Sites You Should Know - Local Harvest

Every week GreenPeaches brings you a very useful site that you can use to help green your lifestyle.  Our picks may or may not relate directly to Atlanta but they will always be useful tools in greening our lifestyles.  We hope that you add these to your bookmarks and visit them in the future. 

Since this is our first installment, the pressure is on to pick a good site.  We have been looking at a number of food related sites recently because summer is here and the farmer's markets are in full swing.  One of the greenest things any of us can do is to change our diet.  Moving from a diet rich in meat and highly processed foods to one with fewer servings of meat and more whole foods, fruits and veggies is one of the most environmentally friendly changes one can make.

This week's pick can help you do just that.  Local Harvest is a non-profit organization that specializes in helping people locate local, healthy food in their area.  We love this website because it is simple to use and provides a wealth of information.  You can locate farmer's markets, restaurants, grocery stores, health food stores, CSAs and much more near you by entering the city or zip code you are looking for.  Just searching in my area here in Alpharetta, the site returns 12 farms (some of which are CSAs), 5 CSAs, 10 farmer's markets and 3 restaurants.  Each search result has details and the Local Harvest community rates them.

Stay tuned for our next Site You Should Know.

This Week in Atlanta

Here's what's on tap this week.  We also had a couple interesting stories this week in environmental history. Follow the links over to Wikipedia to learn more.

May 18 (Monday)
No Events

May 19 (Tuesday)

12pm - 1pm - Chattahoochee Nature Center - Meet the Keeper

6pm - 7pm - Southeast Beltline 101

May 20 (Wednesday)

430pm - 630pm - YMCA Earth Service Corp @ Piedmont Park
6pm - 8pm - GA Conservation Voters - 9th Annual Environmental Leadership Awards (RSVP, $)

7pm - Ride of Silence

May 21 (Thursday)

7pm - 9pm - Sierra Club - Greater Group Meeting

May 22 (Friday)

No Events

May 23 (Saturday)

730am - 1130am - Morningside Farmer's Market

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

8am - 12pm - Suwanee Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Trees Atlanta - Allison Court/Adams Park Mulching & Watering

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market

10am - 2pm - Glenwood Park Farmer's Market

12pm - 1pm - Chattahoochee Nature Center - Meet the Keeper
4pm - 630pm - Atlanta Bicycle Coalition - Beginners Refresher & Ride

May 24 (Sunday)

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market

This Week in Environmental History

May 21, 1980 - Residents of Love Canal, NY were officially evacuated from the city that had been contaminated by toxic dumping.
May 23, 1908 - The National Bison Range was established in Wyoming. This range would be integral in the survival of the species whose population is still 99% below the historic highs.

Peach Bites

Cox Enterprises and Georgia Power Produce Green Energy for Georgia (bNet) - On April 20th, Cox Enterprises announced the completion of the largest solar power facility in Georgia. This facility is the largest of its kind in Georgia Power's alternative energy program here in Georgia. The facility will produce 150 megawatts annually. It is located on the roof of Cox's Manheim DRIVE facility in Stockbridge.

Southeast Positioned for Renewable Energy, WRI Report Says (Environmental Protection) - The Southeast could generate over 25% of its power from renewable energy by 2025 according to a report released in April by the World Resources Institute (WRI), Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Southface Institute. The estimate combines potential power from biomass, solar, wind and hydroelectric.

Coca-Cola to use Green 'PlantBottle' (Atlanta Business Chronicle) - Coca-Cola will introduce a partially plant based plastic bottle in its Dasani water bottles later this year. They plan to begin using it in their vitamin water line in 2010. Their vision is for 100% recyclable and renewable packaging. It's great to see this type of move from one of the Atlanta's and the world's most popular companies.

Georgia Submits Request for Clean-Energy Stimulus Money (Atlanta Business Chronicle) - If the request is approved, the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority will get roughly 2x as much money to aid business in solar, wind and efficiency projects as is available through state tax programs.

