Business Review: Monument Cafe

The Monument Cafe in located in a beautiful building in Georgetown, Texas. Surrounded by raised beds and gardens, the sleek mid-Century modern building reminds me of a happier version of Hopper’s Nighthawks. When we are there, I expect to see men in fedoras to stroll in and sit at the counter. The simple decor makes the inside feel very restful and calm.

The food is equally pleasurable. We’ve been there several times over the last few months and have enjoyed everything we have ordered. The restaurant serves “locally-grown and organic vegetables, meat, and dairy to the greatest extent possible.” In addition to the food grown around the restaurant, the ingredients come from a network of local farmers developed over the restaurant’s seven year history. And the chefs are always experimenting with new ways to expand the local, organic options. Just recently, homemade ice cream was added to the menu! Read more

Simple Changes for Healthier Eating

After posting an earlier article on how to afford organic food, I realized that it may have given the impression that I believe organic food is healthy food. I do believe, based upon loads of research (like this and this) and my family’s own experiences, that organic food is healthier than non-organic options of the same items.

However, I don’t believe that organic = healthy. A diet of chips and cookies is not high quality nutrition, even if the chips are made with organically grown potatoes and the cookies contain only unrefined sweeteners. Choosing organic food is only one consideration of many for healthier eating.

It can seem like eating healthier is amazing complicated but there are some simple changes you and your family can make that will have you all eating healthier soon. Here are a few: Read more

I Want to Eat Organic Food But How Can I Afford It?

January is a time for resolutions, many of which focus on health and finances. To help people get off to a good start on their goals this year, I want to discuss a topic that comes up frequently as we chat with other parents. How the heck is it possible to eat organic food when finances are tight?

We’ve been able to switch almost all of our food purchases to organic items without increasing the money we spend on food. Here is what helped us: Read more

Book People Hosting Jill Richardson

Tonight Book People is hosting Jill Richardson, activist and author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It and the blog  LaVidaLocavore.org, for a discussion and food tasting. The event will be held from 7:00 to 9:00 tonight and is co-sponsored by Edible Austin. This event will feature farm fresh veggies and cheeses from the Austin Farmers’ Market and Rio’s Brazilian cheese breads. Locally brewed beverages from Saint Arnold’s Brewing and Zhi Tea will also be available.

Ms Richardson has been called “a fresh voice in the movement to create a healthier and sustainable food system” by Marion Nestle. I have not yet read her book but can say that the writing on her blog is informative, thoughtful, and well researched. I always learn something there. How many things can you say that about?

If you can’t make this event, Ms Richardson will also be speaking and signing books at the Austin Farmers’ Market on Saturday, November 7 from 10:00 to 1:00 (hosted by the Sustainable Food Center) and at Cafe Caffeine on Sunday, November 8 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm (hosted by the South Austin Food Co-op).

All of this makes has me feeling incredibly grateful to be living near Austin! Now let’s do what we can to help others have as many healthy, local food choices as we are blessed to have!

The Wall Street Journal Talks Canning – and They Don’t Mean CEOs

This morning I was very pleasantly surprised to see an article about canning food in the Wall Street Journal. It is really exciting to see that people taking control of their food sources is becoming a strong movement! (And nice to read about another kind of canning – ba dump bump!)

The article links to Canning Across America, which has some yummy looking recipes along with links to resources and events. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is a good source of information on canning as well as pickling, freezing, fermenting and other preservation methods. If you want to take advantage of the season to load up on locally grown food, PickYourOwn.org can help you find both sources of food in your area and preservation methods to match what you harvest.

Happy eating!

Sales of Organic Foods Still Growing

A recent article on Time.com shared listed 10 Big Recession Surprises. To my delight, surprise #3 was Organic Food Sales Remain Strong.

Over the past few years, I’ve felt that people’s attitudes about food are shifting. Once the recession hit, I read article after article that predicted the economic changes would stop that change in its tracks. At the same time, the waiting list for our CSA was growing and more of our friends started their own gardens. Maybe we live in a bubble, I thought. Maybe it is because we hang out with so many parents of young children, I hypothesized.

So, when I read the article above, I literally pumped my fists in the air when I read that the sales of organic foods are not just holding steady as families wrestle with their finances but they are growing! Hip hip hurray!

Business Review: TerraBurger

My family’s summer just got better. This week TerraBurger opened its second location in northwest Austin at 10611 Research Blvd, right by Costco. Now we have a healthy option for a quick meal at a family-friendly restaurant – what a treat!

When we saw TerraBurger’s sign go up several months ago, we were curious but frankly more than a little skeptical. Lots of businesses have jumped on the green bandwagon for marketing and little else. We wondered how green Terra Burger’s operations would really be. We checked them out online and were impressed with what we saw.

From their website:

At TerraBurger, Rule #1 is “all natural”–we won’t serve anything that contains artificial ingredients, period. No artificial colors or flavors. No flavor enhancers. No trans fats. Nothing highly processed. No artificial additives. In fact, we have an extensive list of banned ingredients that don’t make the cut. For more detailed information on the practical meaning of “all natural”, go here: http://www.naturalingredient.org/naturalingredients.htm. Read more

Family Friday: Creating Compost

Setting up a compost area is one of our goals for this year so we were delighted to read this month’s article from Lucas Miller on composting. The tips we shared in Five Easy Steps to Reduce Food Waste (Without Going Insane) have significantly reduced the amount of food we throw away but we still toss the occasional moldy item in the trash. (I swear the back of our refrigerator is connected to a black hole.) We’ve now decided where to place our compost area; I hope this article spurs you on as well.

So you’re recycling your bottles, cans, and paper, right? I think that’s a given for our faithful readers. Hopefully, you’re not even taking the plastic bags in the first place but, if you are, you can recycle those, too.

How about composting? My wife and I have been composting off-and-on for over a decade now so I thought I’d provide some thoughts on our experiences. I’m no expert, though, so by all means feel free to contribute your own comments and tips! Read more

Family Friday: How to Strengthen Your Family’s Immune Systems

All the media coverage of swine flu, or influenza A H1N1, is causing some people to panic. As I listened to the news on my way home from dropping my youngest at preschool, I could feel my own worries growing. So I started thinking about what action I could take. Action is a great antidote to panic!

Once I took a deep breath (OK, a couple of deep breaths), I realized one of the best things would be to make sure my kids, Rich, and I have strong immune systems. Our time at preschool, elementary school, and work gives us exposure to plenty of local germs. I wanted to make sure all our defenses were in tip-top fighting shape for whatever we encountered.

Here are some of the best ways to bolster immune systems. As I wrote this, I was struck by how many of these items have multiple benefits. If we did these things all the time, my family would be leaner, happier, and healthier. Read more

Organic Linen Sale at Gaiam

I just received an email from Gaiam highlighting their current sale on selected organic cotton sheets and towels. The sale is for 20% off their (already good) prices on organic cotton items. To access the sale, visit their website at Gaiam and type “organic cotton” into their search bar. The items on sale have their sales prices marked. This sale ends November 24, 2008 so check it out now if interested.

In case you are in the midst of your holiday shopping, these would make good gifts! Gaiam is an earth-friendly company so even your greenest friends and family members would be excited to see a package from them. Gaiam was the first company to use a carbon-neutral shipping program, which they developed with The Conservation Fund. The program, called Go Zero, allows customers to add a small, tax-deductible donation at checkout. Each donation is used to plant trees, which offset the carbon dioxide emissions that result from shipping the order. Their mailing supplies are comprised of 100% recycled materials. Gaiam can also provide gift wrapping for your package. Read more

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