A youngUnquowa camper harvesting a root vegetable with Patti Popp's at her farm in Easton

Want to give your child a taste of sustainable education? The Unquowa School’s Summer Farm Camp is open to children in grades Pre-K through 6^th and “offers the fun of traditional camp while teaching the principles of sustainable food systems and land stewardship” according to Head of School Sharon Lauer. You can download a brochure from their web site.

All but the smallest campers take daily trips up to Sport Hill Farm for a true hands-on organic farming experience and receive daily cooking lessons from Chef Peter. On Fridays, Chef Peter works with the campers to prepare a healthy, well-balanced meal from the foods they’ve harvested throughout the week.

Has your child attended this camp? Mine did and are looking forward to returning this year to work with Patti on her farm and cook with Peter.

Charlie presenting to his fourth grade class about the role of local farms and importance of supporting and preserving them.

Charlie is a fourth grader at King’s Highway Elementary School in Westport who has a deep passion for the farming life. It’s immediately obvious that Charlie would rather be farming than anything else, so when his teacher offered him the opportunity to do an independent study project, he jumped at the chance to share his knowledge and passion with his classmates.

"Farms are becoming rare and it's our job to support them."

Working with his teacher, Mrs. Malizia, he spent the last six weeks preparing a multimedia presentation for his class about local farms and their importance to our community. Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the class presentation. Charlie very confidently stood in front of his class and gave them an eloquent primer on local farms. “Do you know where your food comes from?” he asked the children sitting on the floor around him. He then presented the basic facts about what a farm is, how varied they are in size and nature, defined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and talked about the history of farming in the area. Corn and apples figure prominently in the area’s agricultural past (and present), but I really enjoyed learning that onions were grown in Westport during the Civil War to combat scurvy in the army ranks and “young boys our age would miss their spring and early fall school terms to harvest the onions.”

Charlie and organic farmer Patti Popp, one of Charlie's mentors and idols.

Charlie has a soft spot for Patti Popp, owner of Sport Hill Farm in Easton and host to almost 200 children in a summer farm camp run through The Unquowa School. During his “Meet the Farmer” segment, Charlie described Patti as “a hard working organic farmer who sometimes works from 7 am to 9 pm in the busy season on her four-and-a-half acre farm.” Highlighting the special relationship Patti has with her CSA families, Charlie pointed out that “once a week people come to pick up their shares that she picks that morning. Sometimes crops don’t do well, like broccoli this year, but there was arugula, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, bok choy, peppers, garlic and Swiss chard.”

Charlie's beautiful animal sketches decorated his story board.

“Farms are important to our way of life and we don’t want to lose them. If we can eat what is in season, it will save a lot of energy and fuel. One way to eat locally is to visit the farmers’ markets” recommended Charlie. “More and more kids are eating closer to home” from local farms and community, school and backyards gardens. “If we had a school garden like Staples and Greens Farms Academy, we could use it for science and maybe use the food in our cafeteria” Charlie suggested. One classmate added “cafeteria food isn’t healthy; I don’t like it” and received a roar of consent from the other children.

A young camper harvesting a root vegetable at The Unquowa School's Summer Farm Camp hosted by Patti Popp's Sport Hill Farm in Easton.

“It is important for kids to visit farms because you could like farms and not even know it” pointed out Charlie.  His best recommendation for   learning about farms and farming is to attend a farm camp. And he should know, he’s been attending them for years. “When I was 8, I went to Shelburne Farms in Vermont to their summer farm camp. It was a thousand acre farm, one of the largest farms I’ve been to. We helped collect eggs, feed pigs, help garden and visit the dairy.” At The Unquowa School’s Summer Farm Camp kids plant, harvest and really get their hands dirty at Patti’s Sport Hill Farm in Easton. They also get to eat what they’ve harvested after cooking it back at the school with Chef Peter Gorman. Charlie’s been attending the camp for two years now and said “It’s fun to get in the dirt and help.”

Charlie was nervous before the presentation that his classmates might not care about farms. The unending questions from his classmates proved him wrong.

