3 Easy Ways to Put More Organic Food on Your Plate (guest post)

Adam Green is a freelance writer and organic food enthusiast. He contributed this post on behalf of Full Circle, an organic produce delivery service in Washington State.

With consumer demand for organic food on the rise, it's great that supermarkets are stocking more organic items.

But supermarkets still don't always carry local, organic varieties of your favorite foods. What's more, the markup at supermarkets often makes organic items prohibitively expensive. If you're looking for alternatives to the supermarket – alternatives that could provide more selection and greater value – here are three easy ways to put more organic food on your plate.

1. Visit the farmer's market – and bargain!

In many places, hitting up the farmer's market used to be the norm. Thanks to evolving habits and our busy, get-it-all-at-once mentality, many of us have forgotten that buying local foods from local farmers was once the way nearly everybody in this country survived.

Thankfully, many communities still have farmer's markets, and lots of small farming operations riding the organic trend mean that more markets are appearing in more places. Farmer's markets may even have more choices than the supermarket, and there are often deals to be found – especially if you catch sellers at the right time.

Try to visit the farmer's market at the end of the day when sellers are trying to liberate themselves from the last of their inventory. This can be a great time to negotiate on price, too.

And be sure to stock up at season's peak when there's plenty of supply and prices are lower.

2. Order in.

Delivery services offer another great way to purchase fresh, organic foods.

No, this isn't just for restaurants buying in bulk. Lots of people are now ordering organic produce online and getting it shipped to their front doors via local delivery services.

Search the Web to see whether such a service is available in your community. In many large and medium-sized cities, these services have been around for years and are heavily utilized. Home delivery is a great way to get local produce from organic farms. And since it's literally coming straight from the farm to your table, you know the food is fresh.

3. Start a garden you can maintain.

If you have access to sunlight, there's a good chance you can start a garden.

It doesn't have to be a big garden, mind you. Nobody's saying that you need a garden big enough to grow all your own food. But a small garden with a few items – even if it's just some tomato plants in a window box – is a fantastic way to ensure that you have a fresh supply of organic produce all through the season.

For city-dwellers and busy suburbanites, eating food you grow yourself may sound downright bizarre, not to mention time-consuming. If that's how you feel, start small. Planting an indoor herb garden with four or five items is an easy way to add flavor to your favorite meals without driving to the supermarket.

In finding new sources for delicious, organic food, a willingness to experiment is often the first step. The final one is enjoying the better variety, value, and freshness these alternative sources have to offer.

Score a Food Safety Touchdown at Your Super Bowl XLVI Party | USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service

Score a Food Safety Touchdown at Your Super Bowl XLVI Party | USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service

Score a Food Safety Touchdown at Your Super Bowl XLVI Party

Free Publication from USDA

Catherine Cochran (202) 690-0428

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2012-As both the New England Patriots and New York Giants know, you win with defense. When it comes to planning a Super Bowl XLVI party, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) wants football fans to know how to play defense against potential foodborne illness.

"Great food, large groups of friends and cheering on your team are what make Super Bowl parties so much fun," said USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen. "We want to give hosts a few easy tactics to reduce the chances that their guests will develop foodborne illness amidst all the excitement at their Super Bowl parties."

First Down: Clean

Clean hands and surfaces with soap and water to avoid a "false start" before preparing food. Unclean hands are one of the biggest culprits for spreading bacteria, and finger foods at parties are especially vulnerable. Chefs and guests should wash their hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before and after handling food. Also, be sure to clean eating surfaces often, and wash serving platters before replenishing them with fresh food.

Second Down: Separate

Think of your party fare as two different teams—uncooked versus ready-to-eat foods. The juices from raw meat may contain harmful bacteria that will "sack," or cross-contaminate, ready-to-eat food that would otherwise score big with your guests. Block opposing players by using one cutting board for raw meat and poultry and another one for cutting veggies or foods that will not be cooked. If you use only one cutting board, wash it with hot soapy water after preparing each food item.

Third Down: Cook

Call a "time out" and use a food thermometer to be sure meat and poultry are safely cooked. Remember that internal temperature, not meat color, indicates doneness. Steaks should be cooked to 145 °F followed by a three minute rest time, ground beef should be cooked to 160 °F, and all poultry should be cooked to 165 °F.

Fourth Down: Chill

The Giants may be hoping for a second victory over the Patriots on Super Bowl Sunday, but going back for a second helping of party food could mean a giant defeat if food is left at room temperature for too long. Any perishable foods that are not served with a hot source, such as a chafing dish or slow cooker, or a cold source, such as a bowl of ice placed under the serving dish, should be discarded after two hours at room temperature. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers promptly to block bacteria from multiplying. When in doubt, throw it out of the game—and your party.

