For Immediate Release

Fairfield, CT April 21, 2010

Who: Michel Nischan

What: Discussion & Signing “Sustainably Delicious”

When/Where:  Tuesday May 4^th @ 7pm

Borders

1499 Post Road

Fairfield, CT 06824

203-256-1619

Why:

The perfect cookbook for anyone looking for inspiring ways to eat with the seasons.

Anyone who takes the time to shop and cook from scratch wants to make feel-good choices-but with terms like “locavore,” “organic,” and “sustainable” being tossed around so freely, many are confused about how best to feed their families. In his new book SUSTAINABLY DELICIOUS: Making the World a Better Place, One Recipe at a Time (Rodale Books; April 13 2010; Hardcover; $35.00; 256 pages w/ 75 color photographs), best-selling author, restaurateur, Wholesome Wave Foundation founder, and sustainable food-movement pioneer Michel Nischan, cuts through the confusion and shows readers how to prepare food that is good-in every sense of the word.

“Where there is flavor, there are nutrients, and where there are nutrients, there is health,” writes Michel Nischan.

Nischan has long been an advocate for embracing the most basic of food rules-use what’s readily available, celebrate variety, respect the land, and eschew waste-to create modern, sophisticated food. The 100 recipes featured in SUSTAINABLY DELICIOUS are a testament to Nischan’s respect for America’s culinary and environmental legacy-each one provides a roadmap for delicious wholesome meals and a lesson in how our food choices impact the world around us.

Drawing upon his Midwestern roots and his family’s tradition of creating humble, satisfying meals from seasonal ingredients, the two-time James Beard Foundation award winner transforms even the simplest food into surprising, flavorful feasts: Pork Loin Roast with Dried Fruits and Apple Cider; French Toast with Brown Sugar Bananas; Nantucket Scallop Porridge with Apples and Chestnuts and Homegrown Fried Chicken.

Nischan also includes stories about the farmers, chefs, and others working on the frontlines to safeguard our food systems for future generations. With SUSTAINABLY DELICIOUS, Nischan has created a new kind of cookbook-one that goes beyond local and beyond organic, proving that eating sustainably is not only figuring out what tastes good, but what is good-for the environment, for animals, for farm workers, and for our tables.

Additional Info:

Michel Nischan is the best-selling author of Taste: Pure and Simple and with Paul Newman cofounder of Dressing Room: A Homegrown Restaurant, located at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut. As President and CEO of Wholesome Wave, he catalyzes fundamental change in the nation’s food system.  Wholesome Wave’s signature “Nourishing Neighborhoods” Double Value Coupon Program doubles the value of food stamp dollars via farm-to-community partnerships.  Wholesome Wave programs are currently underway in 12 states, the District of Columbia and in more than 60 markets.  He lives in Fairfield, Connecticut with his wife, Lori and their five children.

Media

Contact: Please contact Maria DiLeo 516-353-0231 or mdileo@bordersgroupinc.com

If you are a restaurant or food service company in CT, please take this opportunity to create a week of special menus featuring CT grown ingredients and CT wines.  The 2010 Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week event being planned for September 26 through October 2 currently has over 35 restaurants  signed up, but we know there are many more candidates out there. Click here to pre-apply online by April 30.

CT Department of Agriculture Announces 2010 Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week

Contact: Linda Piotrowicz, 860-713-2558, Linda.Piotrowicz@ct.gov

April 8, 2010   Hartford, CT- Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week, a new promotion initiated by the CT Department of Agriculture’s Farm-to-Chef Program, will run Sunday, September 26, 2010, through Saturday, October 2, 2010. Open to all restaurants and foodservice businesses in the state, it invites participants to create and offer a separate Farm-to-Chef menu showcasing CT Grown ingredients and CT wines.

“While many Farm-to-Chef members source locally on a regular basis, we hope this special event will entice new restaurants and businesses to give CT Grown ingredients a try. Because it is only a one-week commitment, it is an easy way for chefs to try local farm products without feeling overwhelmed,” said Linda Piotrowicz, Farm-to-Chef Program Manager.

“Of course, once they get a taste of CT Grown ingredients, we are confident they will not want to go back,” she added with a smile.
Guidelines are fairly simple:

1. Each participant shall offer a separate Farm-to-Chef menu of at least four items, each showcasing one or more CT Grown ingredients, from 9/26/10 through 10/2/10.

