Nutrient Dense Food Campaign Workshop CT.wmv

Slow Money Gathering

“The world will be saved by the western woman” – The Dalai Lama

We talk about conscious consumerism but few of us realize the power that we, as western women, have as a whole to create change on this planet simply in the ways we shop. One area that is still frequently overlooked pertains to the food we buy. Increasing interest in farmer’s markets, CSA’s and local foods is steadily growing. It’s popular, tastes good and builds community. But it is more than that. 

Supporting local small food enterprises grows the local economy. There is an international movement based on the book Slow Money by Woody Tasch. The mission is to build local and national networks, and develop new financial products and services, dedicated to:

• investing in small food enterprises and local food systems;

• connecting investors to their local economies; and,

• building the nurture capital industry.

Soil fertility, carrying capacity, sense of place, care of the commons, cultural, ecological and economic health and diversity, nonviolence -- these are the fundamentals of nurture capital, a new financial sector supporting the emergence of a restorative economy. These are the fundamentals of the Slow Money Principles. Slow Money's goal is: a million Americans investing 1% of their assets in local food systems within a decade. Let us, as western woman, be part of that 1 percent!

The second national Slow Money gathering is happening at Shelburne Farms in Vermont on June 9-11th. For more information about Slow Money go to www.slowmoneyalliance.org

Slow Money Conference

I will be at the SLOW MONEY Conference! Will you? Would love to meet you! Shelburne Farms, Vermont - June 9-11, 2010

Slow Money… It’s not an ISM (as in capitalism, socialism, consumerism, market fundamentalism…).

But it is a new way of connecting investors to local food systems, catalyzing new forms of social investing and philanthropy for the 21st century. Join the emerging
network of investors, donors, entrepreneurs, farmers, and activists who are giving birth to the nurture capital industry.

Come to Shelburne Farms, a working farm and forest and National Historic Landmark -- a setting uniquely imbued with the history of capitalism and a nonprofit organization dedicated to forging a new future through sustainability education, creating social enterprises and strengthening local food systems. Enjoy the natural beauty of Lake Champlain. Meet thought leaders and change agents from around the country who are joining in this exciting project: designing capital markets that go beyond extraction and consumption all the way to preservation and restoration… starting with food and soil fertility.

Food Security - this is what I am talking about!

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4aba91207fc5c33a

Grow Food As If Your Life Depended On It

 One way to secure a future for our children is as simple as growing our own food. Sounds pretty basic but the power of such an act is unfathomable. This can be as simple as planting a few tomato plants on your deck, a window box full of herbs or trying your skills with raised beds in your backyard. Live in the city and don’t have a yard? Then look into community gardens in your neighborhood!

Remember the Victory Gardens of WWI? Also known as food gardens for defense, Victory Gardens were fruit, vegetable and herb gardens planted at private residences, rooftops, vacant lots and public parks designed to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. 

A sense of empowerment and patriotism grew out of the effort and the US Department of Agric

gardens were planted. Fruit and vegetables harvested in these home and community plots was estimated to be 9-10 million tons, an amount equal to all commercial production of fresh vegetables.

A similar movement is taking hold again today with an insurgence of community garden, urban food growing programs and woofing opportunities (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, www.wwoof.org). A great urban success story teaching local youth the power in growing their own food is Growing Power in Milwaukee (www.growingpower.org). 

 
Other things you can do if growing a garden isn’t possible this season….

Buy a CSA Share (Community Supported Agriculture) – CSAs link farmers with the local consumers in their region seeking real food! It is a shared risk model where you as the consumer invest in the seasons harvest by supplying the farmer with the up front capital to grow food. Most are a 16-20 week season ranging anywhere from $450-$600 share depending on the region, what they grow and whether or not they are growing organically. Some have pick-your own (berries, peas, tomatoes) in addition to the weekly box of harvested food. CSAs are great learning opportunities for kids and adults alike. You become more in tune with the seasons and become aware of what crops when; you get to experiment with produce that you may not typically buy and you get to experience the taste and health benefits of fresh food. Some CSAs even offer work share where members can help on the farm.

