Still haven’t seen the eco-documentary of the summer, Food, Inc.? If money’s what’s keeping you away from the theaters, you’re in luck — According to Eater LA, a couple more free screenings of Food, Inc. are happening later this month:

>> Tues., July 14, 2009 at 7:30 pm: Laemmle Playhouse 7 Cinemas, 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena

>> Thurs., July 16, 2009 at 7:30 pm: Laemmle Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood

Featured in that film is Stonyfield Farm Organic, a sponsor for my trip to BlogHer ‘09. Food, Inc. brings in Stonyfield Farm as an example of an organic food company gone big, since this all-organic yogurt company’s 85% owned by Groupe Danone and can be found everywhere from local co-op markets to Wal-Mart. Some enviro purists remain skeptical with what they see as “big organic,” and in fact the Stonyfield’s own rep in the film says the jury’s still out on the effect of multinational buyouts of smaller organic companies.

Food, Inc.’s pretty remarkable in the way it explores some of the conflicts within the organic movement, even as it covers the broader issues of food production, immigration, and much much more.

In any case, Stonyfield’s actively promoting the film on its website as well as on its yogurt lids, and even has an exclusive interview with Food, Inc. director Robert Kenner on its website. Plus, Stonyfield’s website lets you get coupons from a whole bunch of organic companies, from Stonyfield itself to Nature’s Path cereals to Amy’s organic cake. Watch and learn!

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>> 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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In case you hadn’t heard yet, L.A. vegan restaurants are feeding eggs and milk to vegans (via Boing Boing, thanks to Zak).That’s right — A vegan blog called Quarry Girl undertook “Operation Pancake” — a study that basically bought food from 17 L.A. vegan restaurants and tested them for animal products. 10 restaurants passed the test — but 7 did not. According to Quarry Girl:

What the test results seem to confirm … is that the meat substitutes available at vegan Thai restaurants are suspect, as are the ingredients used in some specific food options (pancakes, quesadillas and more).

The specific issue that Quarry Girl points to is that meat substitutes imported from Taiwan sometimes include animal ingredients that aren’t listed on the ingredient labels — an omission that appears largely due to the different food labeling laws in Taiwan vs. the U.S. Luckily, Taiwan’s poised to tighten its food labeling laws, which will hopefully help close this un-vegan-friendly gap in information.

But the larger and more important issue, IMHO, is that many of these meat substitutes are highly processed foods with massive ingredient lists and huge travel footprints that bring up some of the same sort of scary issues as the synthetic, engineered foods from Nestle and Kraft. According to Quarry Girl, “MOST, if not all, of the fake meats you buy come from Taiwan.”

Part of my reaction to this story may simply have to do with all the overzealous vegans and would-be vegans that “inform” me that vegan is by definition the greenest of green (read this comment string for an example of the vegan harangues I have to deal with — mostly via email — every couple weeks) — an assumption that most sustainable foodies would disagree with. But given the choice between an egg from an organic free range chicken farmer at my local farmers’ market and some multi-ingredient “meat” that’s made with in Taiwan using genetically-modified ingredients grown via factory farming before getting shipped over to the U.S.,  I’d opt for the egg.

Yes, I know some vegans are very mindful about making sure their vegan diet is actually green, opting for locally-produced tofu stir-fried in Cali olive oil. Those vegans know well that “vegan” apparently isn’t always vegan in L.A. restaurants — and a vegan diet most certainly isn’t always green. After all, the mercury-tainted, high fructose corn syrupy Hershey’s chocolate syrup’s also vegan.

Photo by Andrew Dowsett and Divine Harvester

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Trader Joe’s got a failing score on  Greenpeace’s seafood sustainability scorecard last year — and unfortunately, held tight to its F in 2009 — despite the fact that more than half the other supermarkets improved their fishy scores.

It’s sad but true: The organic-friendly, budget-friendly super market’s still scoring lower than Target and Wal-Mart when it comes to sustainable seafood — as readers Don of LA Stories and Mel have already discovered.

Dubbed Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores are Emptying the Seas, Greenpeace’s report scored supermarkets on their fish purchasing policies, checking to see if any endangered “red list” fish— like orange roughy, swordfish, and Chilean sea bass — were still being sold, and whether or not sustainable seafood policies or initiatives were implemented. No supermarkets got a “Good” score, but 7 stores — with Wegman’s, Ahold USA, and Whole Foods topping the list — earned a “Pass” score. The remaining 13 — including Trader Joe’s — were labeled “Fail.”

This means that if you do your seafood shopping at a major supermarket or grocery store, you’d be well advised to carry along a Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Seafood Guide to avoid buying any enviro-questionable seafood.

If you’re lucky enough to have co-ops or other health food markets near you, check to see if Greenpeace has given it a score — because some smaller and indie stores actually get passing grades! At those places, your seafood shopping will be less stressful, since you won’t have to constantly consult your Seafood Watch guide.