Revolutionizing Transit in Atlanta - Wouldn't That be Nice

image courtesy of Citizens for Progressive Transit

We stumbled upon the website for Citizens for Progressive Transit (www.cfpt.org) the other day and their ideas definitely piqued our interest.  They are a grassroots organization that is committed to bringing improvments to public transit in our region by working with MARTA and our regional leaders.  There isn't much substance to the website yet but we really found their transit map very interesting.  It takes the current north/south, east/west MARTA lines and completely revolutionizes them.  Obviously, it is a pie in the sky type vision given that we can't even get movement around how to use existing funds for our transit needs.  However, it is nice to see a vision.  The Beltline was once just a vision too and today we see a great amount of progress on that project. 

Take a few minutes of your time and just imagine how a revolutionary transit system would change the face of the city.

This Week in Atlanta

We have no shortage of events this week. Saturday is looking to be a very busy day on the green front. There are several events this week that are looking to be pretty fun. Try to get out on Saturday and enjoy some of the green festivities. The Alive! Expo is chocked full of vendors, exhibitors and speakers so that should be a can't miss event.

Oh yeah, don't forget that this week is Bike to Work Week.  I'm going to be biking a few days if the weather permits.

May 11 (Monday)

630pm - 830pm - Beltline Public Workshop - Northside Study Group

May 12 (Tuesday)

12pm - 1pm - Chattahoochee Nature Center - Meet the Keeper

7pm - 10pm - Sierra Club - Metro Atlanta Area Chapter Monthly Meeting

May 13 (Wednesday)

8am - 2pm - Gwinnett Sustainability Summit (Reservation)
6pm - 7pm - Beltline 101 - Northside

May 14 (Thursday)

630pm - 830pm - Beltline Public Hearing - Environmental Effects Report

630pm - 10pm - The River Revival Watershed Sessions Benefit for the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper ($)

May 15 (Friday)

No Events

May 16 (Saturday)

730am - 1130am - Morningside Farmer's Market - Strawberry Celebration/Slow Food Atlanta

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

8am - 12pm - Sewanee Farmer's Market

8am - 4pm - Keep Atlanta Beautiful E-Waste Recycling Day @ Grady High School

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Trees Atlanta - Peyton Forest/West Manor Mulching

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market

10am - 7pm - Alive! Expo

11am - 4pm - Trees in Art Exhibit Open to Public @ Trees Atlanta

12pm - 5pm - Go Green Get Rewards Festival @ Underground Atlanta

1pm - 430pm - GA Conservancy - Generation Green - Save Water, Drink Beer Event($)

530pm - 830pm - Martinis in the Garden @ Oakhurst Community Garden ($)

May 17 (Sunday)

11am - 6pm - Alive! Expo

Movie Review - The Future of Food

If you’re not concerned about how your food is produced, then you might want to check out this film. At times, it is a little difficult to get through. The narrator sometimes comes off as a freshman film major reading from a script and the graphics leave a little to be desired. However, what the film lacks in pizzazz, it makes up for in content. Below are just some of the topics and questions that are covered in the movie:

• Farmers are stretched to the brink and they are effectively laundering money in the form of subsidies directly from the federal government to the few remaining multinational companies that control our food supply.
• Corporate interference is creating modern day feudalisim.
• Genetically modified food is infiltrating non-genetically modified seeds and creating a dangerous experiment with our food.
• Monsanto just doesn’t seem to have any conscience. Watch the movie and tell me if you disagree.
• Can you patent life that can replicate and is out of your control after the first generation? Who is responsible when the “patented” life form infiltrates another farmer’s crops? Apparently, the farmer is now infringing on the patent. Wow!

Because of these issues and many others such as unbridled pesticide use, my family chooses to vote with our wallet and buy as many organic and local products as possible. However, these issues scare me immensely and I have never gone away from a film feeling more disturbed about the state of our nation and the potential problems that could very easily arise from our current agricultural system.

You should have hope though. The organic market has risen from only a couple billion dollars in the mid 90’s to over $24.6 billion in 2008 which was a 17% increase over 2007 (food increased 5.8%). We have some great groups right here in our backyard as well. Georgia Organics is one of the largest grassroots organizations of its kind in the nation. According to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Atlanta has over 150 community gardens. There are many farmer’s markets and most grocery stores have an expanding health food and organic section. When you can, you should vote with your wallet.