Slow cookers are not safe for reheating leftovers. Cooked food should be reheated on a stove, in a microwave, or in a conventional oven until it reaches 165 °F. Then the hot food can be placed in a preheated slow cooker to keep it hot (at least 140 °F) for serving.

When it Comes to Food for Your Super Bowl Party, Safety is Worth More than Two Points

When it comes to foodborne illness, there is no opportunity for an instant replay. To avoid a flag on your winning play, make sure you understand the rules completely. One of the best resources available before kickoff is our Defensive Coordinator, Ask Karen. She is on the headset as USDA's virtual representative and available at AskKaren.gov. Food safety coaches are available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET through Ask Karen's live chat feature and by phone at the USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline, 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854). Recorded messages are available 24 hours a day.

As part of its multi-faceted approach to prevent foodborne illness, USDA joined the Ad Council, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to launch Food Safe Families, a consumer food safety education campaign. It is the first joint public service campaign to empower families to further reduce their risk of foodborne illness at home by checking their key food safety steps: clean, separate, cook, and chill. For more information, go to http://www.foodsafety.gov.

Office Green

Easy Tips You Can Use to Make Your Office Greener
(this article is reposted under Creative Commons 1.0 license)

by Cheryl Roberts

If you're one of the more than 50 million Americans who work in an office, it may surprise you to learn how great an impact we office workers have on the environment. Whether your office is large or small, whether it's in a large corporation or at a local community group, school, or church, there are plenty of ways you can help the environment in the choices you and your co-workers make every day.

Each day, office workers consume approximately 145 million gallons of fuel while commuting to work and generate some 1.4 million tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas. En route and during the day, we drink about 49 million cups of coffee--mostly from disposable cups--and either recycle or discard some 40 million newspapers. Once on the job, we produce more than our own weight in waste paper each year--about 360 pounds per person, nine million tons in all.

Today, U.S. businesses are generally polluting less and becoming more energy efficient. But there are still many simple steps that offices and workers can take to save energy, reduce waste, and even save money. All the following tips have worked out well at EDF's own offices.

Use Devices That Shut Themselves Off

Installing light switches with motion detectors can save a lot of electricity, since these devices shut off the lights automatically whenever a room is unoccupied. Similar savings come from copiers, computers, and other equipment that can be programmed to turn off after a period of inactivity. Look for the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star symbol as one indication of these power-saving features when buying new office equipment.

Here's an easy idea: Buy a reusable travel mug for your morning commute and to use at the office. You'll save natural resources, conserve energy and landfill space and, if you fill up at home, you'll save some money, too.

If you commute by train or subway, you'll find many stations now have designated bins for recycling newspapers. Use them.

If you drive, consider car pooling, riding a bike, or walking to work or to a nearby mass transit station. If your company permits it, telecommute. More than eight million Americans now telecommute at least one day a week. Telecommuting cuts down on pollution, saves energy, and may even increase staff productivity. In a two-year pilot project, Northern Telecom found that having 500 employees work at home three days a week saved about 200 gallons of gasoline annually per employee and increased productivity by an average of 30%.

Whether you work in the office or at home, reducing paper consumption and recycling used paper is a must. Where possible, use e-mail instead of paper memos. Make sure your business cards have your e-mail address on them, and ask for the e-mail addresses of others. Eliminate cover sheets when faxing. Post or circulate materials whenever possible, rather than making multiple copies. Program your printer and photocopier for two-sided printing. Publish or distribute documents electronically whenever possible. And, before you print a document, always use the Spell Check and Print Preview functions first!

In nearly every community, you can recycle paper, steel, aluminum, glass, and some kinds of plastic. Set up convenient recycling areas in the office and post instructions for recycling each material. You can also reuse envelopes for interoffice mail and cut up used paper for note pads.

Buy Recycled!

If you're in charge of purchasing office supplies, choose stationery and other office supplies with the maximum post-consumer recycled content available, at least 20%. And buy the lightest-weight paper possible for the job.

Look for unbleached or "totally chlorine free" supplies and paper first. If you don't find these in stock, ask your suppliers how to order alternative products. Avoid manila folders and envelopes, which are actually bleached and then dyed to achieve their distinctive color; look for unbleached varieties instead. Whenever possible, avoid deep-hued and neon-colored papers, envelopes with plastic windows, and peel-and-stick labels, all of which can interfere with the recycling process.

Office managers can provide a supply of reusable coffee mugs, plates, and utensils, and encourage their use. When ordering take-out or having an event catered, select establishments that use reusable food service ware.

And of course, don't forget to turn off your lights, computer, and monitor before leaving for the day--and remember to take your travel mug home for tomorrow morning's commute!

from EDF Letter