Of course, if you’re concerned about your mercury consumption as well as species preservation, you’ll still need a separate guide. Thanks to reader Mel, I’ve found a new seafood guide that combines all this info! Neil Banas made an eco-nerdy seafood guide (PDF) merging together eco and toxins info.  Print it out and enjoy sustainable, healthy seafood –

Earlier:
>> New local fish guides for SoCal
>>The End of the Line is in theaters now.
>> Tuna trivia: How much albacore can you eat?

Images via Greenpeace and Monterey Bay Aquarium

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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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Though I’m writing this while stuck at an airport, I’m really looking forward to my BlogHer ‘09 trip to Chicago next month — especially since the city’s made some very impressive green changes since BlogHer ‘07, when I was last there. The Windy City’s hard at work on the Chicago Climate Action Plan, after all.

But for this post, I’ve decided to focus on the important stuff: Food. Yummy green Chicago dining spots I’ve visited:

Coffee lovers: Swim Cafe. Go here for 100% fair trade coffee from Just Coffee, tasty food that supports organic agriculture, and a relaxed atmosphere. The indie coffee shop’s been made famous by Young American Bodies — Above’s the panini I ate during the last BlogHer. Find it at 1357 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago.

Pizza lovers: Crust. This organic restaurant makes very tasty flatbread pizzas — great with organic vodka cocktails organic pinot blanc  or other yummy organic drinks. 95% of the ingredients used at this eatery are organic. Two  years ago I had a “Shrooms” pizza with yummy fresh mushrooms, goat cheese, and seasoned spinach. 2056 W. Division St., Chicago.

Veg and vegan food lovers: The Chicago Diner.. This very chilled out and popular spot’s proudly meat free — and serves up some yummy organic cocktails and fair trade coffee too. Vegetarians, vegans, and raw foodies will all find something to love here. The vegan reuben’s apparently the house specialty, but I can attest to the wilted spinach salad’s yumminess too. 3411 N. Halsted., Chicago.

Fine diners: Green Zebra. This higher-end, well-known vegetarian restaurant isn’t cheap — but the food’s delicious and the atmosphere chic. The staff’s very accommodating of any and all odd eating requirements and quirks. 1460 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago.

Since I’ve already tried all those spots, I plan to try out these eateries this time around:

Butterfly Social Club. Organic cocktails, from Goji Kombucha Cider to Funky Budda’s Margarita. 726 W. Grand Ave.

Hopleaf Bar. Lotsa beer, organic wine, and organic meat options — plus a nice array of vegetarian dishes to choose from. 5148 N. Clark St.

Lula Cafe.  Seasonal, organic, local produce at a cafe in Logan Square. 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd.

Other non-dining green spots I hope to check out this time around include:

Pivot Boutique: Eco-fashion boutique at 1101 W. Fulton Market.

Working Bikes Co-Op. The kids here fix up donated bikes, donating some to countries where bikes’re scarce and selling others cheaply in its Chicago store. 1125 S. Western Ave.

Parks. 90% of Chicago’s parks are pesticide free, according to Grist. I’ve visited one — Above’s me and my friend Anne under the bean.

Know of other green spots in the Windy City? Share your knowledge in the comments –

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If you start your day with organic, fair trade coffee, like to cook with organic olive oil, and treat yourself to gourmet fair trade organic chocolate on occasion — then you’re a lot like me. And you might want to sign up for one of these environmentally and socially conscious eco-educational vacations coming up to get a closer look at the coffee, chocolate, and olive oil you love:

Sip fair trade coffee in Chiapas, Mexico: February 22 – March 1, 2009

Higher Grounds Trading Company, a socially-conscious fair trade company in Michigan, wants to take you on a Harvest Tour. The trip promises an “adventure through the Mayan Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico,” visiting “organic farmers, women’s fair trade artisan cooperatives, Fair Trade coffee co-ops, traditional healers, biodiversity and economic rights activists, and autonomous indigenous communities and leaders.”

The $750 price tag includes double occupancy lodging, all in-country transportation, and 2 meals a day — in additions to guides, translations, and donations to each organization and community visited. Email Higher Grounds or call 231.922.9009 for more information and to sign up.

Taste fair trade chocolate in Belize: September 4 - 12, 2009

Sustainable Harvest International, a nonprofit that works to empower farming families in Central America, invites you on a Smaller World Sustainable Chocolate Tour — described as “an unforgettable journey into the ecology, history and culture of chocolate.” Get ready to get your hands dirty on this trip, because you’ll be planting trees and building wood-conserving stoves! You’ll also visit family farms, local Mayan ruin sites, and jungle water falls.

The $2,500 price tag includes double occupancy accomodations, all in-country travel, meals — as well as tours, translation, staff support, and a $500 donation to the local program. Call Sustainable Harvest International at 207.669.8254 to reserve a spot. Can’t take the trip in September? More choco tours are planned for January 3 - 10 and March 6-13 in 2010.

Enjoy olive oil in Palestine / Israel: October 30 - November 09, 2009

Global Exchange wants to take you on its first Fair Olive Harvest Reality Tour. You’ll get to travel with Kirsten Moller, Global Exchange’s executive director and co-founder, to learn “about the connections between peace, economic and environmental justice in Palestine and Israel.” You’ll also harvest olives with fair trade farmers, celebrate the harvest festival, and even enjoy a harvest meal in the olive orchard.

