>> Chat with Michael Pollan about Food, Inc. at 3 pm today, Thurs., July 2, on Facebook! Michael will answer your Facebook and Twitter (send to @takepart) questions in the video player. Earlier: Film Review: Food, Inc.

>> Westside LA Green Drinks happens tonight, Thurs., July 2, from 7 pm - 10 pm at The Green Life, 2409 Main St., Santa Monica. A stylist from Hamadi Organics — a paraben-free beauty product line — will be doing demos and mini-makeovers from 7 pm - 9 pm. Take your own cup or glass to enjoy organic wine and local beer! Earlier: Green Drinks FAQ

>> Celebrate Food Independence Day on July 4 by eating local! The initiative’s launched by Kitchen Gardeners International, with the goal to get all 50 U.S. governors to eat local on Independence Day. Sign the petition, and share the deets of your local meal at Food Independence Day’s website.

>> Food and Water Watch wants your help in getting bottled water companies to disclose how much clean water they’re pumping out of California communities. Join the meeting on Tues., July 8 at 7 pm in downtown L.A.

>> Learn to make organic tamales! Deborah Stern, the white-girl tamale maker of La Guera Tamalera, will host an Organic Tamalada on Saturday, July 11 from noon to 2:30 pm at 1326 E. 1st St., Los Angeles. The class, which you can register for online, costs $58 a person — but green LA girl readers can get a 2-for-$100 deal by calling Deborah at 213.880.0277.

Image via Food, Inc.

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>> Cali’s now allowed to set tougher tailpipe emissions laws! Earlier:  Cali’s tougher car emissions law gets a boost from Obama.

>> Relatedly, Cali’s going to require cars to have heat-reflecting windows, starting with 2012 models. That rule’s expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to air conditioner use. According to Wired’s Autopia, AC efficiency’s a hot topic since eco-ACs could improve fuel efficiency too.

>> Cali’s set to get more solar energy fast, now that the Obama administration’s fast tracked solar development in the west. “The proposed California solar-generating areas are projected to have the annual capacity to produce 39,000 to 70,000 megawatts of electricity at full development — enough to serve millions of homes.”

>> L.A. recorded its 4th straight year with below average rainfall yesterday. “From July 1 of last year to today, a period designated as a “rain year,” only about 9 inches of rain fell compared to an average of slightly more than 15 inches, said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.” Earlier: Eating local in a drought: Should we buy Cali rice?

>> Missed the Venice Eco Fest over the weekend? Me too. But Matt Mason didn’t — and he’s put together a photo-essay of sorts so you can visit the fest virtually.

Photo by Simone Ramella

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>> A gene for creative alcoholics? Apparently the G-variant of the mu-opioid receptor “makes ethanol behave more like an opioid drug, such as morphine, with a stronger than normal effect on mood and behaviour.” People with this gene reported “stronger feelings of happiness and elation … usually followed by a longer state of relaxation, lasting several hours.” (via Utne)

This would explain why alcohol felt more like a stimulant to me, letting me get a lot more done if I drank while working. Unfortunately, “People with this gene variant also seem more prone to alcoholism, perhaps engaging in an increasingly vain pursuit of the highs they used to experience after the first drink or two.”

>> Local school lunches aren’t expensive, say the people who’re thinking outside the microwave. Baltimore public schools’ food service director Tony Geraci “found farmers who would sell him, and deliver, all the peaches they could grow—for less than he would pay for commodity peaches packed in syrup. Even commodity apples are more expensive than small ones from local farms.”

>> Organic ice creams for the lactose intolerant. Grist rates a bunch and the coconut milk-based ones win out, including Coconut Bliss.

Photo by Don LaVange

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>> Newsflash: Most married women are sex-starved. “In a much-discussed recent survey of 35,000 American women, published in the July issue of Woman’s Day, 72 percent of married women said they had considered leaving their husbands. Seventy-nine percent said they’d like sex more often, and 52 percent said they have no sex life to speak of.”