2. Businesses that serve alcohol also must include at least one CT Wine on the menu during Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week.

3. Pricing will be left to the discretion of each venue in order to encourage participation by many different styles and types of restaurants and foodservice businesses.
The following also are encouraged:

1. Use of a wide variety of CT Grown ingredients, including proteins, cheese, milk, honey, maple syrup, fruits, and vegetables.

2. Pricing of the Farm-to-Chef menu that falls within the normal range for that business.

3. Incorporation of related events during Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week, such as farmer appearances, talks, CT wine tastings, chef demonstrations, tours, recipe hand-outs, etc.

According to Piotrowicz, the public is becoming increasingly aware of what they are eating and where it comes from. Interest in local food is soaring, evidenced by an all-time record number of farmers’ markets in the state last year, 125. Consumers are seeking fresh, locally grown foods for use in their own kitchens, and they have begun looking for them when dining out as well.

“We have been sourcing from nearby farms for years,” explained Scott Miller, Executive Chef at Max’s Oyster Bar and longtime Farm-to-Chef member. “This past year we were able to serve CT Grown salad greens every day, even throughout the winter, thanks to an increase in season-extension production methods employed by area farmers.”

“The quality of local food does not compare to that of ingredients shipped in from across the country,” Chef Miller continued. “It does take some extra effort to work with many small farms instead of buying from one or two huge suppliers, but it is time and energy well spent. Our customers definitely notice the difference. After all, food that spends the least amount of time out of the soil, and the least amount of time on a big rig, just simply tastes better.”

The CT Department of Agriculture will promote and publicize Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week and will post information about each participating businesses on the agency’s website. The Department also will provide businesses with resources to help promote their involvement in Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration week and to help locate sources of CT Grown ingredients.

Interested businesses must complete an online pre-application no later than Friday, April 30, 2010. Information provided will be used in the promotion of Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week. Information required in the pre-application includes

• Company contact info
• Proposed Farm-to-Chef menu (minimum of four items)
• CT Grown ingredient(s) to be showcased in each item
• Proposed source of each CT Grown ingredient
• CT Wine(s) to be offered (minimum of one for any business that serves alcohol)
• Pricing for the menu

Pre-applications must be completed online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QG2YVWT.

All participants must also submit a final application with confirmed menu and a list of featured farms and their ingredients. Final application information will be sent out to all participants in July and must be completed no later than August 13, 2010. This information will be used in Farm-to-Chef Harvest Celebration Week promotional materials.

For more information, please contact Linda Piotrowicz at Linda.Piotrowicz@ct.gov or 860-713-2558.

The CT Farm-to-Chef Program helps connect Connecticut chefs and food service professionals with growers, producers, and distributors of CT Grown products. It also helps the public locate restaurants, institutions, and other dining facilities that serve foods prepared with CT Grown ingredients. Please visit www.CTGrown.gov and click on “Programs and Services” for more information.

CONNECTICUT GROWN - The Local Flavor
www.CTGrown.gov
www.ct.gov/doag

###

April 19, 2010

Mr. Ken Flatto

First Selectman

Independence Hall

725 Old Post Road

Fairfield, CT  06824

Re:    The Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm

Dear Ken,

I have lived in Fairfield for 20 years with my wife Lori and our five children and truly love our town, both for its history and sense of community. It is in this spirit that I am writing you to convey my strong support for the establishment of the Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm.

As a local-sustainable food advocate, I urge the town of Fairfield to set aside suitable and accessible town-owned land for this important learning opportunity for Fairfield children and families. I am the chef/owner of The Dressing Room restaurant in Westport and President and CEO of Wholesome Wave Foundation, an organization which nourishes neighborhoods by supporting increased production and access to healthy, fresh and affordable locally grown food. I encourage you to look into our work by visiting our website at wholesomewave.org.

There is a growing movement throughout America, in towns just like Fairfield, to create a more healthful, organic and sustainable food future. As one of the first towns in America, Fairfield has a rich farming heritage, yet most of our farmland is gone. The Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm would enable us to preserve some of our agricultural history while also creating a vital, local food-production source, a center of sustainable food education, and a notable attraction in Fairfield County.