After the talk, it was all hands as the children peppered him with questions. “What is your favorite farm animal?” to which he responded “chickens, because they give you eggs every day.” “What do you like to do most on the farm?” elicited  “I like planting, harvesting and working with the animals. Harvesting cauliflower was really hard because we had to twist and turn them to get the heads out of the ground.” “Will you grow up to be a farmer?” really required no response but it was wonderful to hear him say that yes, he would, and he’d be just like Patti raising vegetables and taking care of animals.

Mrs. Malizia manned the laptop to run a slide show on the classroom SmartBoard of  Charlie visiting his favorite farms . When he got to the photo of broccoli and cauliflower, one child responded “Nice!” and the photo of hot peppers elicited a “Oh those are good!” from another. It’s obvious that these children know what real food is and like it! One little girl said her mother is an organic gardener and they even have chickens.

The last portion of Q&A was directed at Charlie’s special guest, organic farmer Patti Popp. “Do you really have a farm?” one girl asked almost incredulously. “Yes I do but we had to clear a lot of land to plant the farm” responded Patti. “When did you start?” another wanted to know. “It took many years to clear the land so we are now in our fourth year of farming” explained Patti. In response to  “What is your favorite vegetable to grow?” Patti said with great certainty “tomatoes and spaghetti squash - both to grow and eat!” Chickens are her favorite farm animal and she raises Rhode Island Red hens to provide her customers with farm fresh eggs.

Patti talked about the  summer farm campers’ experiences, ranging from  learning that farm chores need to be done “even when it’s hot, rainy and sticky”, to playing zucchini baseball, to cooking and eating the foods they’ve picked. “Fresh picked food tastes different; don’t say you don’t like something until you’ve tasted it” she suggested. Mrs. Malizia summed up pretty much everyone’s thoughts when she said “I want my son to go to your camp as soon as he’s not one!”

Charlie with his mother Christy and grandmother Janet, holding a gift from Patti - cauliflower fresh from her farm.

After the presentation Mrs. Malizia pulled out the latest issue of Time for Kids magazine entitled “From Farm to You: A Fresh Look at Lunch” and shared that she had used it in class and felt it enabled the kids to better relate to Charlie’s message. It’s not often that a student takes her up on an offer to do an independent project, but it seemed she genuinely enjoyed meeting once a week with Charlie to help him manage the project, sometimes working over lunch with him. He told me that with help from his parents, he researched the history of Westport farms at the library and obtained information about the Westport Community Garden on Hyde Lane from Westport Now, a new resource for him. Welcome to new media Farmer Boy.

From left to right holding donated organic seeds, Betty Blackwell, School Nurse from McKinley School; Lauren Lanham, PTA Garden Committee, Sherman School; Amie Hall, founder and coordinator of Gardening Clubs at Roger Ludlowe and Fairfield Woods Middle Schools; Michelle Flashman, middle school department liaison for FCS (Family and Consumer Sciences); Fairfield Ludlowe HS Juniors Alanna Fitzpatrick and Kelly Gerson, who helped put in the Ludlowe middle school garden.

Fairfield’s edible schoolyard gardens at Sherman, McKinley, Mill Hill and Dwight elementary schools along with Fairfield Woods and Roger Ludlowe middle schools received a financial donation from the Fairfield Green Food Guide funded by proceeds from the August screening of the documentary food film FRESH. The donation will help fund the gardens’ expenses and also serves to recognize the work of the parent volunteers, school staff and students running and working in the gardens. School gardens represented at the event also received organic seeds for various seasonal plantings.

Jeff, Alanna, Amie, Kelly and Michelle

The event was held on October 9 at the site of Fairfield Ludlowe’s organic, square foot garden, which still had unblighted tomatoes on the vine, carrots in the ground and nasturtium in bloom. I was delighted to hear that the students are visiting the garden and most recently learned to recognize a carrot by its top before harvesting it for use in a knife skills class.

Fairfield Ludlowe Middle School's raised beds were built with the help of Tech Ed teacher Jeff Iwanicki and his students

Amie Hall and some younger student volunteers wrestling out a rock so a fence post could be installed back in May

None of these gardens would be possible without the support and help of teachers like Michelle Flashman (top and above), and Jeff Iwanicki (above) and buy in from the students and administration. My advice to anyone wanting to start a school garden is to learn from someone who has already done it to better understand the challenges and how to overcome them. Clearly the six gardens honored on this day are proof that those challenges are hardly insurmountable.

