Select Whole Foods Market locations in Connecticut go green on April 12 when they dedicate their 5% day to Clean Air-Cool Planet.

In honor of Earth Month 2011, four Whole Foods Market stores in Connecticut will donate five percent of net profits from sales on April 12 to the regional non-profit Clean Air-Cool Planet.  The participating stores in Connecticut are: Darien, Greenwich, Milford and Westport. More people and organizations are measuring their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and Clean Air-Cool Planet offers an array of tools to help them succeed and manage their emissions.

“By shopping at participating Whole Foods Markets on April 12, people will support Clean  Air-Cool Planet’s work helping people address issues of climate and energy,” explained Adam Markham, President and CEO.  Clean Air-Cool Planet’s mission is to solve the problem of global warming through civic engagement, education and effective policy.  The organization works with people in businesses, campuses, and communities to help them measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, and share their success stories.   The Connecticut stores will join other Whole Foods Market stores in Long Island, New Jersey and New York City, all of whom have pledged 5% of their April 12 proceeds to Clean Air-Cool Planet.

Whole Foods Market stores regularly hold “5% Days” to benefit local organizations, although the events often take place on the individual store level.  Due to Clean Air-Cool Planet’s regional work, leaders in Whole Foods Market’s Northeast region decided to make this 5% Day a regional effort.    “At Whole Foods Market, 5% Days are just one of the meaningful ways stores give back to their local communities,” said  Tristam Coffin, Green Mission Specialist for Whole Foods Market’s Northeast Region. “Clean Air-Cool Planet is a wonderful organization with a mission that our company and shoppers believe in, so we are proud to help support them.” 

“Nourish: food + community” ~ A special film, panel discussion & reception with exhibits

Sunday, April 10

2:00-4:30 pm

At Audubon Greenwich

Celebrate springtime with a short, inspiring film about the ‘organic & real food’ revolution and learn from panelists and exhibitors who will discuss ways to source local foods, enhance nutrition and the myriad benefits of a community & home garden. The film, NOURISH, is narrated by Cameron Diaz and studded with food per­sonalities Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Jamie Oliver and more. With a distinctly positive vision, NOURISH explores the story of our food – where it comes from, how it affects our health and  environment, and how food choices create a ripple effect that is felt around the world. As Michael Pollan has said so well, “Food is not just fuel. Food is about family, food is about community, food is about identity. And we nourish all those things when we eat well.”

Panelists & Discussion Topics:

• Patty Sechi ~ The Armstrong Court Community Organic Gardens & Goals for Establishing More In Greenwich
• Analiese Paik ~ Local & Sustainably Grown Food that Nourishes our Community (Plus our special Greenwich Guide to Local-Sustainable Food)
• Betsy Keller, MS, RD ~ The Cure for the Unbalanced American Diet: sustainable, fresh produce, and whole foods.

Kids are free & $12 donations accepted at the door to support ‘Audubon At Home’ Initiatives.

Space very limited. RSVP to Jeff Cordulack at 203-869-5272 x239 or jcordulack@audubon.org. Audubon Greenwich ~ 613 Riversville Road ~ Greenwich ~ http://greenwich.audubon.org

Co-sponsors:

• Fairfield Green Food Guide
• Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm
• Armstrong Court Community Organic Garden

Tables & Exhibits

• Armstrong Court Community Organic Garden (Patty Sechi)
• Fairfield Green Food Guide (Analiese Paik)
• Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm (Pamela Jones & Jennifer Cole)
• Audubon At Home: organic food & garden-related resources (Audubon Staff)
• Mike’s Organic Delivery Service (Mike Geller)
• And more….