I strongly encourage town bodies to act quickly and decisively to make this unique and timely project a town priority for 2010. Please consider me an important source of guidance to the champions of this project as they generously donate their time and expertise to ensure that Fairfield is well positioned to become a shining example of what a sustainable community can look like.

Sincerely,

Michel Nischan

The Housatonic Community College Women’s Center is sponsoring the 3^rd annual Environmental Fair on Thursday, April 29, 2010. This event is free and open to the public and will take place in the Atrium of Lafayette Hall from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

Come and learn firsthand from local and state organizations, local green businesses, environmental undergraduate programs from various colleges & universities of educating students, faculty and staff about the important environmental issue with which they are involved.  Please enter the raffle for a chance to win some green goodies. I’m donating a pair of LunchSkins reusable lunch and snack bags!

The HCC Women’s Center is committed to raising awareness and encourages our students to care about the world in which they live. I look forward to meeting you at this event. Housatonic Community College is located at 900 Lafayette Blvd., Bridgeport, CT 06604 (203) 332-5200.

Whole Foods Market and Avon Theater have teamed up for a special Earth Month celebration and screening of two films. Proceeds will benefit Wholesome Wave.

Who: Avon Theaters and Whole Foods Market to benefit Wholesome Wave

What: “Retake Our Plates” film series: http://www.letsretakeourplates.com/

When:

Food Inc.:  Saturday April 17^th

Tapped:    Saturday April 24^th

^{Showtime @ 12:00pm}

^{Local and Natural Food Sampling @ 1:30pm}

Where: Avon Theater Film Center 272 Bedford Street, Stamford, CT 06901

Tickets: Members - $6 / Students & Seniors - $7 / Nonmembers - $10

These GREAT events will benefit Wholesome Wave Foundation. (http://wholesomewave.org/)

Audubon Greenwich’s Events In Celebration of  “Earth Week” & The “Audubon At Home” Initiative Offer Something for Everyone

Sat.    4/17:  Healthier Foods, Healthier Families: With Chef & Health Counselor Rachel Khanna

Tues.   4/20:  Green Homes & Building Series Part 3: Water Harvesting & Rain Gardens in Landscape Design

Fri.            4/23: Tapped: The Movie: Screening, bottle exchange, and reception with the Director & Producer of the film. Please join me at this event! Replacing plastic water bottles with a reusable stainless steel thermos is one of my Green Food Tips for Earth Day. Don’t have a thermos yet? Bring your (last) plastic bottle and exchange it for a thermos, courtesy of the producer, while supplies last.

Sun.    4/25: Composting 202: Going Beyond The Outdoor Pile: With Wendy Bounds from the Wall Street Journal. If you don’t like messing with worms and compost piles, but still want to compost your food waste, this event is for you!

Event Details:

This Saturday, April 17

Healthier Foods, Healthier Families

With Chef Rachel Khanna

2:00-3:30 pm

Discover what it means to eat local, organic, seasonal and learn how to choose healthier foods. Did you know that roughly 70% of antibiotics in the U.S. are given to animals?  Or that there are now more overweight people in the world than starving people? Join Chef and Health Counselor Rachel Khanna as she explores some of the myths surrounding our food supply and discusses easy food ideas for everyone to enjoy. All ages. Suggested donation: $10. Free for youth.  RSVPs appreciated but not required. RSVP to jcordulack@audubon.org<mailto:jcordulack@audubon.org> or call 203-869-5272 x239.

Rachel Khanna is a Certified Health Counselor and a passionate advocate of organic and local food and a healthy lifestyle. She decided to become a health counselor to fulfill her passion of working with children and parents to improve their health and family life.  With a Master’s Degree from Columbia University, she subsequently completed a diploma in Culinary Arts from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, and received her training as a Health Counselor at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City and is currently completing certification in Food Therapy at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City.  Rachel owned and operated Tiffin Organic Dinner Delivery Service in Greenwich, CT.  Currently, she teaches cooking classes and holds workshops on eating for optimal health.  She also offers individual health and nutrition coaching to parents and families.  Rachel is the mother of four daughters and has lived in Greenwich since 2000.