From left to right, guest Michelle McCabe, Hostess Analiese Paik, and Bill Duesing of CT NOFA

Guests panelists Annelise McCay, Amie G. Hall, Sue Cadwell, Janak Desai, Ken Kleban, Bill Duesing and Deb Marsden

I had a few requests during the event for a list of panelists and exhibitors at the FRESH screening at Pequot Library on Wednesday, August 12 so here they are. These respected members of the  local-sustainable food movement took the time to serve as panelists and/or exhibitors, and also helped spread the word to their contacts, members and customers, resulting in a sold out audience of 200! Check out the pics below to see what a great time everyone had.

Panelists:

Moderated by Analiese Paik, Founder Fairfield GreenFood Guide

1. Bill Duesing, Executive Director of CT NOFA
2. Sue Cadwell, Chef/Owner Health in a Hurry
3. Deb Marsden, Founder CT Farm Fresh Express (CTFFE)
4. Environmentalist Janak Desai and Ken Kleban of Kleban Properties, co-founders of Fairfield’s Farmer’s Market at the Brick Walk
5. Annelise McCay, Founder Sherman School garden, and Amie G. Hall, Holistic Health Counselor and Cooking Coach, Founder Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Woods Middle School square food gardens

A special thank you to Amie G. Hall for finding videographer Janet Luongo, literally at the 11th hour, to tape the event for publication on YouTube and screening on public access television. Janet, thank you so much for enabling us to share this event with so many more people.

A huge thanks to our host Pequot Library. The auditorium and Community Reading Room are such beautiful and spacious rooms that we were all quite comfortable despite our numbers. One of our guests was a blogger from Brooklyn and he posted about the  fine venue and their rather forward thinking leadership.

Exhibitors:

1. Pequot Library
2. Fairfield Green Food Guide
3. CT NOFA
4. CT Farm Fresh Express
5. Health in a Hurry
6. Fairfield Farmers’ Market at The Brick Walk
7. Fairfield Edible School Gardens
8. CT Farmland Trust (at CT NOFA table)
9. Bluebelle Muffins, Jerri Graham
10. Organic Gardening Simplified, Nick Mancini
11. The Double L Farmstand, Lloyd Allen
12. Aspetuck Land Trust, David Brant and John Hamlin
13. Sport Hill Farm, Patti Popp
14. Fairfield Earth Day Committee & Clean Energy Commission, Larry

Nick Mancini's organic vegetables at the FRESH screening

I announced an Eat Local Challenge at the FRESH screening on Wednesday night, inviting attendees to pledge to eat more local food. You set the bar where you feel comfortable. Whether you’re a newbie or already well on your way to eating locally and sustainably, think about one more thing you could do. Stop in a farm stand on the way home? Buy local cheese at a farmers’ market or specialty shop?

10 Ways to Eat FRESH is designed to help you find that “one more thing”. The Challenge doesn’t end; it’s a new way of eating. Email me at info@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com to add your name to the growing roster of  Challenge participants. You’ll receive a special monthly e-newsletter providing you with new and interesting ways to eat locally and sustainably and are invited to submit comments about how taking the Challenge is changing the way you eat.

10 Ways to Eat FRESH

Click here for printer friendly version (pdf)

1)      Pick from your own backyard garden. Do you have some tomatoes, fresh herbs or lettuces growing? Add them to any meal to make it a CT Grown feast. If not, consider starting a fall garden, even if it’s just a few containers.

2)      Go foraging for free food! Raspberries and blueberries are in season and you can find them in your neighbor’s backyard (ask first) or along the roadside. Be sure to wash well. Ask your local school garden if they’ll trade volunteer hours for picking rights.

3)      Visit your local farmers’ market or farm stand and stock up for the week. Fairfield’s newest farmers’ market at the Promenade at The Brick Walk features live music from 9-12 and an ever-growing list of vendors. The Double L Farm Stand in Southport offers an eclectic mix of produce, fruit and artisan foods ranging from foraged berries to local, organic pies on the weekend. Visit the Fairfield Green Food Guide’s Buying Guide to search for farmers’ market and farm stand locations and hours in your town.