Resources

The Future of Food

Georgia Organics

Oakhurst Community Garden

Farmer D Organics

Local Harvest

Grist Ranks Mayor Franklin #6 Among the Greenest Mayors in America

Having instituted a number of Green Initiatives since taking office, Mayor Franklin has helped lead Atlanta in a bright green direction. Some of the city’s most notable undertakings are the Beltline, infrastructure modernization, reductions in electricity use and the establishment of the private sector group Sustainability Atlanta. If we keep the momentum, we will continue to see the progress. “We are building a green, sustainable city,” Franklin says. “We do this for our children, and we do this because it is the right thing to do.”

See the full list here.

A Great Overview of the Beltline

This Week in Atlanta

There are some great things going on this week. We have several Beltline meetings and the Farmer's Markets are coming into full swing.

May 4 (Monday)

630pm - 830pm - Beltline Public Workshop - Northside Study Group

May 5 (Tuesday)

6pm - 7pm - Westside Beltline 101

6pm - 10pm - Georgia Organics - 5 Alive on the Westside ($)

630pm - 830pm - Good Urbanisim 101 Class ($, Registration Required)

May 6 (Wednesday)

1145am - 1pm - Green Chamber of the South - Green Wednesdays (Registration Required)
430pm - 630pm - YMCA Earth Service Corp @ Piedmont Park

May 7 (Thursday)

8am - 5pm - The South's Recovery - Making it Accountable & Green (Registration Required)

6pm - 7pm - Northeast Beltline 101

630pm - 830pm - Good Urbanisim 101 Class ($, Registration Required)

7pm - 9pm - Movie Screening - The National Parks: America's Best Idea (Registration Required)

May 8 (Friday)

National Public Gardens Day

6pm - 7pm - Atlanta Bicycle Coalition - Courteous Mass Ride

May 9 (Saturday)

8am - 1230pm - Alpharetta Farmer's Market

8am - 12pm - Sewanee Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Serenbe Farmer's Market

9am - 12pm - Trees Atlanta - Candler Park Mulching

9am - 1pm - Piedmont Park Green Market

9am - ? - 2nd Annual Greenstock Day (Woodstock)

12pm - 1pm - Southwest Beltline 101

Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable - Atlanta's Transportation Destiny

On Friday, the Southface Institute held its monthly Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable. The event is held on the first Friday of every month and brings together many of the most influential individuals , businesses and non-profit organizations involved in making Atlanta a more sustainable city. The event was started over eight years ago and has grown into an impressive meeting.

The topic of discussion this month was Metro Atlanta’s Transportation Destiny and as you can imagine with the recent political events, it was a very interesting discussion that left the experts choosing their words wisely. The Panel this month was made up of:

• Kevin Green, Executive Director, Clean Air Campaign
• Cheryl King, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA)
• Tad Leithead, Senior Vice President, Cousins Properties; Chairman of the Transportation and Air Quality Committee, Atlanta Regional Commission
• Maria Saporta, moderator, Atlanta Business Chronicle

The panel was very insightful and really shed light on the inner details of the issues, past and present, surrounding the political log jam that has evolved on this topic. I have to admit that I was thoroughly impressed with Mr. Leithead who had a thorough grasp of all of the issues and was confident enough to answer even the most pointed questions.

One of the questions that resonated with me had to do with the party polarization that has come about around the transit issue both here in Georgia and nationally. I cannot understand why if you are a conservative then you must be a car person and if you are a liberal then you are a transit person. Ultimately, all forms of transportation in this country are subsidized so there can’t be an argument that one form of transportation pays for itself while another does not. It, of course, was not the purpose of the roundtable to settle partisan and philosophical issues.  The one thing that I was suprised did not come up once was the Beltline.  I figured that for sure, someone would bring that up.

Here are some of the main points that were made in the discussion:

• Companies are reconsidering moving to Atlanta due to Traffic.
• Virtually no progress has been made on transit in 10 years.
• The rest of the state needs to realize that if Atlanta goes, so goes the state.  Thus, the state needs to consider a more integrated funding approach for transit.
• Most Atlantans don’t have transportation choices except what road to take to get to work.
• Charlotte may pass Atlanta on this front as they have figured out how to work together with the state. Atlanta is no longer the little engine that could in the south. Everyone is shooting to be the next Atlanta (without the traffic)

If you are interested in listening to the roundtable, you can access it on Southface’s website here.

Also, if you would like to attend any in the future, they are on the first Friday of each month and are open to the public. Admission is $10 for members and $15 for non-members if you pre-register. Prices jump by $5 on the morning of the event.