Tuesday, April 20

WATER: Reducing Use & Harvesting Water for Landscaping Elements Part 3 of the Green Homes & Building Series 7:00-9:00 pm It may seem that the Northeast is water-rich, but this region often experiences drought and water shortages. Before your ‘well runs dry’ visit Audubon Greenwich and learn easy ways to reduce water use in homes and landscaping methods that collect and use the rain for use on-site. Topics will include rain garden design, practical rain harvesting methods for this region, and will feature a newly patented device for toilets that eliminates water waste, saving approx. 30% on each tank refill. The presenters for that event will include Peter Alexander and Keith Beaver. $10 suggested donation for adults. Youth and teens attend at no cost. Please RSVP to jcordulack@audubon.org or call 203-869-5272 x239 to save your seat. Please note: Advance questions for the presenters can be sent to the RSVP email address.

Peter Alexander is a Landscape Architect and Planner with 30 years of practical experience. He has degrees in Biology and History from the University of Denver and degrees in Architecture and Landscape Architecture from the Rhode School of Design. He also holds a Wetland Delineation Certification from Rutgers University and is currently involved with post-graduate work at the Harvard Graduate School of Design that focuses on ‘experiencing architecture’. His expertise includes fine landscape design for residences, sporting venues, and coastal planning projects that protect natural resources from runoff polluted by golf courses and development projects. Peter’s presentation will focus on how landowners and designers can capture runoff for groundwater recharge and use on-site in water features and rain gardens. He will describe the principles of rain garden location, design approaches and specify the plants that are well suited to such gardens.

Keith Beaver is a partner and Sr. Associate with Didona Associates - Landscape Architects, LLC in Danbury, Connecticut and has been with the firm for 15 years.  Keith has been a Landscape Architect for 20+ years and a LEED AP for 1 1/2 years.  Keith has incorporated sustainable design techniques into projects for many years and has extensive knowledge of public sector projects including state and federal multi-family and elderly housing projects, streetscape design, and public school site planning,  At Didona Associates, his responsibilities include team leadership for sustainable design and development, land use analysis, preparing construction documents, and presenting to local land use commissions. Keith’s presentation will describe a project recently finished in Ridgefield that was awarded a LEED Platinum certification. The project’s many sustainable aspects included native plants and rain gardens in the landscaping, two 1,000 gallon cisterns for water harvesting, pervious pavers, and a fountain fed by roof runoff.

Friday, April 23

“Tapped: The Movie”

A film about bottled water with the film’s Director & Producer on-site 7:00 pm: Reception with Bottle Exchange 8:00 pm: Movie Screening Audubon Greenwich is pleased to host the final event for the “Get Off The Bottle Tour” with Stephanie Soechtig and her team’s award-winning film. From the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car, this unflinching documentary about the bottled water business is a timely behind-the-scenes look into the un-regulated and little known world of the water industry. From pumping the water, to plastic production, to the ocean in which so many of these bottles end up, this film trails the path of the bottled water industry and communities where the water is drawn.

Join us for a wine & cheese reception and a ‘bottle exchange’ at 7:00 pm, followed by the movie at 8:00 pm. For the bottle exchange, bring an empty plastic water bottle (… hopefully your last) and get a brand-new steel water bottle from the film’s producers (while supplies last). As a special bonus, Stephanie Soechtig (the Director) and Sarah Olson (the Producer) will be on-site to field questions from the audience. All the details & information about the film is posted to our website: http://greenwich.audubon.org/Programs_SpecialEvents.html.

Space is limited. Advance tickets recommend. Tickets are $10/person online (+ a $2 service charge) or $15.00 at the door (if space permits).

To buy tickets online, visit: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/106957. To pay at the door, please RSVP to Jeff Cordulack at 203-869-5272 x239.

Director Stephanie Soechtig’s says:  “Not only are we in a water crisis in which 2/3 of the planet will be without drinkable water in just 11 years, but multinational corporations are literally pillaging communities around the country for this precious resource and bottling into the very bottles, which contribute the plastic soup in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  … Tapped is a story of how one person really can make a difference. Each section of the film tells the story of a David and Goliath battle in which a regular person, like you or me, goes up against a big corporation in order to initiate change in the world, and I want people to walk away from this film knowing that they can make a difference.”