4)      Visit a farm and vote local with your dollars. Sport Hill Farm in Easton supplies local families with CSA shares, The Unquowa School with organic food for their cafeteria, and is hosts a Summer Farm Camp. A wide variety of local, organic produce, eggs, bread and honey can be purchased at the farm Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10-6. Ask Patti about upcoming events or visit their events page online at www.sporthillfarm.com.

5)      Go to a farm to pick your own. The CT State Dept. of Agriculture and pickyourown.org both offer extensive lists of pick your own farms and it’s really a fun family outing. Crops available for picking right now include blueberries, corn, peaches and tomatoes. Jones Family Farm in Shelton offers blueberry picking from 9-5:30 Tuesday thru Saturday. Please call (203) 929-8425 the morning you’re picking to hear that day’s crop report.

6)      Buy from a local specialty or independent grocer that makes it a point to carry locally grown and produced food. Palmer’s Market in Darien, Fairfield Cheese Company and The Pantry in Fairfield, and Walter Stewart’s Market in New Canaan carry local fruits, vegetables, breads, cheeses, honey, artisanal and prepared foods.

7)      Eat at a restaurant that sources local ingredients. Health in a Hurry and Café Lola in Fairfield, The Dressing Room in Westport, Bloodroot Vegetarian Restaurant in Bridgeport, Cobbs Mill Inn Restaurant in Weston, David’s Catering and Napa & Co. in Stamford and Woodway Country Club in Darien all make it a point to source fresh, local ingredients.

8)      Buy CT Grown foods online for home delivery. Order online from CT Farm Fresh Express by midnight Tuesday for a Friday home delivery. You pick what and how much CT-grown food you want from their online store and they deliver it to your door. No minimums, no membership fees and no ongoing commitment. Leave a cooler with ice packs on your doorstep if you won’t be home for delivery.

9)      Get some local seafood straight from the source. Take a drive to Stonington to buy some scallops, shrimp or fish right off the fishing boats or at Stonington Seafood Harvesters on 5 High Street in Stonington, which is open Monday through Friday from 8-5 and Saturday form 9-12. Ask for the prized Bomster scallops - you can’t get fresher or more delicious scallops because they’re flash frozen on the boat within hours of being shucked. Bring your cooler.

10)   Buy some Connecticut wine directly from a winery or wine shop that carries local wine like Harry’s Wine & Liquor in Fairfield. Some standouts I tasted at the Connecticut Wine Festival were Sharpe Hill Vineyard’s Ballet of Angels, the award-winning wines of Hopkins Vineyards, Miranda Vineyard’s Seyval Blanc and Woodridge White, Land of Nod’s Bianca, Taylor Brooke’s Traminette and Connecticut Valley Winery’s Chianti and port-style Black Bear.

Eat Local, Eat FRESH, and Eat Well.

by Eileen Weber

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. Photo courtesy Ripple Effect Productions, producer of FRESH

Joel Salatin is a religious man. He is a believer that nature should be left to nature. But above all else, he is a farmer. Going against the tide of industrialism where hormones and antibiotics are fed to livestock, he lets his chickens have their “chicken-ness” and his pigs have their “pig-ness”. They roam free to peck and forage as they please across Salatin’s rolling hills of Polyface Farms in Swoope, Va. By some, he is considered a lunatic. For others, he is a genius.

Will Allen of Growing Power Inc., a recipient of the 2008 MacArthur Genius Award. Photo courtesty Ripple Effects Productions, producer of FRESH

Mr. Salatin is not alone. There are others who have the same core values he does. Will Allen, a former basketball player and subsequent marketing manager, is an urban farmer in Milwaukee, Wis. growing vegetables without any chemicals or fertilizers on only three acres of land. His secret is compost and he’s not shy about grabbing a fistful to make his point. After being gored by one of his hogs with the resulting infection resistant to scores of medication, Russ Kremer, a farmer in Frankenstein, Mo., is now a proud and sought after hog farmer. He took the extreme measure of exterminating his herd to begin anew, swearing off antibiotics and hormones.