>> Relatedly — This satire piece is hilarious: Used-Car-Driving, Non-Property-Owning, Unmarried Man Somehow Happy; Experts Baffled.

“We’ll probably never know until it’s too late, but we both think he’s hiding something,” said Prenner’s mother, Danna Prenner. “All of his friends are married and have children, so when he says to me, ‘Mom, I’m happy living the single life,’ I have to wonder what he’s not really telling us. I only hope that someone can intercede and bring him out of the black hole that he’s falling into, like a woman who wants to start a family and settle down right away, for example.”

>> Newsflash: Buying factory-farmed meat doesn’t discourage factory farming. One misguided pork chop eating ex-vegetarian gets schooled by Umbra.

>> Newsflash: California’s Major Risk Medical Insurance Program doesn’t cover major risks. Those who - like me — have been turned down by the private health insurers can opt for MRMIP (after a waiting period) and its less than adequate health care coverage. That said, most people’s private health insurance plans don’t cover much either. We need a public option for health care now! Ask for it!

Photo by sean dreilinger

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>> Death by tweeting. You knew it was bound to happen. Apparently, tub-tweeting can lead to electrocution, a.k.a. Twittercide. Keep your tweets dry. (via The Vibe) Earlier: Greening Twitter.

>> Hairy oil spills. Apparently, human hair does an excellent job of cleaning up oil spills.

>> Chicken coop Ikea hack. A DIY-ing urban chicken duo created a classy-looking urban chicken coop out of a bunk bed, bottle rack, storage unit, and whatever “Vika Oleby legs” are — all from Ikea! (via Ethicurean) Get the stuff used on Craigslist to make the project greener. Earlier: Ikea saga.

Photo: Corinne and Aaron Bell via Ikea Hacker

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Wondering if turning your Twitter photo green or adding Hussein as your Facebook middle name actually does anything?

>> Rob Walker’s foreword to Ad Nauseam: A Survivor’s Guide to American Consumer Culture pokes fun at marketers’ and consumers’ overhyped love for “interactive” social media:

Thanks to interactive-ness, you can, for instance, respond directly to an online opinion you disagree with: Type “Your an idiot” into the comments field, and you have just participated; you have interacted; you have been not-passive.

In the realm of consumer culture it means, say, complaining via Twitter that you have lately received a very poor latte from a famous coffee chain. If that coffee chain has employed someone to monitor brand-specific tweets, then perhaps you’ll be contacted, and score a compensatory coupon. (And maybe you’ll tweet about that, thereby completing the transformation of your interactivity into word-of-mouth marketing.)

Or maybe you don’t have a complaint, you have an idea for a whole new style of caffeinated beverage you wish this coffee chain would sell. No problem. Stop by the new Web site the chain has set up where you can log on and share your profitable idea. Big ups: you’ve interacted with a brand.

Above: One of my not-passive tweets. Not everyone agrees with Rob’s view of social media engagement, however. In fact –

>> Greenpeace supporters made and gave out mock copies of the International Herald Tribune, featuring an article about Exxon’s decision to go all renewable energy and a recall warning — for all cars. (via grist). In it, Greenpeace gives a big thumbs up to social media engagement in an article headlined “Mass activism just clicks for more people than ever“:

“It got to the point where I started doing my government business at a wi-fi café,” said Sir Nicholas Winterton, a Conservative MP. “But then someone would spot me, they’d ‘Twitter’ or whatever, and soon I’d be surrounded by a horde of activists telling me about icebergs and refugees. They were fairly polite, but I got precious little work done.”

Earlier: The Yes Men’s version of the New York Times.

>> Still convinced of the power of eco-tweetups? Join the live Twitter chat with Food, Inc. director Robert Kenner on Fri., June 19, from 10 -11 am.