Panelist Bios

Patty Sechi is a Connecticut native who has been inspired by her love of the natural world since her earliest childhood.  A graphic designer and illustrator by profession, Patty has increasingly focused her time and energy on her first love – nature – becoming involved with a number of greening projects throughout Greenwich.  Most notably, in April 2009 she led the effort to reclaim the inactive garden at the Armstrong Court Housing Complex. Since that time, serving as Garden Director, she has been the driving force behind the success of the Armstrong Court Community Organic Garden, leading a group of volunteers and gardeners to transform the once-dormant, 15,000 square foot garden into a now-thriving center of organic community gardening, education and culture.  Patty also serves on the Board of Directors of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy.

Betsy Keller is a Registered Dietitian with a background in Nutrition and Health Communications as well as experience implementing local public relations campaigns. Over the past 25 years, she has planned and implemented PR campaigns for clients ranging from healthcare companies to local non-profits. Most recently, she has worked locally to inspire children to  choose healthful diets and raise awareness of sustainable lifestyles.  Her projects include teaching sustainable nutrition to children, planting children’s organic vegetable gardens, co-chairing the first Town of Greenwich Eco-Fair and producing an Environmental Teen Film Contest. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and was awarded a Master of Science degree in Clinical Nutrition from Boston University.  Her dietetic internship was completed at the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City.  She is a member of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and the ADA Hunger and Environmental Nutrition practice group.

Analiese Paik is a local-sustainable food advocate and founder and editor of the FairfieldGreenFoodGuide.com,  a free web site that provides readers with a unique blend of local-seasonal food guides, a green food events calendar,  in-depth features stories,  green food resources, and advocacy opportunities. Analiese worked in marketing management positions in various sectors of the financial services industry before starting her career as an independent marketing consultant, now specializing in local-sustainable food and social media marketing.  She holds a Master of Business Administration degree, is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, and studied wine at the International Wine Center in New York City where she received a certificate in wine from the UK’s Wine and Spirit Education Trust. Paik is an avid organic gardener and home cook and delights in teaching these skills to her two sons. Analiese is a regular monthly guest on News Channel 8’s Good Morning Connecticut show and has been featured in Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine, The Connecticut Post, Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Time, Connecticut Cottages and Gardens magazine, Westport Magazine, Fairfield County Life magazine and various online media. Analiese is a member of Slow Food USA, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (NOFA), Aspetuck Land Trust, Friends of Ambler Farm, and is a registered American Farmland Trust and Seafood Watch Advocate. www.fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com

Audubon Connecticut, with more than 9,000 members statewide, works to protect birds, other wildlife and their habitats through education, science and legislative advocacy for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity. Our network of nature centers, wildlife sanctuaries, and local, volunteer Chapters, connects people with nature, promotes sound conservation practices and inspires the next generation of conservationists.

Visit www.audubonct.org for environmental policy and bird conservation updates.

A beautiful new magazine called Sustainable Connecticut has launched. This  special preview in the April issue of Connecticut Cottages & Gardens magazine (CTC&G) profiles local leaders of the sustainable food movement who are inspiring all of us to change. They are creating a wonderful ripple effect that can be felt throughout the state, and beyond. Perhaps you know some of them or they have touched your lives, or maybe even the food you eat.

Video from WTNH’s Good Morning Connecticut show introducing Sustainable Connecticut magazine on Saturday April 2 with Analiese Paik, Founder & Editor of the Fairfield Green Food Guide, and WTNH’s Steve Villanueva.

Sustainable Farmer Sustainable Connecticut magazine begins on page 49 of CTC&G with a beautiful photo of Master Farmer Annie Farrell of Millstone Farm in Wilton with one of their heritage breed hens.  Annie Farrell, the subject of the magazine’s cover story, has spent her life establishing sustainable farms and sharing her knowledge with others as a consultant. Millstone Farm was founded by Betsy and Jesse Fink and they hired Farrell to help them build “a sustainable farm whose mission it is to build a healthy local food system that enhances the natural and social environment” according to the article.