Russ Kremer, founding member of the Heritage Acres Pork Cooperative which raises “Certified Humane Raised and Handled” hogs. Photo courtesy Ripple Effect Productions, producer of FRESH.

We can see these farmers in their fight against an industrialized food system in the highly acclaimed film FRESH. Last night, the Pequot Library in Southport held a viewing of the movie, a film produced and directed by Ana Sofia Joanes. There was a panel discussion afterward and close to a dozen local exhibitors displayed their wares in the library’s adjacent Reading Room.

The event was the brainchild of Analiese Paik, Founder of Fairfield Green Food Guide. With the idea and her enthusiasm, she approached Dan Snydacker, Executive Director of the Pequot Library. The efforts of six tireless weeks of work paid off. There was a huge turnout. While the seating could only accommodate 200 people, there was a wait list for the event and some were turned away at the door. What a clear indication of how important an issue food is to this community.

The film’s subtitle says it all: “New thinking about what we’re eating.” But is it really new? The film celebrates the environmentally aware farmers, Salatin, Allen and Kremer being prime examples. But what each of these men has achieved is not a novel concept. Letting nature be nature without the use of chemicals is an age-old farming technique. Let the grass grow. Let the cows and chickens roam free. Let their manure fertilize the grass so it can grow some more. The cycle of life continues.

“We’re farming grass,” said Salatin of how he sees its role in farming animals. “If we take care of the grass, it will take care of us.”

Michael Pollan, author of such agriculturally provocative titles as The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, inserted his own commentary in the film. “Industrialized food is cheaper but nutritionally deficient,” he said as scenes of well-known brands in a supermarket’s freezer aisle flicked across the screen. “The more processed it is, the less nutritious.”

But many people, especially those in urban areas considered a “food desert” because local produce is not available, will buy the cheap food. In a tough economy, having any food on the table is better than having none. So many kids grow up eating little if any vegetables that don’t come with a colorful box top and a plastic toy.

Karen Parker, Co-Director, Growing Power Inc. Photo courtesy Growing Power, Inc.

That was the case for Karen Parker, Co-Director of Growing Power, Inc., the organization founded by Will Allen in urban Milwaukee. She admitted that she and her kids ate whatever came from the closest drive-thru without ever buying much in the way of fresh produce. After working with Allen, she has changed her tune.

“I used to say, ‘That’s too fresh! My food don’t have a name!’ But now it does,” she said of Allen’s first attempts to get her to eat the different varieties of vegetables he grows.

Too many Americans buy processed food on a weekly basis and eat at fast food chains. As a result, there is an epidemic of obesity and diabetes in this country. Slowly but surely, that trend is starting to shift. But that shift begins within each community.

Sue Cadwell, Chef/Owner of Health in a Hurry with Analiese Paik, Founder of Fairfield Green Food Guide

“We are the local food movement,” said Sue Caldwell, owner of Fairfield’s Health In A Hurry restaurant and one of last night’s panelists. “The biggest message in Fresh was showing the labels with that long list of ingredients. They kept talking about food, food, food. But that’s not food.”

“We don’t need to teach kids how to read labels,” said panelist Amie Guyette

Amie Hall, Holistic Health Counselor and Cooking Coach, and founder of Fairfield's middle school Square Foot Gardens

Hall, Holistic Health Counselor and Cooking Coach working with the Fairfield district middle schools, “because there are no labels to read when you grow your own food.”

So grow your own vegetables. Have pots of herbs. Plant flowers and let the butterflies come. Eat locally and eat fresh. As Analiese Paik said of the resources available in Connecticut, “There’s no excuse for not eating locally.”

Indeed. No excuse.

The First FRESH Screening in Connecticut Was Held on August 12, 2009!

Read Full Story: FRESH: Getting Back to Basics, by Eileen Weber

Join the Eat Local Challenge: 10 Ways to Eat FRESH

Meet the Panelists & Exhibitors and View Event Photo Gallery

This was the positive, uplifting event that we had all hoped for. Thank you to the 200 guests who were the most engaged audience an event organizer could ask for. You rock!

Looking for a FRESH DVD? The copies we had for sale at the event sold out in 10 minutes! Please visit the producer’s web site to order a DVD online.