Live in Connecticut? Support our effort to save a 30 year local organic farm by investing in a three year CSA share! Alchemy Acres will serve as a learning center for growing nutrient dense food, provide such foods to the community as well as be a sister site for our urban permadise project! Email for details at Imani@thegreenvibration.com

Support SFEs (Small Food Enterprises) such as an organic café (like mine! www.alchemyjuicebar.com) or your local health food store or farm stand! “Family farmers are the microorganisms in the soil of the restorative economy…(and) local entrepreneurs are its earthworms” from my current favorite read: SLOW MONEY – investing as if food, farms & fertility mattered by Woody Tasch. Check out the website at www.slowmoneyalliance.org

Know where your food comes! Support your local suppliers of fresh, organic, real food! This simple act may just be the one thing that elicits the change our planet needs!

Urban Permadise

Check out these videos - one on my birthday this past weekend - to establish the ROOTS of our community as we embark on a journey to co-create a permadise in the middle of Hartford, the captial city here in CT. Stay tuned as we turn this place into an urban jungle with a little bit of information, a lot of passion &  inspiration.



The second video is from my trip to Miami - it is a 2 acre permadise in the middle of the city...check it out!




Urban Permadise from Imani TGG on Vimeo.
Permadise in Hartford from Imani TGG on Vimeo.

Eco-Travel

Found myself in Miami of all places with my daughter's dance school this week....so I thought it might be an appropriate time to talk about eco-travel.....

Traveling, in many ways, can be one of the most un-sustainable carbon emitting things we do….flying, for example, puts Americans WAY in the lead as far as carbon footprints go….Odd to think that only 5% of the world’s population has ever flown and many of us have flown multiple times….even within one year! The super eco-conscious traveler (& frequent flyer) will look into carbon offsetting (now this doesn’t justify the flying – try to have teleconference calls & minimize need to travel) or better yet alternative methods of travel when available). The premise behind carbon offsets is that we (individuals on a small scale and corporations on a large scale) can “buy off” the damaging and unethical impacts of our behaviors rather than changing the behaviors themselves. Of course it is good to plant more trees but are they being planted in a way that is authentically impacting the planet in a good way (corruption is everywhere) and have we modified our own behaviors to lessen our carbon footprint? Choose a local tree-planting initiative or buy a share from your local organic café as a way to invest your money towards protecting the environment while growing your local economy.


So I thought the best way to talk about eco-travel is to simply outline what I do when on the road….and give you some tips on how to succeed being a “green” traveler!

In order to make sure that I have organic (aka real food) options I pack some of my own…. Avocados, Red Peppers, Cucumbers travel well. I stuff some in my suitcase (which will be radiated) and then others along with my meal for the plane in my handy stainless steel to-go-ware (http://www.to-goware.com/) packed full and I also remember to bring cute little bamboo-ware set. When I travel I use no plastic water bottles or to-go ware – I bring my own and simply rinse & re-use.

I found out on this trip that the don’t radiate the items that go through the check point – simply scan them. They always ask to see what’s inside my to-go-ware and I always invite them to try a taste (usually I pack a pate in the smaller top compartment and greens on the bottom). I cut up red peppers, cukes & an avocado in half so they are ready to eat – esp. if it is a long flight.
I also pack an assortment of soaked & sprouted nuts and seeds, some seaweed, dehydrated fruit (this trip it was pineapple slices & golden berries from Ultimate Superfoods – http://www.ultimatesuperfoods.com/ – nice travel sizes). I also don’t go anywhere without a shaker of Herbamere seasoning salt, 2oz package of Shilajit and cacao bar from Ultimate Raw. I bring my thermos (empty of course) and several empty reusable water bottles. I simply have the hotel or nearby coffee shop fill my thermos (for free) with hot water and add the Shilajit and have a mineral drink each morning. I savor each square of cacao with my afternoon mineral drink….this trip I had to bring food for both me and my daughter so I packed some fresh fruit and dehydrated kale chips (though those did not last the plane trip).
When I travel I try and support local small businesses…so I will search out local health food stores & organic cafes by searching online. I look for eco-friendly B & B’s or next in line “green” hotels that use conserve resources (energy & water): low-flush toilets, LED Lighting, option to re-use linens & towels, recycled paper products (NOT KIMBERLY CLARK) & earth friendly personal care products….In this case with my daughter’s dance school trip. I did not make any of the travel or accommodations arrangements and our HILTON hotel on Biscayne is beautiful but NOT green. I gave housekeeping a few days off and had the girls in the room reuse their towels and I will be sure to leave my comments when we check out about how they might consider eco-friendly improvements!