Betsy is an environmentalist and philanthropist and runs the 75-acre farm which has a small CSA and supplies the highest quality fresh produce to top farm-to-table restaurants including the Dressing Room and Le Farm in Westport, Schoolhouse at Cannondale in Wilton, the Boathouse at Saugatuck, and the Barcelona restaurant group. Millstone Farm regularly hosts teachers, students and educational events at the farm where participants can learn directly from Master Farmer Annie Farrell. If you’re a beginning gardener, don’t miss Millstone’s Backyard Workshop on April 16.

Farm-to-Table Chefs & Whole Animal Butcher In the Locavore column “Staying Hungry”, I interviewed a few chefs who are leaders in the farm-to-table movement to share their latest news with readers. James Beard award-winning chef and sustainable food pioneer Michel Nischan presented at TEDxManhattan “Changing the Way We Eat” and was recently elected to Ashoka’s global fellowship of leading social entrepreneurs in more than 60 countries in recognition of his work at Wholesome Wave.

Bill Taibe, chef/owner of LeFarm restaurant in Westport and a James Beard Foundation award semifinalist for Best Chef: Northeast is finalizing his restaurant’s green certification process and is planning a second restaurant. Alex Gunuey caters farm-to-school meals at the Friends School in Wilton and started Bone A Part to provide discerning canines with gourmet, locavore dog food.

Fairfield County is welcoming two new sustainable food businesses – Mario Batali’s  Tarry Lodge Enoteca Pizzeria is due to open early summer in Westport and Ryan Fibiger, a graduate of Fleischer’s Grass-Fed and Organic Meats in Kingston, NY, will be opening a sustainable butcher shop specializing in whole animal (aka nose-to-tail) butchery soon in either Westport or Fairfield. Naturally chef Gunuey will be buying trimmings from Fibiger for his dog food, thereby ensuring that no part of the animal goes to waste.

In “Spring Lettuce” author and farmer Bill Duesing encourages us to plant some lettuce soon since it’s an excellent early spring crop that likes cool weather. Duesing is Executive Director of the Connecticut Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (CT NOFA) and recommends planting every 2-3 weeks so gardeners can enjoy lettuce through October. CT-NOFA is not just for farmers (I’m a member!) so please take a look at their upcoming workshops and events-one might be just right for you.

“The Great School Food Makeover” spotlights the success of The Unquowa School in Fairfield in making over their lunch menu to feature locally sourced foods from sustainable family farms. John Turenne, who helped create Yale’s sustainable dining program, left the university to found Sustainable Food Systems and took on the school as his first client. The Unquowa School has embraced Alice Waters’ edible schoolyard philosophy by not only putting in a school garden, but also by partnering with Sport Hill Farm in Easton to offer a summer farm camp that teach kids from early on where their food comes from and how to plant, cultivate and harvest it. Campers prepare a farm fresh lunch with school chef Peter Gorman on Fridays from food they picked that morning.

Pick up the magazine at the usual drop sites for CTC&G or visit the web site for a digital copy at sustainablethemagazine.com.

Enjoy the hard work of our farmers by seeking out the bounty of Connecticut Grown this spring. Foods that are special to the season like Spring parsnips, early lettuces, and fresh goat’s milk cheeses are a treat.

Displayed on the Ch. 8 set are the following CT Grown foods purchased on closing day of the Westport Winter Farmers’ Market:

• Fresh Spring goat’s milk cheese (chevre) and yogurt from Beltane Farm
• Soft ripened goat’s milk cheese from Beltane Farm called Danse de la Lune
• Cow’s milk and yogurt from Ladies of Levita Road dairy farm
• Certified Organic kale, mesclun greens (mixed salad greens), and flowering tarragon from 2 Guys from Woodbridge farm
• Certified Organic Spring parsnips, carrots, heirloom tomato sauce and bread and butter pickles from Riverbank Farm
• Certified Organic mixed baby greens and spinach from Star Light Gardens farm
• Loin lamb chops and lamb Bolognese sauce from Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm

Please come back and let us know how you like Sustainable Connecticut magazine and what spring foods you’re enjoying now. Planting a garden? Share your garden photos with us on Facebook.