To join a waiting list for a future screening in the area, please send an email to marketing at fairfieldgreenfoodguide dot com.

The Fairfield Green Food Guide has teamed up with the amazing folks at Pequot Library in Southport, CT to present the first community screening in Connecticut of the newly released documentary food film FRESH on Wednesday, August 12 at 7 pm in the Library’s auditorium.  FRESH, a widely-acclaimed production of documentary filmmaker Ana Sofia Joanes offers “new thinking about what we’re eating” at a time when the potentially lethal consequences of our industrialized food system have become standard items in our daily news diet.

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, a 2008 MacArthur’s “Genius Award” fellow; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, who is creating a new market model for our family farmers. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. FRESH’s focus on these inspiring individuals and their initiatives around the US provides the audience with actionable solutions. FRESH is a call to action.

This film beautifully portrays the rapidly growing local-sustainable food movement and the critical role we each play in supporting local farms and creating a local market for sustainable products. The guest panelists and exhibitors participating in the screening will offer practical ideas about small but important steps we can take to join and strengthen this grass roots movement.

“Screening FRESH at the Library fits perfectly with our commitment to make the Library a greener place and share the newest information about sustainable living with our patrons so we can all reduce our environmental impact at work and at home” explains Dan Snydacker, Executive Director of Pequot Library.

Immediately following the film, I’ll moderate an educational panel discussion by the leaders of our own local-sustainable food movement including Bill Duesing, Executive Director of CT NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut); Sue Cadwell, Chef/Owner of Health in a Hurry; environmentalist Janak Desai and Ken Kleban of Kleban Properties, co-founders of Fairfield’s Farmer’s Market at the Brick Walk; Deb Marsden, Founder of Connecticut Farm Fresh Express; and Annelise McCay and Amie Hall, founders of three of Fairfield’s organic, edible schoolyard gardens. Following the panel, a wide variety of exhibitors in the Library’s community reading room will offer practical advice about how individuals can contribute to and benefit from the local-sustainable food movement.

Seating is limited to 100 200 guests and tickets must be pre-purchased online for five dollars plus a small processing fee at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/75164. All event profits will be donated to the Pequot Library and a local-sustainable food initiative. The event is being organized and sponsored in part by the Fairfield Green Food Guide, LLC and hosted by Pequot Library. Thanks to a generous donation by Steaz, guests will enjoy a complimentary organic, fair trade beverage. State-of-the art sound is being provided by our sponsor M Communications.

See you at the FRESH screening!

You’re invited to visit the Fairfield Woods Middle School Organic Square Foot Garden on Fairfield Woods Road in Fairfield on Thursday, July 9 from 12 - 3 pm.  The edible garden is located in the center courtyard, free from the critters who love to eat our greens, and has been established according to the teachings in the book “Square Foot Gardening” by originator and author Mel Bartholomew.

Take a quick peek at the photos on Mel’s site of the Square Foot Gardens in Fairfield schools Amie Hall and the students have helped start this year. Come to learn what a “Square Foot Garden” is, show your support or get your hands dirty planting during the scheduled 20 minute sessions on the hour and half hour.

According to garden project leader Amie Hall, “This new outdoor classroom is available to be a summer learning center.  Students and families, are invited to cover one week this summer to help tend the garden.   Summer care requires stopping by the garden, mainly to water three times per week, Monday through Friday anytime between 6 am & 3 pm. Come see where food comes from, how it grows and care for it, while helping to lessen your carbon footprint.”

And you get to harvest and eat what’s ripe if you sign up to become a summer volunteer! Or you can donate some of the harvest to a community service outreach program like Operation Hope. Happy gardening!

Earth Day is April 22 and the impact of climate change and how to stop it are first and foremost in our minds. Slow Food asks us to consider the connection between how we eat and the impact it has on climate change and our health. Some estimates put food and agriculture’s contribution to greenhouse gases at 31 percent.¹

You and your family can have an impact by making some small changes in how you eat. Instead of putting together a list of the copious Earth Day events you could attend, I compiled a list of 10 fun and interesting green food recommendations for meaningfully celebrating Earth Day. Choose just one or all 10 and revel in knowing you’re doing something great for yourself and the planet. Please send me an email about your experience or post a comment on this blog. Hope to see you at Fairfield’s Earth Day Celebration on May 9 at Warde High School where I will be an exhibitor.