This event is co-sponsored by:

Fairfield Green Food Guide (www.FairfieldGreenFoodGuide.com) Natural Awakenings Fairfield County (www.NaturalAwakeningsFFC.com) Connecticut Fund for the Environment & Save The Sound (www.cfenv.org) Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment (www.citizenscampaign.org)

Sunday, April 25

Composting 202: Going Beyond The Outdoor Pile With Wendy Bounds from the Wall Street Journal 2:30-3:30 pm Audubon Greenwich is pleased to host an acclaimed author and journalist from the Wall Street Journal, Gwendolyn Bounds, for discussion on the many ways to create compost without a traditional outdoor compost pile. Since investigating this topic as a journalist, she has experimented with several methods and had great success turning her spoils into soils. During the presentation, she will discuss results of several methods she tested including worm composting, the “Nature Mill” automatic, indoor plug-in model, a bokashi-based method and a ball-shaped composter called the “e-composter”. She welcomes questions from the audience and will bring in examples of these methods so guests can see various methods for themselves. All ages. Suggested donation: $5. RSVPs are appreciated. To sign up, send an email to jcordulack@audubon.org<mailto:jcordulack@audubon.org>.

Gwendolyn (Wendy) Bounds writes and creates video content about home improvement and housing for The Wall Street Journal with a focus on energy efficiency and green building science. Wendy is also a contributor to ABC’s “Good Morning America” and CNBC. Wendy previously wrote about fashion, publishing, manufacturing and was WSJ’s small business editor from 2004 to 2008. Wendy’s non-fiction book, “Little Chapel on the River,” chronicling her experiences behind the bar at an Irish pub in New York’s Hudson River Valley, was published by William Morrow in 2005. She is a native of North Carolina and graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

*****

These events will be held at:

Audubon Greenwich

613 Riversville Road

Greenwich, CT 06831

203-869-5272 x239

http://greenwich.audubon.org

For directions, visit: http://greenwich.audubon.org/AboutUs_Directions.html

To learn more about the “Audubon At Home” Initiative, visit: http://www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/index.html

To access Audubon Greenwich’s Nature Program Calendar with many other walks, hikes and programs, visit: http://greenwich.audubon.org/Programs_Calendar.html

Please attend this Thursday evening’s Conservation Commission meeting to show your support for the Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm. The location of the proposed Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm is on the agenda for discussion. This proposed educational farm would operate as a not-for-profit dedicated to preserving some of our agricultural history while also creating a vital, local food-production source and center of sustainable food education for children and families.

Location:

Sullivan Independence Hall
725 Old Post Road
Fairfield, CT 06824 US
View Map

When: Thursday, April 15, 2010

If you want the Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm to succeed please come to:

Sullivan Independence Hall, 725 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT at 7:30pm to show your support.

Pam Jones, Esq. and Jody Eisemann are the founders of the Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm and their project has the support of many local organizations including Michel Nischan, Founder and Chairman of the Wholesome Wave Foundation and Analiese Paik, Founder of the Fairfield Green Food Guide.

If you are a resident of the town of Fairfield, please take a quick moment to sign this petition questing a review of the district’s school lunch program. If you’ve participated in change.org petitions before, this goes super quick. Just login and your information auto populates in the fields. We need your votes to send a strong message to our Board of Education and school administration that it’s time for Fairfield to take the quality of our school food seriously. What better way to start than assessing the current food service program in light of the latest nutrition research and recommendations for children?

Sign the petition

This petition is a declaration of support from the citizens of Fairfield to ask the Board of Education and the School Administration to explore healthier, unprocessed food options to serve for lunch.  We are asking for an independent review of our current system with the long-term goal of phasing out processed, heavily refined foods and integrating as much in the way of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole muscle meats, and whole grains as possible. While the support of people around the world is very much appreciated, we need signatures from Fairfield CT residents only.  Many thanks!!

Petition Text:

Petition to Review the School Lunch Program in Fairfield, CT

Greetings,

We the undersigned believe it is time to reevaluate the Fairfield School lunch program.

We believe that students should be fed a lunch free of processed foods and made with whole food ingredients, featuring fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.

We believe that improving the school lunch directly and positively impacts students’ ability to learn.

We believe that our Health and Family and Consumer Science curriculum should be reflected in a school lunch program that features the healthful, nutritious food choices taught to our students.

We believe the epidemic of obesity in our children can be addressed by serving a healthy lunch.