Ok – so here’s my food itinerary from my trip to Miami (not my choice destination mind you!) this past week with my daughter Kailah (and her dance school) & how it unfolded….or how I survived!
Wednesday- Leave Hartford at noon – drank my morning Super Green Smoothie (of course my daughter insisted on arriving EXTRA early so I was feeling a bit hungry before we were on the plane!) Drank my thermos of Shiligit. Arrive in Miami around 7pm – finished off the kale chips and filled my water bottle half way on the plane. At the hotel made a nori roll with the walnut pate, sprouts, red peppers, cuke & avocad
Thursday morning – very little sleep in a room full of giddy girls who had to be up at 5am for an audition! What! Drank my Shilajit in the morning – gave Kailah an apple and nuts for breakfast. Ate another nori roll (last of the pate). Headed for South Beach – the only organic place (pasta – Kailah was so excited – was only open for dinner). Found a Whole Foods and bought her lunch and some bars and fruit for the next three mornings. Drank a Kombucha and a Garden of Life Rasp, Chocolate & Greens Bar (been awhile since I had one of those!) bought at a nearby local health food store (in search of smoothie but none of theirs were organic L). Ate some brazil nuts & golden berries in the evening.
Friday Morning – Shilijit & piece of cacao; mid day two tangerines, a few nuts & golden berries. Took the girls to a nearby natural food café (no organic even thought the menu looked like someone knew something – next day the health dept closed the place L!) I ate the remaining cucumber, pepper & avocado I brought sprinkled with Herbamere…delicious! Had some mini live coconut macaroon treats.

Friday Dinner at Metro Organic Bistro (www.metroorganicbistro.com – check out my video) Yippee & YUM! Tantalizing arugula salad with roasted beet & goat cheese & a rare hamburger with sweet potato fries! Everyone in the group that I coerced to join me LOVED it!

Saturday Morning – Shilijit and a cool expedition to Earth-n-us Farm in the middle of urban Miami! Lunch at noon @ Om Garden Café (www.OmGardenOnline.com – check out my video)– blueberry, pineapple, coconut smoothie, sushi roll with salad and a live pizza – ate half and saved half….took a veggie juice to go for tomorrow’s breakfast and filled all the water bottles (forgot to do that at Metro Bistro the day before and was a bit dehydrated!) Oh yeah – live blueberry vanilla cheesecake….

Saturday night– my daughter nibbled on the remaining raw food leftovers and I finished them off….I had some berries & pineapple earlier as well…feeling very full – my heaviest day of eating in the last 24 hours…still have some nuts & dried fruit, two tangerines & one apple (for Kailah), half a green bar & some of the mini macaroons and two avocados for tomorrow…and lots of water.

Sunday Morning - Veggie juice for breakfast (do miss my regular green smoothies- that will be the first thing I have on Monday) and Shilijit mid-day. Ate the last avocado before leaving the hotle. Here at the airport nibbling on brazil nuts, golden berries & mini macaroons and feeling hungry!  Craving an ACAI smoothie that I will have as soon I reach Hartford tonite by 10pm.

Hope the details from my “food diary” are insightful for the purpose of demonstrating that it IS possible to only eat organic if you prepare, research and use principles of moderation! Good luck on your journeys & safe travels!