The trip costs $1,800, which includes double-occupancy accommodations, all in-country transportation, and 2 meals a day — plus guides, translation, staff support, and honoraria to the speakers, organizations, and communities that participate in the tour. In addition, all tour participants will get a 1-year membership to Global Exchange. Reserve your spot online or call 800.497.1994×251.

Want to take a fair trade tour without leaving the U.S.? Here’s how:

>> In Grist, Sarah van Schagen writes about one of the daily tours she took at Theo Chocolate, an organic, fair trade chocolate company in Seattle.

>> Stephanie at Metropolitan Mama big ups Camano Island Coffee Roasters, which sells organic, fair trade coffee — and offers tours at its headquarters in Camano Island, Washington.

>> Marisa Avelar wrote a guest post on Design*Sponge about Savannah, Georgia — with details on where to find a good cup of fair trade coffee in that town.

Photo by javaturtle, mattwitmer, jurvetson

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If your locavoring efforts include line catching fish in nearby waterbodies, make sure to find out about potential health risks associated with your local fish. Southern Californians got a new set of safe eating guidelines for local fish — with far stricter warnings than before!

The problem: We’ve got PCBs, DDTs, chlordane, dieldrin, and mercury. As Mark Gold, president of local environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay explains: “DDT and PCB manufacturing was banned over 30 years ago, but there are still over 100 tons of DDT and PCBs contaminating the sediments off of the Palos Verdes coast.”

So, after analyzing a “total of 1,373 fish from 22 species or species groups,” the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s new guidelines (PDF) released new warnings for fish caught between Ventura Harbor and San Mateo Point. As you can see from the illustrated charts, some fish like barred sand bass, topsmelt and white croaker should be avoided altogether by everyone.

Though these new recommendations are tougher, Mark suggests that they’re still not tough enough. For one, the cancer risk for fish consumption was set at 1 in 10,000. “1 in 100,000 to 1 in a million is the norm and those ranges are the risk levels used by EPA,” Mark says.

In addition, the recommendations are based on skin-off filets. “That means that the risk to fish consumers is even higher if they eat whole fish or fish with skin,” Mark says. “The recommendations from OEHHA, although extremely scary, are definitely fishy in their underestimating of the health risks to substantial sensitive populations.”

To learn more about healthy and eco-friendly fish choices, see Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch site. If you’re more the documentary film type, The End of the Line is in theaters now.

Earlier: Greenpeace’s latest seafood sustainability scorecard and Tuna trivia: How much albacore can you eat?

Images via oehha.ca.gov

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The real estate market may have crashed but a whole bunch of green homes will be built — in time for the Dwell on Design show next weekend, Fri. June 26 - Sun., June 28, at the L.A. Convention Center. The modern design show will showcase the latest ideas in eco-friendly living — and rather unexpectedly, the latest yummy debates about sustainable food and dining.

That’s right — Dwell on Design will feature Square Meal, an entire series of events and exhibits dedicated to food. Up for discussion will be “The Gestalt of Meat,” victory gardens and farmers’ markets, and the perfect way to cook an egg. Plus, attendees will be able to nosh on healthy sustainable eats from Locali, Let’s Be Frank, and Green Truck.

But the main attraction, of course, will be eco-design. Look through the event website, and you’ll likely see a bunch of green houses you’d like to call home. Minimalists can ogle the miniHome from Sustain Design Studio and its compact sustainable design. Upcyclers will love Reclaimed Space’s rustic modern structure built with reclaimed materials. And everyone can check out all these green structures in person at Dwell on Design’s Dwell Outdoor exhibit, described as “a “pop-up” community, ready to see, touch, and inspire.”

Sustainability Forums — a series of speakers and panels focused on environmental design issues — will happen all Saturday and Sunday, covering everything from “Water Efficient Green Plumbing Design” to “Cultivating Green and Gardens in the City.” The Home Tours — one each for L.A.’s eastside and westside, feature many sustainably designed modern homes. Even the special Night at the Movies event on Saturday will feature an eco-inspired film — The Greening of Southie — “about Boston’s first residential green building, and the men and women who set out to construct it.”

Dwell on Design tickets range from $25 for general admission to the exhibit and forums — and go up to $849 for the Dwell VIP Passport that includes the Friday conference, home tours, social events and a dinner. Sadly, I won’t be able to see the show myself because I’ll be in Atlanta, visiting MNN. I’ll visit vicariously through you –

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Thanks to the growing interest in local, organic food, Angelenos can suddenly pick from a wealth of community supported agriculture programs with locations all over the metropolis. CSA programs basically let you invest in a local farm — for which you’re rewarded with weekly boxes of fresh local produce grown from that farm.

Some of the programs below have stretched that definition of the CSA a bit, to pool produce from more than one organic local farm, for example. Still, the general goal — to connect you to local, seasonal produce and the farms and farmers around you — remains the same. Your options:

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