Sunday, April 3 at the Unitarian Church of Westport at 1:00 pm

The Weston Select Committee on Sustainability, GVI and the Unitarian Church in Westport proudly present a conversation with bestselling author, television host and public speaker Anna Lappe. Lappe will be discussing her latest book, Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It, and the links between today’s global food system and climate change.

The event will include participation from several local organic farmers, “farm-to-table” chefs, such as the Dressing Room’s Michel Nischan and Le Farm’s Bill Taibe, and other local food movement pioneers.  A book signing will be held at the end of the program.

The event is free of charge and open to the public and press.  Homemade organic soup will be available at $4 per cup at 12:30 p.m.  Anna will begin speaking promptly at 1:00 p.m.  Complementary refreshments & desserts, all locally made, will be served during Anna’s book signing immediately following the program.  For more information, please contact David Vita (david@uuwestport.org) at the Unitarian Church in Westport at 203-227-7205 x 14.

About Anna Lappé

Anna Lappé is a national bestselling author, television host and public speaker.  Named one of TIME’s “Eco-Who’s Who,” Anna can currently be seen as the host of MSN’s The Practical Guide to Healthier Living and the 13-part public television series The Endless Feast.  She can also be seen on Howdini.com and the Sundance Channel’s Big Ideas for a Small Planet.  With her mother Frances Moore Lappé, Anna leads the Cambridge-based Small Planet Institute, a collaborative network for research and popular education, and the Small Planet Fund, which has raised and given away nearly half a million dollars to democratic social movements worldwide, two of which have won the Nobel Peace Prize since the Fund’s founding in 2002.  Following the publication of her first book, the national bestselling Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet (Penguin 2002) and Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen (Penguin 2006), Anna has traveled to more than one hundred cities to speak and has also appeared on Fox, NBC, PBS and the CBC in Canada as well as dozens of nationally syndicated radio programs.  For more information, visit www.takeabite.cc/about/about-anna-lappe.

About the Weston Select Committee for Sustainability

The Weston Select Committee on Sustainability is dedicated to providing Weston’s residents with opportunities to implement sustainable practices that will achieve long-term well being. The word “sustainability” encompasses the following: reducing negative human impact on the environment while restoring and protecting the basic health of our air, land, and water.

The Committee will be a source of information for residents and businesses with a commitment to promoting awareness and civic involvement through education by offering continuous outreach to the community. In addition, the Committee will offer recommendations to the Board of Selectmen, taking advantage of federal, state, and other programs/funding, by including a research component to its work, as well as developing and recommending “sustainability ordinances.” The Committee will also work with neighboring communities to position Fairfield County as a leader in the movement toward state, national and global sustainability.

About GVI

GVI is a Westport-based grass roots non-profit organization established in 2008 to support people and organizations passionate about creating environmental and community change through local action.  GVI’s mission is to make our entire region a model of what is possible – so that we may encourage global systematic change.  Projects to date include creating the Wakeman Town Farm & Sustainability Center and Staples High School Edible Garden; forming a GVI Energy Local Action Group to generate real home energy reductions; establishing a GVI Water Local Action Group to support joint initiatives among regional water protection agencies; protecting the Bag Ban legislation; funding the Westport Farmers’ Market and Earthplace energy study; and sponsoring the Sherwood Mill Pond Preserve and Eco-Fest 2009 and 2010 as well as numerous film/lecture presentations.  Since its inception in 2008, GVI has quickly built a thriving community of conscious and energetic local leaders reflecting the community’s desire to evolve and grow.  In addition to GVI’s work in Westport, the group has expanded its reach to neighboring communities such as Ridgefield, Fairfield, Weston and Bridgeport.  For more information, visit www.goGVI.org.

About the Unitarian Church in Westport

The Unitarian Church in Westport is a diverse and welcoming religious community, free of creed and dogma, and open to people of all backgrounds and beliefs.  WE INSPIRE and support individual spiritual growth.  WE CONNECT through worship, music, learning, and caring ministries.  WE ACT in the service of peace and justice.  For more information, visit www.uuwestport.org.

