Image via Blog Downtown

I have become very involved in food issues, having realized that food production, vending, consumption, and other food related issues including waste and human health are fundamentally related to environmental health.

As I mentioned in my Grammy Greening Summit article, local growers are uniting with raw foodists who are in turn forming food coops to provide things like raw milk. These efforts are being spawned by the exponentially growing number of people who have come to realize how enormously detrimental “conventional” farming is on human and environmental health, while also discovering the superior potential of responsible, sustainable, live agriculture to augment the Earth’s ability to grow and regenerate, while still providing more than enough food for the world’s peoples. (more…)

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There are some really amazing things happening in Los Angeles with regard to green jobs and funneling employment opportunities into the green sector. This coming week, the Good Jobs, Green Jobs West conference is taking place in Los Angeles on Thu., Mar. 15 and Fri., Mar. 16. Admission for both days is $195.

Good Jobs, Green Jobs West is part of a series of conferences taking place nationally. The Los Angeles conference is partnering with the California Labor Federation, who is also hosting their Workforce & Economic Development conference, Unemployed in America: Causes, Consequences, Solutions, which takes place immediately before Good Jobs, Green Jobs from Tue., Mar. 13 – Thu., Mar.15. You can attend both conferences at the rate of $295, by registering with the California Labor Federation and indicating that you want to attend Good Jobs, Green Jobs West during the registration process. Be sure not to register separately, or the discounted rate will not apply.

Conference keynote speakers and plenary panelists include: Congressman Xavier Becerra, Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Teamsters general president James P. Hoffa, California Air Resources board chair Mary Nichols, California Labor Federation chief officer Art Pulaski, Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs co-chair Tom Steyer, Sierra Club national treasurer and past president Allison Chin, chairman of the BlueGreen Alliance’s Apollo Project Phil Angelides, and others.

We have many hard-working people and organizations to thank for this, including Green for All, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE), the Apollo Alliance, our innovative Los Angeles labor unions, and, of course, the countless individuals involved in pushing for transition to a sustainable, green economy.

If you can’t attend the conference, but are interested in the subject matter, check out some of the above organizations. They do amazing work in Los Angeles, pushing forward green changes at the policy level. There are also other interesting green jobs movements afoot, such as the campaign for a Green New Deal.

I also highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Van Jones’ seminal book Green Collar Economy if you haven’t yet, since he has great ideas to rebuild a green, clean, prosperous America. You can also check out the website Green Collar Economy.

Lastly, if you can’t attend the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference because you are looking for a green job, you might find one at Green Job Search.

Photos via Green Jobs, Good Jobs West

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Photo via SLOLA website

>> Big City Forum presents Fast Forward: Los Angeles on the Verge, featuring a panel of speakers that will harness creative methods for a lively discussion around livability, sustainability, community, and the politics of place in Los Angeles. Takes places tonight, Wed., Mar. 7 at 7 pm at the Armory Center for the Arts, 145 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena. Cost: free.

>> What exactly is a ‘genetically modified seed’? What is ‘heirloom’? How do seed saving and local food growing relate to local and global peace? Who owns the future of food? Join the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Friends Peace Dialogue, speakers Megan Bomba (SLOLA) and Deanna Marie Weakly (Master Gardener, founder of Skid Row Rooftop Garden), and green LA girl writer Nisha Namorando Vida to learn and dialogue on these questions this Thu., Mar. 8 from 7-8:30 pm at the AFSC headquarters, 634. S. Spring St., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles. Cost: free.

>> The G2 Gallery has begun a weekly screening of Ken Burns’s six-part documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. The screenings provide a deeper understanding from a historical perspective of the people and places that shaped America’s national parks. The screenings will be held every Thu., Feb. 9 – Mar. 15 at 2 pm. Check out this week’s screening “Great Nature (1933–1945)”, on Thu., Mar. 8 at 2 pm, G2 Gallery, 1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice. Cost: $5. All proceeds will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund and the Sierra Club.

>> Santa Monica College is conducting its 10th annual Environmental and Urban Issues Speakers Series. Join Genevieve Bertone and other Santa Monica College faculty, staff, and students to learn how we are working on transportation, energy, food and other projects that make SMC more efficient and a better neighbor on Tue., Mar. 13 at 6:30 pm in HSS 263 on Santa Monica’s Main Campus (Map). Cost: free.

Photo via Big City Forum

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Can the Grammys go green? The Grammys are working on reducing their impact on the environment by implementing a series of steps to minimize energy, food and packaging waste, and to raise public awareness on the need for individuals, events, and corporations to make changes now for a healthier future. Natural Resource Defense Council‘s helping The Grammys learn ways to implement these goals -– definitely a step in the right direction.

This year the Recording Academy (the institution behind the Grammys) organized the 2nd Annual Greening Summit: The Sound Of Social Change at the Conga Room at L.A. Live. The event was sponsored by Waste Management, and featured a panel focusing on “Corporate responsibility in sustainability and how industry insiders can use their collective power to drive change in greening.”

The panel of corporate executives representing four companies working on incorporating initiatives to lessen their impact on Earth’s ecosystems, and two companies focused on sustainability consulting featured Bridgette Bell, global sustainability manager for Yum! Brands (owners of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut); William Brent, executive vice president of Weber Shandwick’s Cleantech; Jennifer Miller DuBuisson, associate manager of global sustainability for Mattel; Michael J. O’Brien, vice president of corporate and product placement at Hyundai; and Tim Sexton, co-founder of environmental policy business association Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Greg Baldwin, executive director of Environmental Media Association, moderated the panel.

There are definitely two ways to interpret the success of this event, a la Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, due to the complexity of the issues surrounding corporate sustainability.

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>> Los Angeles Bioneers is hosting Shannon Biggs who will talk about her work on passing a “Sustainability Bill of Rights” ordinance in Santa Monica, which would strip personhood rights from corporations and give rights to ecosystems instead. Takes place Tue., Jan 31 at 7 pm at G2 Gallery, 1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice. Cost: free with RSVP to srnichols@mac.com.

>> The LA Bicycle Coalition needs volunteers to help count cars parked in the new Spring St. bike lane to provide LAPD with accurate data during the morning and afternoon commutes this Tue., Jan. 31 to Thu., Feb 2 along Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles. Exact times are flexible. Cost: free. Email martin@la-bike.org to volunteer.

>> Do you home-make, home-grow, and/or forage your own food creations? If so, come trade them at the LA Food Swap, next Thu., Feb 9 from 7-9 pm at ReForm School, 3902 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Cost: free with pre-registration. Register now as space is limited.

>> Arcona is hosting a free facial experience with their new mandarin orange brightening peel. Free champagne and brownies from Sweets for the Soul will be served. Enjoy the fun this Sat., Feb. 4 from 12-4 pm at Evolue, 357 1/2 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills. Cost: free with rsvp to info@evoluebeauty.com.

>> The LA County Bicycle Coalition is organizing 3 three different rides for various cycling abilities to the Watts Towers! All rides will reach the Watts Towers, where you’ll get the chance to take a tour if you choose. All rides take place this Sun., Feb. 5. The 49 and 37-mile rides meet at 8 am and ride at 8:30 am, leaving from Dock 52, 13555 Fiji Way, Marina del Rey. The 10-mile ride meets at 10 am and rides at 10:30 am and meets at Jesse Owens Park, 9651 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles. Cost: free.

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