprint. Healthy Child offers an excellent how-to manual for creating a healthy, toxin-free home.

health, kids, resources, Toxins

Boys and Girls Club "Be Great, Be Green" Contest Finalists: Saving the World, and ADORABLE!

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by Starre Vartan · 03/25/09

I’m so honored to be one of the five judges for the Boys and Girls Club’s Be Great, Be Green competition, which encouraged Torch Club members (ages 11-13) to come up with an original project to green their communities. I’ll share the Top Five entries with you here- and let me know who YOU think should win the grand prize ($2500)! Sponsoring organization, the Staples Foundation both provided the prize and surveyed all the Torch Club members about their top environmental concerns (nationally, the kids were concerned with global warming and pollution; locally recycling topped the list- smart kids!).

The official winner will be announced on Friday, so I’ll update this post then. In no particular order, here are the five top entries (hundreds of kids participated); the Torch Club members were asked to come up with creative ways to improve their local environment. Warning: I cried several times reading through the long descriptions of the project while voting (I was on an Amtrak from Boston to NYC- quite embarassing), but I couldn’t help it, these kids are INSPIRING!

Torch Club Name/Location: Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo Torch Club; Kalamazoo, MI
Project Name: Clean Kids/Fresh Air Initiative
Recognizing laundry detergent as one of the greatest needs for community families, Torch Club members decided to make their own laundry detergent and bottle it using recycled containers. Several recipes were researched and tested and the final version cost $.38/gallon, well under the price of the majority of brand names. The profits made from detergent sales will be used to care for a fruit orchard and pine tree farm.

This is just extremely practical, and so smart in these economic times. And those huge plastic laundry containers are so wasteful! Hopefully these kids learned what a scam a lot of the stuff (especially toxic cleaning products) are; expensive and unhealthy!

I love seeing kids put their hands in compost! Get messy! Play with worms! Yeah!

Torch Club Name/Location: Boys & Girls Clubs of Emerald Valley Torch Club; Eugene, OR
Project Name: The Miracle of Worms, Lessons through Vermiculture
This project allowed Torch Club members to use what they learned through previous national projects and take recycling to the next level. They introduced composting to the Club and introduced vermiculture (composting with worms) to its members. The Torch Club was responsible for the constant care of the worms and used worm debris as a nutrient-rich fertilizer for dirt used for plants, flowers, fruit trees and garden vegetables. Selling this enriched dirt demonstrated how Torch Club members are recycling to sustain their community’s environment.

I just love the idea of kids learning about vermiculture! I grew up playing with worms- every kid should have the pleasure of their slippery wriggliness, and watching them make rich earth from compost is a great lesson that nothing is wasted in nature.

Torch Club Name/Location: The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver Torch Club; Denver, CO
Project Name: Recycling Program
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver created a project that demonstrated the importance and impact a recycling program could have both within their club and throughout the Denver community. Torch Club members created flyers with information on what types of materials could be recycled and where fellow members could easily find recycling bins. They also posted statistics about pollution and trash build-up and their negative effect on the environment. In an effort to reduce the amount of trash in their community, Torch Club members designated different parts of their neighborhood each week to receive a trash pick-up.

The part I liked best about this one is that the kids talked to lots of folks in their community (including other kids!) about why recycling really matters. That takes guts!

This ferret was fed with fresh organic produce grown by the kids in The Caring People Alliance

Torch Club Name/Location: The Caring People Alliance in Philadelphia, an affiliate of Boys & Girls Clubs of America; Philadelphia, PA
Project Name: “The Caring Garden Project”
The Caring People Alliance Torch Club is being recognized for their “Caring Garden” project, which involved growing a vegetation garden to demonstrate how the earth can be used to produce products that benefit others. With the help of their local community, Torch Club members designed and created raised garden beds that produced an assortment of vegetables that were fed to animals in the Club’s Caring Paws Program, which teaches kids about treating and caring for small animals.

The full description of this one made me cry on the Amtrak (in public) when I was reading through the judging materials. This urban group not only made a beautiful community garden, but then they fed themselves AND rescued animals with it! Sniff!

The Edgewater Torch Club kids assembling the monofilament recycling bins

Torch Club Name/Location: Edgewater Boys & Girls Club of Volusia/Flagler Counties;
Edgewater, FL
Project Name: “Monofilament Recovery and Recycling”
The “Monofilament Recovery and Recycling” project included researching the dangers of monofilament (a thin string made from a single fiber used for fishing) to humans, birds, and other animals. In response to their findings, the Club developed a recycling program, which consisted of creating monofilament collection bins and distributed them throughout the community, in particular to fishermen in the area, for an easy way to dispose recycled items. The project successfully raised awareness around the danger of monofilament and will result in long-term benefits to wildlife and their community for years to come.

So thoughtful and region-specific! A great idea that will save animals far into the future (birds and other animals eat monofiliment (fishing wire), or it strangles them.

The bins that were installed by club members for recycling the monofilament

community, kids, local environment

Martin Luther King Jr. and a 7 year old: Same Dream, Different World

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by Melissa Goldberg · 01/20/09

I think this speaks for itself…

What can you do to make this world a better place? Let me know and I will Twitter about each response as they come it.  You can follow me on Twitter at @Green_Luvin.

kids, Martin Luther King, Recycling