Fuel for Learning Partnership (FFLP), a PTA Council Standing Committee, will sponsor the second annual Food for Thought Expo with this year’s theme ‘Make Every Meal Count.’ Scheduled for Saturday, March 26^th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, the expo will take place at Fairfield Warde High School, in Fairfield, Connecticut.

The expo is free and open to the public and will feature cooking demonstrations, including an appearance at 11 am by Michel Nischan, owner and founder of Westport’s Dressing Room restaurant, President and CEO of Wholesome Wave Foundation, and author of the bestselling cookbooks Sustainably Delicious and Homegrown: Pure and Simple, as well as a wide variety of vendors ready to help area residents make the best possible choices in local produce, meats, groceries, and ready-made foods.

Cooking Demonstrations:

11 am  Michel Nischan, James Beard award-winning chef and author, presents  Nourishing Families

12 noon  Amie Guyette Hall,  cooking coach and owner of From Your Inside Out presents Super Simple, Family Friendly

1 pm  Sue Cadwell,  chef/owner Health in a Hurry presents Easy, Health Supportive Cuisine

2 pm  Phoebe Lapine and Cara Eisenpress from Big Girls, Small Kitchen present  Take-Out at Home

3 pm  Linda Soper Kolton,  chef/owner of GreenGourmettoGo, presents Make Desserts Count, Too!

Over thirty exhibitors will showcase their products and services that will help visitors make “every meal count.”  Events to be held throughout the day include movies, children’s activities, and cooking demonstrations using whole foods by Phoebe Lapine and Cara Eisenpress from Big Girls, Small Kitchen; Linda Soper-Kolton from Green Gourmet to Go; Sue Cadwell of Health in a Hurry; and Amie Hall, CHHC, AADP, of From Your Inside Out.  Participating businesses and organizations include Black Rock Farmstand, Borders Books, Fairfield Cheese Company, Fairfield Public Library, Farmer’s Cow, Sport Hill Farm, Stone Gardens Farm, CT Farm Fresh Express, Southport CSA, Project Hope Garden, Robek’s Juice, Wave Hill Breads, Jeff Borofsky’s Portable Pizza Oven, and the Fairfield Green Food Guide.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming back exhibitors from last year, as well as introducing visitors to new businesses” said Michelle McCabe, Chairperson of the Fuel for Learning Partnership. “This year’s theme, ‘Make Every Meal Count’, is inspired by the belief that every meal counts, either as a source of energy to contribute to a productive day at school or work, or a contribution to good health, or a way to support the environment, or way to support local farms, or a way to connect with family members.”

The FFLP encourages Fairfield County parents, students, teachers, food service staff, and Board of Education members to jointly pursue the common goal of serving safe, high quality, nutritional meals to the students of Fairfield.  FFLP seeks to affect positive change in how we eat by coming together as a community to broadly educate and change eating habits through the endorsement of sustainable eating practices.

The FFLP is hosting the  Food for Thought Expo: ‘Make Every Meal Count’ as part of an on-going effort to help educate people about how their approach to eating can overcome many of the health challenges our community faces today.  “We’re all on a journey toward changing the way we eat,” Ms. McCabe said.  “That comes with a learning curve, and our focus is to help people take ownership of their health, and the health of their children.”

“Don’t Put That In Your Mouth”

A Lecture and Q&A by Jeffrey M. Smith about the Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods

Don’t Miss the Most Important Food

Education Event of the Year

at

Greenwich Audubon on Wednesday, April 27

or

Community Film Institute, Fairfield on Thursday April 28

(Formerly Fairfield Community Theatre)

Buy tickets online now (Fairfield only)

Download a free Non-GMO Shopping Guide

Join international bestselling author Jeffrey M. Smith for a lecture about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and the dangers they pose to our health. Mr. Smith is the world’s leading spokesperson on the health dangers of GMOs and has launched “The Campaign for Healthier Eating in America”, an industry and consumer movement that takes action to remove GMOs from the US food supply. He is the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology (www.responsibletechnology.org) and his books present evidence linking GMOs to toxic and allergic reactions, sick livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals.