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>> Cinderella lives happily ever after by drowning her sorrows in drink. Dina Goldstein’s Fallen Princess series imagines what happens after fairy tales end. (via kottke)

>> Maybe Cinderella should’ve gotten divorced via Facebook instead. BTW, Facebook dethroned MySpace in the U.S.

>> Is moderate drinking really good for you? Or are moderate drinkers just good people? (via Lifehacker)

Moderate drinkers are healthier, wealthier and more educated, and they get better health care, even though they are more likely to smoke. They are even more likely to have all of their teeth, a marker of well-being.

“Moderate drinkers tend to be socially advantaged in ways that have nothing to do with their drinking,” Dr. Naimi said. “These two groups are apples and oranges.” And simply advising the nondrinkers to drink won’t change that, he said.

Image by Dina Goldstein / jpgmag.com

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>> How to fix sprawl: Build sidewalks! Tysons Corner, Va., hopes to go from a city with “more parking spaces than jobs or residents” to a “green, walkable city.” See the similarities between the smart growth plans happening in that “opposite of a bedroom community” and Los Angeles. Earlier: Today’s biggest eco-threat: Cul-de-sacs.

>> In a similar win for new urbanism principles, Fort Worth, Texas hopes to add 400+ miles of bike-only lanes in the next 6 years according to Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, as well as “higher-density development along existing and future commuter rail stations and potential streetcar lines,” according to Streetsblog LA. Read the posts to find out why it’s not too hot to bike in Texas!

>> This new app won’t cure suburbia’s ills — but could make ‘burbs a bit less polluting. A number of people have been asking me lately whether they should buy a new Prius (or similar) car or a used gar with decent gas mileage. I often say wait a couple years if possible, because way greener cars are in the pipeline. Now, with the Plug-In Vehicle Tracker, you can keep tabs on when these new electric cars are gonna be in showrooms.

Earlier: Today’s biggest eco-threat: Cul-de-sacs.

Photo of Tysons Corner by glass window

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>> REI’s Bike Your Drive iPhone app gets reviewed by Will Campbell. He seems to like it, though I can’t quite figure out how to interpret what I’m looking at in his screenshot (I also don’t have an iPhone).

>> Fix a flat tire clinic happens at Santa Monica’s Bikerowave this Sat., June 13, from 11 am - 1 pm. Get a bike tube, tire levers, and a patch kit — plus both hands on and written instructions — for just $20. Earlier: Green weekender: River BBQ, vegan cookie sale, recycled billboard drop.

>> American entrepreneurs can get Kiva loans too now. Fellow Blogher contributing editor Britt Bravo’s already helping out a woman in Queens. Earlier: Rethinking my Kiva loan.

>> And local food producers can get loans from Whole Foods. So maybe now’s a good time to become the neighborhood organic cookie-maker you’ve wanted to be (please send samples for review).

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I’ve been reading The Antidepressant Solution and Prozac Backlash — both by Joseph Glenmullen, clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School — and I highly recommend both. Oddly, the news is starting to reflect my reading list:

>> Your brain on drug commercials? Current TV’s Sarah Haskins shows you how taking drugs can make your life perfect, aside from a few side effects. (via Utne)

>> Big Pharma feels your pain? In Slate, Robert Burton argues Big Pharma hasn’t come close to “authenticating” that fibromyalgia’s an organic condition — yet are relentlessly pushing a physical disease model of fibromyalgia to sell drugs:

If a patient believes that there is something “wrong with my brain,” the effects can be disastrous…. If negative expectation (the belief that you are more sensitive to pain than others because of a condition that has altered your pain perception) plays a significant role in the production of fibromyalgia symptoms, Pfizer runs the risk of creating or augmenting the very symptoms it is trying to treat. Talk about a vicious feedback loop!

>> Smurfs don’t do drugs?! Since when? SlateV highlights a “freaky, animated anti-drug film Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990)” featuring Bugs Bunny, Miss Piggy, Winnie the Pooh, and other eminent cartoon drug experts.

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