Hummus Joins the Lunch Table at Every New York City School

In a published report by the Coalition for Healthy School Food, a vegan entree (other than a PB&J) is “now available every day in every school in New York City.” Additionally, the Coalition for Healthy School Food has established a third public school to go vegetarian. “The Bergen,” an elementary school in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, with over 1,200 students is now receiving services through the newest CHSF curriculum, Food UnEarthed; including Family Dinner Nights, Teacher Trainings, Parent Workshops, and more. The Coalition for Healthy School Food is a wonderful organization and one I support! They are having their annual fund raiser on October 26th, and iEat Green will be there, along with many other companies serving up some of the best plant based food in the city. Please join us!

Furthermore, this past spring, the Coalition for Healthy School Food, along with their co-sponsors Plant-Pure Nation, hosted the online Healthy School Food Summit. Now, they will be adding one new speaker per month! The Summit is ONLINE and FREE. If you are interested in healthy school food initiatives, or simply our food system and public health in general, then sign-up now, and you’ll receive access to the incredible line up of speakers, including notice of when their new speaker interviews are posted.  

Commercial Farms Atop Residential Buildings Surge in Popularity and Foster Healthier Communities

“Green roofs have surged in popularity over the last decade or so, but traditional staples like grass and succulents are increasingly being set aside in favor of more productive plots run by aerial agriculturalists. Lettuce, beans, carrots, turnips and even beehives now fill roofs stretching across the five boroughs, mostly situated atop warehouses and commercial buildings, and with smaller rooftop gardens as a feature of some private homes.”

“For those who can’t install a multi-million-dollar mini-farm to complement their penthouse, however, there is another option for attaining ultra-fresh, ultra-local produce: move into a building whose amenities include a farmer-in-residence. So far, the choices are rather limited—just one property in the city, Urby, comes with a commercial rooftop farm. But judging by the enthusiasm with which the farm has been met, it will soon be joined by others.” – Edible Manhattan

Arkansas Takes Steps to Ban Monsanto Weedkiller After Rift Among Farmers and Communities Grows

“Monsanto turned to Dicamba because many weeds have evolved resistance to the company’s earlier weed-killing weapon of choice, glyphosate, also known as Roundup. Increasingly, Roundup no longer gets rid of farmers’ most troublesome weeds. Dicamba is an old herbicide, but it’s now being used much more widely, in combination with a new generation of genetically modified, dicamba-tolerant crops. It’s also being widely used, for the first time, in the heat of summer, which makes the herbicide more prone to “volatilizing” — turning into a vapor and drifting in unpredictable directions.” – NPR, the Salt

Read the full NPR article here about this ongoing issue and specifically, “that in areas where farmers were spraying Dicamba on their crops, honey production in bee hives fell by 30 to 50 percent, apparently because Dicamba stopped wild vegetation from blooming, thus depriving bees of sustenance.” If you care about the Bees and the safety of our families then take action here!

8 Ways to Attract Honey Bees and Butterflies to Your Garden by NRDC

“It’s true that no one person can single-handedly restore the monarch butterfly, cure bat-killing fungus, reverse the honeybees’ downward spiral—and save agriculture as we know it. But as we work on the larger issues at play, like climate change and widespread pesticide use, pollinators need safe spaces in order to feed and find mates. That’s where you come in. Make your own yard a pollinator-friendly pit stop with a few simple fixes.” – NRDC

My Guest, Anna Lappe, on PRN Responds to the Editor of NY TIMES: Re “How Big Business Got Brazil Hooked on Junk Food” (“Planet Fat” series, front page, Sept. 17):

“Worldwide, deaths from preventable diet-related illnesses are on the rise, and the processed foods industry, like the global conglomerate Nestlé, are driving this public health scourge. Brazil is a cautionary tale. As a global community, we must stand up to Big Food and its efforts to influence our elected officials and demand real regulation and new policies for public health.

The good news is that there are policies that work: restricting marketing to children; promoting healthy food procurement through initiatives like the Good Food Purchasing Program; and passing taxes like the sugary beverage taxes now covering nine million people in the United States and every resident of Mexico and several other countries around the world.” – Anna Lappe, Chicago

Fall Cooking: Let the Roasting Begin!

Eggplants are in peak season! Try Eggplant au Gratin, a recipe that includes layers of eggplant with your favorite cheese (in moderation!). It can be served as a main course and it’s even better with tomato and onion layered in. Speaking of… Onions, Tomatoes, and Squash are also in abundance and good when roasted, sautéed, broiled, even grilled! Try using fresh herbs to spice up and compliment all sorts of dishes. Check out my recipe from the last two weeks for squash casserole or, if you need some inspiration and have questions or ideas, comment below and I’ll respond soon when I’m not cooking in the kitchen!