Smith’s first book Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating became the world’s best-selling and # 1 rated book on GMOs. His second book, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, is the authoritative work that presents irrefutable evidence that GMOs are harmful. It includes 65 health dangers, linking GMOs to toxic and allergic reactions, thousands of sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals.

Many nations, including several in the European Union, have banned the planting of GMOs and former UK environment minister Michael Meacher says the revelations in Jeffrey Smith’s book, Genetic Roulette, may “change the global course of events this century.” The American Academy of Environmental Medicine now urges all doctors to prescribe diets without any GMO foods. Get up-to-date with this irreversible experiment with food crops and learn some steps that will protect you and all future generations. Topics will include the health dangers of GMOs, how to avoid them, and most importantly, how we can eliminate GMOs from our food supply – quickly.

Greenwich Audubon Event: Reception from 5:30-7:00 pm, lecture and Q&A from 7:00-9:00 pm. on April 27. $15 per person. Space is limited. RSVPs required. Contact Jeff at jcordulack@audubon.org or 203-869-5272 x239 for more information and to secure tickets for this special guest lecture.

Fairfield Community Film Institute Event, 1424 Post Road, Fairfield is sponsored by Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe and will take place from 7-9 pm on April 28. Tickets may be purchased online via BrownPaperTicket for $20 and at the door for $25 (if seats remain). You may also register by calling (203) 292-8190 or stopping by the Cafe on 39 Unquowa Road, Fairifield. Bonus event: A free screening on April 14 of “The World According to Monsanto” at the Cafe.

Fairfield Event Exhibitors

Fairfield Green Food Guide is a proud co-sponsor of both events and will be exhibiting at the Fairfield event along with Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe (event sponsor), Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm, Sport Hill Farm, Feeney Farm, and Northeast Organic Farming Association of CT (CT-NOFA).

Fairfield’s One Book One Town 2011 selection is Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer. As part of the book event series, Pequot Library will be hosting an indoor farmers’ market and guest speaker series including beekeepers, artisan cheese makers and farmers on Saturday, March 5 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Bring your reusable shopping bags and get to know and buy from your farmer face-to-face in this beautiful library setting.

Eating Animals is a provocative book which invites us all to learn and care about where our food comes from and how it’s raised. The Fairfield Green Food Guide will be an exhibitor and founder and editor Analiese Paik will be a speaker at this event, sharing the myriad resources available to consumers looking for local and sustainably grown and produced food.

Join us on Facebook and Twitter @GreenFoodGal to hear the latest news and announcement of who will be participating in this event.

On February 12, 2011, Chef Michel Nischan, CEO, President & Founder of Wholesome Wave,  will speak at TEDxManhattan “Changing the Way We Eat” in New York City.   This one-day TEDx event aims to explore the US food system — from what happened, to where we are, to what we are doing to change to a more sustainable way of eating and farming.  In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.  The Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farming is the lead sponsor for “Changing the Way We Eat.”

“It is possible to create real change in our nation’s food system by establishing healthy food commerce where ‘food deserts’ now exist,” says James Beard Award-winning chef and author Nischan, whose nonprofit’s mission is to empower historically excluded urban and rural communities to make better food choices by increasing access to and affordability of fresh, locally grown food.