We ask the Board of Education to appoint a special task force, consisting of members of the community and experts in the field, as well as members of the Board of Education and the Administration. The charge of this body would be to present options with financials that would allow Fairfield to embrace a better way of feeding our children.

Sign the petition

April 11, 2010

Analiese Paik of the Fairfield Green Food Guide was interviewed by Matt Scott on News Ch. 8’s Good Morning Connecticut Show about green food for Earth Day.

One of the easiest ways to make Earth Day every day is to green your kitchen. Here are some delicious and fun ways to reduce your family’s “foodprint” while eating well.

Buy locally grown food from a farmers’ market and learn to cook with the seasons.

Michel Nischan's latest cookbook is perfect for anyone looking for inspirational ways to cook with the seasons

Best-selling author, restaurateur and Wholesome Wave Foundation founder Michel Nischan’s new cookbook, Sustainably Delicious, presents over 100 recipes for home cooks looking for delicious and nutritious ways to prepare seasonal food that is good for the environment, for animals, for farm workers, and for our tables. Michel advises us to “Eat what’s available in season, celebrate variety, respect the land and eschew waste”. His mission is to show that choosing local and sustainably grown food offers innumerable rewards, including some of the very best flavors Mother Nature has to offer. Who thought a humble parsnip could be this delicious?

Choose locally produced food from specialty or grocery stores.

The Farmer’s Cow milk is humanely-produced in Connecticut by a cooperative of six family-owned dairies and is free of artificial growth hormones (rBST). When you choose this fresh milk you support local farms, lower your carbon footprint by reducing food miles, support the local economy and ensure farmland preservation.

Choose organic where it matters most.

Download the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides or iphone app from Environmental Working Group, familiarize yourself with the worst offenders (the Dirty Dozen), and commit to buying organic instead. Lettuce is a among the worst so choose organic from 2 Guys, a hydroponic greenhouse farm that produces year-round gorgeous vegetables for chefs, retailers and consumers. They are at many area farmers’ markets.

Choose eco-friendly wines.

Parducci Wine Cellars, America’s greenest winery, uses farming practices that result in healthier soil, balanced grapes and higher quality wines. Try their Sustainable White and Paul Dolan Vineyard’s Pinot Noir, made from organic and Biodynamic® grapes grown in certified vineyards. A vineyard that is certified biodynamic meets and typically exceeds the standards and regulations for organic certified farming. Biodynamic agriculture began in the 1920s, predating organic agriculture by 20 years.

Choose organic, fair trade chocolate, coffee and tea.

Kallari single origin, USDA organic, Rainforest Alliance certified chocolate is truly a chocolate lover’s dream and possibly the greenest chocolate available. 100% of the proceeds go to the Kichwa farmers in Ecuadorean Amazon who both grow the cacao and manufacture the chocolate. Available online and at Whole Foods Markets.

Use reusable lunch bags instead of single use plastic lunch and snack bags.

Lunch Skins are a completely food and dishwasher safe alternative to single use plastic lunch and snack bags. Use this coupon code for a 10% discount off your online purchase of Lunch Skins: FGFGED10. They’re a hit with the kids and you’ll love knowing that every time you use them, you’re avoiding throwing away a plastic bag.  LunchSkins has an attractive co-branded fundraiser program perfect for any school or organization.

Swear off bottled water.

Plastic water bottles are made from petroleum and are designed to be used once, resulting in a product that is thousands of times more expensive than tap water and no safer, according to a report by Food & Water Watch. Most of these bottles wind up in landfills where they take hundreds of years to break down and can leach harmful chemicals into the ground. Carry a stainless steel thermos instead. I love this wide mouthed one from Thermos that lets you guzzle the water and keeps the water cold even in blistering heat.

On Friday, April 23, Audubon Greenwich is pleased to host a very special screen of  “Tapped“ an unflinching, award-winning documentary about the bottled water business. As a special bonus, Stephanie Soechtig (the Director) and Sarah Olson (the Producer) will be there to field questions from the audience. Reception at 7:00 pm / Movie at 8:00 pm. There will be a bottle exchange during the reception so bring an empty plastic water bottle (… hopefully your last) and get a brand-new steel water bottle from the film’s producers (while supplies last) Click here to RSVP.

Grow at least some of your own food.

