Bring your OWN Baggu!!!

As most of you know, San Jose put a ban on all plastic carryout bags in January, and many other cool cities are following the lead, so I always keep a couple of these in my purse/bag!

Support your LOCAL farms!

We visited Swanton Berry Farm on Friday Fun Day! Great spot on the coast north of Santa Cruz, u-pick, total honor system, classic and delicious strawberry shortcake, berry cobbler, jams and the likes available at the cafe... GO. Support your local farms.

GREEN with ENVY

I took the little boys and Jackie O for a walk this afternoon (I think it was 75 degrees out this gorgeous February day btw) and as we rounded the corner of our Court, we saw our neighbor, Kurt and his grandson and dog, Muggsy heading out in the old truck. I'm pretty sure even Gilbert Green himself would be envious of this LOAD of recycled stash... hope they came back with some decent cash!

Gilbert Green celebrates Earth Day with MeandMineMagazine!

I had the pleasure of chatting with Jen Traynham , the editor of MeandMineMagazine.com about my book, Gilbert Green and our little exchange is being featured on their blog today - EARTH DAY 2011 along with a Gilbert Green giveaway! Visit MeandMineMagazine.com today and enter to win a signed copy of Gilbert Green!

I'm thrilled to join forces with MeandMineMagazine and solute their spirit today and everyday!

Happy Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day 2011, let's switch it up and have a "Meat Free Friday!" This is a no-brainer for those of us who like to consider ourselves good Catholics, as it just happens to be Good Friday as well, the last Friday of Lent!

Regardless, here are the facts presented by Paul McCartney and the story about Meat Free Monday. In 2006, the United Nations issued a report which stated that the livestock industry as a whole was responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the whole of the transport sector put together.

I found this interesting particularly because people at the UN are not a vegetarian society and therefore, could not be accused of bias. They pointed out the following facts:

* The Livestock industry produces gases that are extremely dangerous for the future of our environment.
* The two main gases, methane and nitrous oxide, are considered to be more harmful than CO2 (methane is 21 times more powerful than CO2 and nitrous oxide is 310 times more powerful than CO2) so the data suggests that this is causing a highly dangerous situation for ourselves and, more importantly, for future generations.
* Methane also remains in the atmosphere for 9 to 15 years; nitrous oxide remains in the atmosphere for 114 years, on average, and is 296 times more potent than CO2 - the gases released today will continue to be active in degrading the climate decades from now.
* Livestock production is land intensive: a recent report by Greenpeace on land use in the largest meat producing state in Brazil found that livestock (cattle) production was responsible for vastly more deforestation than soya.
* A third of all cereal crops, and well over 90% of soya, goes into animal feed, not food for humans. Eating less meat will free up a lot of agricultural land which can revert to growing trees and other vegetation, which, in turn, will absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
* Livestock production is water intensive: it accounts for around 8% of global human water use. The estimated 634 gallons of fresh water required to produce one 5.2 ounce (150g) beef burger would be enough for a four-hour shower. For comparison, the same quantity of tofu requires 143 gallons of water to produce.
* Livestock production is the largest source of water pollutants, principally animal wastes, antibiotics, hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for feed crops, and sediments from eroded pastures.
* The meat industry is set to double its production by 2050 so even if they manage to lower emissions by 50%, as they have promised to, we will still be in the same position.

With this in mind, my family and I launched Meat Free Monday in the UK, an idea which has been gaining support from people like Tom Parker-Bowles who, after a lifetime of denigrating vegetarians, recently wrote in his Daily Mail column, “I wince at the memory of my boorish antics” and who pronounced himself “intrigued” by MFM: “There’s no doubting the plain common sense of the message…Meat Free Monday is something to really savour”. Another supporter is Al Gore who stated that initiatives like Meat Free Monday “represent a responsible and welcome component of a comprehensive strategy for reducing global warming pollution and simultaneously improving human health."

Even a number of schools have already done this in the UK with great success. The town of Ghent in Belgium has a meat free day and, amazingly, Sao Paulo has one even though Brazil is a large exporter of meat. In Sweden, the government is now labeling food to give the consumer the opportunity to understand the dangers of indiscriminate food consumption and there are many more examples appearing online.

The point is that so many people these days are looking for ways to “do their bit” for the environment. We recycle - something we never would have dreamt of doing in the past. Many people now drive hybrid cars but most people understand that we cannot leave this important issue to the politicians of the world. Recently, at the Copenhagen Conference for Climate Change, this issue was not even on the agenda and so I believe it is once again left to us, the people, to do it ourselves.

It’s amazingly easy to take one day in your week, Monday or any other day, and not eat meat. When you think about it, there are so many great alternatives, for instance, in Italian cooking, so many of the dishes are vegetarian already and Thai and Chinese cuisine are the same. All it means is that you have to think a bit about what you’ll eat that day but, in actual fact, far from being a chore, it’s a fun challenge.

Having been a vegetarian for over 30 years, I find it very simple and in fact, tasty and most enjoyable.

So there it is! Next Monday - don’t eat meat and do your bit to save this beautiful planet of ours. For more information, ideas and lots of meat free recipes, go to the official Meat Free Monday website.

Rock on ya’ll!

Paul


Vegetarian Fried Rice

Serves 4 - 6

* 4 - 6 asparagus stems
* 450 grams steamed or boiled rice
* 2 egg whites beaten (optional)
* 2 spring onions chopped
* 4 tbsp vegetable oil
* ½ tsp salt

Break off tough stems of the asparagus and chop into 2 cm pieces, rinse. Stir fry in 1 tbsp oil for 1 – 2 minutes, remove from the wok. Add more oil to the wok if necessary and, when hot add the beaten egg whites to form a thin pancake. As soon as the egg is cooked remove from the pan and chop.

Heat 2 – 3 tablespoons of oil in the wok, when hot stir-fry the white part of the spring onion, add the cooked rice and stir over a low heat until the rice is uniformly heated through. Add the asparagus, egg whites and salt and stir and mix all the ingredients together until piping hot.

Compliments of Mr. Chow in London...Enjoy!

Joe Henderson Elementary School's Read Across America GOES GREEN Celebration

I had the pleasure of joining Joe Henderson Elementary School's Read Across America GREEN CELEBRATION on Friday night! Special Thanks to Christi Taylor, Media Specialist -her library rocks and her green spirit is much appreciated!!!!

Thank you to the many participants and their families for letting me share my book with you. The Students at Joe Henderson Elementary KNOW what it means to be truly GREEN and I have no doubt they all do their part to help save the world's natural art! I can't wait to come back soon and share Gilbert Green's next adventure with you all!!!!

Lastly, another special thank you to Richard Flynn for the music!

p.s. Dr. Seuss would be very proud of this group as well, especially proud of those awesome RECYCLED Seuss hats the boys & girls made!!!

Gilbert Green will be featured at Read Across America

Friday, March 4th from 6:30 - 8:00pm - Joe Henderson Multipurpose Room-
Nikki who is a local author (and Benicia High Alum) will be sharing her book Gilbert Green in two sessions at our Going Green themed Read Across America celebration at Joe Henderson Elementary School in Benicia, California. Each session will be followed by a time for questions, answers, and book signing.