The day includes a world-class line-up of inspiring speakers from all disciplines of the sustainable food world, including:

• Lucas Knowles, USDA Coordinator of “Know Your Farmer Know Your Food”
• Laurie David, Environmental Author and Activist
• Professor Frederick Kaufman, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
• Curt Ellis, Filmmaker and star of the Peabody Award-winning film King Corn, co-Founder FoodCorps
• Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA
• Cheryl Rogowski, Small Family Farmer & the first US farmer awarded a MacArthur Genius Award
• Kenneth Cook, President of the Environmental Working Group
• Dr. William Li, President of the Angiogenesis Foundation
• Karen Hudson, President of the Dairy Education Alliance
• Britta Riley, Windowfarms creator and artist
• Brian Halweil, editor of Edible East End, publisher of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan, senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute and Co-Director of the Nourishing the Planet project
• Barbara Askins, President of the 125^th St Business Improvement District [Harlem
• Ian Cheney, founding Board member of Food Corps, filmmaker [Truck Farm, The Greening of Southie, King Corn], urban truck farmer
• Michael Conard, Asst Director at the Urban Design Lab & Adjunct Assoc Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University.
• John Fraser, Chef/Proprietor of Dovetail restaurant and What Happens When, NYC
• Kathy Lawrence, Program Director of the national collaborative School Food FOCUS
• Elizabeth Ü, Executive Director of Finance for Food, a solutions-oriented innovator at the intersection of sustainable food systems and social finance
• Entertainment by ETHEL

Please click here for a complete WebCast schedule.

In an effort to have as many people as possible participate in TEDxManhattan, the day will be webcast live, with over 60 ‘viewing parties’ already confirmed around the world.  To find out if there is a viewing party near you, visit www.TEDxManhattan.org/viewing-parties.  And there’s still time to organize an event in your area – details can be found on the website.

You can also watch the event live from your home on February 12^th from 10:30am – 6:00pm EST at www.livestream.com/tedx.  Nischan is scheduled to speak at 5:30pm EST.

For more information about TEDxManhattan, visit www.TEDxManhattan.org ; media can contact geralyn@resourcescommunications.com, telephone 281.980.6643.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like* experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.

Find a Viewing Party in your Area to Listen to the Live Webcast

TEDx is encouraging everyone to set up viewing parties or attend one in your area. Visit the TEDxManhattan MeetUp Everywhere page to register your event and to see events around you. If you are planning an event, please email TEDxManhattan@gmail.com to have our event registered on the site.

If you find you can’t attend a local viewing party, you can watch TEDxManhattan live on your computer at http://livestream.com/tedx.

How to Host a Viewing Party

Please adhere to the following rules:

• Viewing parties must be held in a non-commercial venue. This means in a home, office, school, library, nonprofit organization, or community center. You cannot hold a TEDx in a commercial venue such as a restaurant or coffee shop.
• TEDx viewing parties must be free of charge to all attendees.
• Events cannot hold more than 100 people without prior approval. Please email TEDxManhattan@gmail.com if you think your event will exceed 100 people.
• You cannot attach any type of advertising or sponsor messages to the webcast.

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Audubon Greenwich Presents a Friday Night Movie Event

The End of the Line

A film about unsustainable fishing and the future of the oceans

“The Inconvenient Truth About the Oceans” – The Economist

Friday, January 28, 2011
6:00 – 9:00 pm at Audubon Greenwich

With Special Guest Speaker:

Jamie Pollack, NY Representative for the Pew Charitable Trust’s ‘National Fisheries Reform Project’ & Co-Founder of Shark Savers

Watch the trailer

How is overfishing impacting the environment, our food, and our future? Rupert Murray dives deep to illuminate the cold truth about industrial pillaging of Earth’s oceans with his film, “The End of the Line.” This is the first major feature documentary film to reveal the devastating effect that global over-fishing is having on fish stocks and the health of our oceans and is a wake up call to us all.

Filmed over two years, the film follows the indefatigable investigative reporter Charles Clover as he confronts the politicians and celebrity restaurateurs who exhibit little regard for the damage their policies-and their menus-are doing to the oceans. Narrated by Ted Danson and endorsed by and with major marketing support from National Geographic, Greenpeace and the Waitt Family Foundation, “The End of the Line” is a must-see for all who love the ocean and its creatures.