10 Green Food Recommendations for Meaningfully Celebrating Earth Day

1) Commit to buying fresh, locally grown and artisan crafted food from a farmers’ market at least once. Currently there are two in the county: Saturday mornings from 10-2 at the Fairfield Theater Company on Sanford Street in Fairfield and Tuesday mornings from 11-3 at Whole Foods Market, Westport.

2) Visit your local wine shop and ask for the Sustainable White from Parducci, the first U.S. carbon neutral winery, or Paul Dolan’s Pinot Noir made from organic grapes. Harry’s in Fairfield carries both and they are affordable and delicious.

3) Swear off plastic bottled water (the plastic is made from petroleum, they take hundreds of years to break down and can leach harmful chemicals into landfills) and 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.

4) Buy yourself a bar of Kallari single origin, USDA organic, Rainforest Alliance certified chocolate that is truly a chocolate lover’s dream. 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.

5) Make an edible container garden. Find an old container, add organic potting soil, plant some peas, beans or lettuce seeds and watch them grow quickly. Keep the soil moist, make sure it gets enough sun and trellis pole beans. Invite your children to harvest.

6) Download the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides from Environmental Working Group, familiarize yourself with  the worst offenders (the Dirty Dozen), and commit to buying organic when possible.

7) Download the Sustainable Seafood Guide Northeast 2009 from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and commit to limiting your consumption to sustainable seafood choices under the Best Choices and Good Alternatives categories.

8) Stop using resealable plastic bags to send your children’s lunch to school and use Lunch Skins instead. I first heard about these eco-chic resealable, reusable, dishwasher safe lunch bags from SuzySaid and immediately bought them. They’re a hit with the kids and I smile every time I use them knowing I’m not throwing away a plastic bag. 3greenmoms, the manufacturer, are offering my readers a free bonus white customizable bag with every 2 bag order (green/orange or brown/blue) for the next 3 weeks and they are shipped in recycled padded mailers. Please enter “Fairfield Green Food Guide” in the comments field to receive this offer. Give the kids a colorful Sharpie and watch them customize their white bags. Trust me on this one, the kids think they’re cool. Please see full story below.

9) Buy locally when feasible, even drinks from the grocery store. The Farmer’s Cow milk is humanely-produced at Connecticut dairies and is free of artificial growth hormones (rBST). Connecticut-based Steaz produces delicious organic sparkling green tea beverages and organic iced tea made from USDA organic and Fair Trade Certified ingredients. Steaz was named Best Tea of 2008 and tied for Best Organic Product of 2008 by BevNet, the leading online community website for the beverage industry. Visit their site to download a free store coupon.

10) Plan a trip to visit a farm or winery in the next few months to experience firsthand the wonder and beauty of growing what we eat and drink. The Connecticut Wine Trail can be completed in two days and takes you through beautiful and historic countryside. If you didn’t get away for the break, it’s a great weekend trip. If you can’t commit to a weekend, Jones Family Farm and Winery is a hop, skip and a jump away in Shelton. They are open for tastings Friday through Sunday from 11-5 and their Wine Down Fridays begin on May 8. Farms will begin to open for visitors soon and I will surely let you know when they do. But in the meantime the Westport Green Village Initiative invites you to a “Meet the Farmer” lunch at the Unitarian Church in Westport on Sunday, April 19th, 12:30-2 pm. Enjoy fresh home-made soup, good company and a question/answer session with Stacia and Fred, farmers from Stone Gardens Farm in Shelton. Here’s a chance to get introduced to the concept of CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) and sign up for a share of Stone Gardens Farm’s CSA with pickup available in Westport.

¹ Source: Take a Bite Out of Climate Change. Determining the precise level of emissions from food and agriculture is tough, but by one count as much as 31 percent of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to food and agriculture, including emissions from land-use changes such as deforestation to make way for pasture-raising livestock or growing feed for livestock or biofuels. Note that this estimate does not include emissions from food transportation, waste, or manufacturing. Source: Data from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Third Assessment Report.