Buy a potted herb or vegetable plants to start an edible container garden and invite your children to join in the care and harvesting. The one show here is from Moorefield Herb Garden, a vendor at the Fairfield farmers’ market at the Fairfield Theater Company. One easy and inexpensive way to grow what you love is to buy organic vegetable bouquets from Two Guys from Woodbridge at a local farmers’ market and give them a second life. After removing the edible portion of the vegetable, plant the root ball in a raised bed or container where it will produce a second harvest.

Choose sustainable seafood.

Download the Sustainable Seafood Guide or iphone app from Seafood Watch and commit to limiting your consumption to sustainable seafood choices under the Best Choices and Good Alternatives categories. You call learn all about sustainable seafood in a fabulous new exhibit called Go Fish! at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. Pick up one of Seafood Watch’s pocket guides to take home and don’t miss the movie  in the sustainable seafood theater, sustainable seafood “cafe”,  and the tank of LI fish including cod, striped bass, Atlantic salmon and wolfish. It’s perfect for adults and children.

Michel Nischan's latest cookbook is perfect for anyone looking for simple yet inspirational ways to cook with local, seasonal ingredients.

Have you seen the beautiful spring parsnips at the farmers’ markets? I bought some last Saturday from Riverbank Farm at the Fairfield Indoor Winter Farmers’ Market (it runs through May 13) and have been thinking about making parsnip puree after scoring hits with pureed butternut squash from my winter CSA.

But then chef/author Michel Nischan’s beautiful and timely new cookbook, Sustainably Delicious, arrived in the mail. After a quick look I knew those parsnips were destined for soup.

Michel’s latest cookbook is dedicated to sustainable cuisine - food that’s sourced locally, produced sustainably, and eaten in season. That just the kind of food we should all endeavor to eat as much as possible.

Split the parsnips lengthwise and roast until lightly caramelized and tender.

Sustainably Delicious contains a recipe for parsnip soup that is so simple that I chose to add it to an already planned dinner menu without concern that it would throw off my schedule. All that’s required to make this soup is parsnips, yogurt, sour cream and tarragon plus a few basic cooking skills and utensils. Bet you thought you needed vegetable or chicken stock!

Oven roasted parsnips are sweet, creamy and packed with flavor.

Oven roasting parsnips converts them into creamy, sweet and slightly caramelized beauties that bear no resemblance to their raw selves. Michel recommends cutting up and simmering half the roasted parsnips briefly in water before pureeing the mixture to form the soup base, then dicing and adding the remaining half before finishing with yogurt, sour cream and tarragon.The recipe worked beautifully and I was amazed at how little salt and pepper I had to add to get it just right.

Spring Parsnip Soup, a simple yet extremely flavorful dish from Sustainably Delicious.

I served the parsnip soup as a first course to allow it to take center stage and make the meal into something a bit more special. The soup drew rave reviews: “This is so sweet; did you add sugar?” “This is awesome!” “This is a taste of the promise of spring.” Oh my, I think I’ll have to make this again soon. It’s a keeper. Happy eaters are all the inspiration I need to try out a few more recipes, so look for additional “Cooking with Michel” posts soon.

Sustainably Delicious goes on sale April 13. Michel will be at a book signing on April 12 in NYC at Borders at 7pm at the Time Warner Building and at Fresh on Broadway and 18th street on April 22, Earth Day, from noon to 4:00pm. Click here for a complete event listing.

About Michel Nischan:

Michel Nischan is a well-known pioneer in the local-sustainable food movement and award-winning author of  two previous cookbooks that share his passion for cooking with seasonal foods for maximum flavor, nutrition, and enjoyment. Michel co-founded The Dressing Room: A Homegrown Restaurant with Paul Newman at the Westport Country Playhouse, and is the Founder, President & CEO of Wholesome Wave Foundation, a national non-profit organization whose mission is to make locally-grown, healthy and sustainable foods available to all.

Last year I had the privilege of accompanying Mercy Learning center students on a field trip to one of the mobile farms stands Wholesome Wave established in Bridgeport as part of their “Nourishing Neighborhoods” Double Value Coupon Program. Wholesome Wave programs are currently underway in 12 states, the District of Columbia and in more than 80 markets. Miami recently established the State of Florida’s first urban farmer’s market, Roots in the City Farmers Market, thanks to Wholesome Wave Foundation and local partners, and a dedication ceremony is planned for April 7.