Jamie Pollack will attend the event as the NY Representative for the Pew Environment Group’s ‘National Fisheries Reform Project’ which focuses on ending overfishing by 2011. She is also the Co-Founder of Shark Savers, a international shark conservation organization focusing on lowering the demand for shark fin soup and setting up shark sanctuaries around the world.

The Pew Environment Group is currently working on a campaign to ban surface longline fishing in the Gulf of Mexico which they use to catch swordfish and yellowfin tuna. While longlines kill swordfish and yellowfin, they also kill bluefin tuna, marlin, sharks and sea turtles as well. This method of fishing is extremely destructive and indiscriminate because It kills everything in its path. Other types of fishing which can be used in its place called Green Line and Buoy fishing do not have the high rates of bycatch that longline fishing does.

The Gulf of Mexico is extremely important because it is where the bluefin go to spawn. The Gulf oil spill disaster occurred at a critical time, during the spawning of these species. Today, surface longlines continue to push depleted and endangered marine animals further away from recovery. Ms. Pollack notes, “2011 is the year that all catch levels need to meet the levels set by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Public Law 94-265) and public support for supporting these measures is very important due the challenges the Act could face from Congress.” She will be on hand to take questions from the audience, distribute sustainable seafood cards and explain the innovative “fishphone” app that is available on cell phones.

Space is limited and RSVPs are required. Suggested donation $12 online or $15 at the door. Under 21 years old: $5 suggested. Includes a organic wine & cheese reception from 6:00-7:00 pm. To reserve your seat online, visit: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/144027 To check for door ticket availability, contact Jeff Cordulack at 203-869-5272 x239 or jcordulack@audubon.org.

For more information about the film and the event, visit: http://greenwich.audubon.org/Programs_SpecialEvents_EndoftheLine.html

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

• Information on the Pew campaign to stop surface longlining in the Gulf: http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_detail.aspx?id=937
• Petition to stop surface longlining in the Gulf: https://secure3.convio.net/pew/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=278
• Shark Savers: sharksavers.org
• More information about the film: http://endoftheline.com

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Environmental Author Talk: EAARTH by Bill McKibben 

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Thursday April 28, 2011 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM Brubeck Room

Twenty years ago, with The End of Nature, Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about global warming. Those warnings went mostly unheeded; now, he insists, we need to acknowledge that we’ve waited too long, and that massive change is not only unavoidable but already under way. Our old familiar globe is suddenly melting, drying, acidifying, flooding, and burning in ways that no human has ever seen. We’ve created, in very short order, a new planet, still recognizable but fundamentally different. We may as well call it Eaarth.

A changing world costs large sums to defend—think of the money that went to repair New Orleans, or the trillions it will take to transform our energy systems. But the endless economic growth that could underwrite such largesse depends on the stable planet we’ve managed to damage and degrade. We can’t rely on old habits any longer.

Our hope depends, McKibben argues, on scaling back—on building the kind of societies and economies that can hunker down, concentrate on essentials, and create the type of community (in the neighborhood, but also on the Internet) that will allow us to weather trouble on an unprecedented scale. Change—fundamental change—is our best hope on a planet suddenly and violently out of balance.

Bill McKibben is an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming and alternative energy and advocates for more localized economies. In 2010 the Boston Globe called him ‘probably the nation’s leading environmentalist’ and Time magazine described him as ‘the world’s best green journalist.’ In 2009 he led the organization of 350.org , which coordinated what Foreign Policy magazine called ‘the largest ever global coordinated rally of any kind,’ with 5,200 simultaneous demonstrations in 181 countries.
Barbara Kingsolver, author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle implores ‘What I have to say about this book is very simple: Read it, please. Straight through to the end. Whatever else you were planning to do next, nothing could be more important.’

No charge. Sponsored by the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation for Wilton Library’s Environmental Initiative. Book available for purchase and signing; purchases will benefit the library. Registration strongly suggested. To register, please call 203-762-3950 or visit www.wiltonlibrary.org/events. Wilton Library, 137 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton.