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Green Eating

Green Eating

Local, seasonal, organic, unprocessed, etc. I’ve covered these food topics and more in my writing over the years. My new Green Eating page explains the principles and links to the pieces. Among the more interesting items are columns on sustainable wine, coffee and chocolate, as well as a couple on the importance of eating less [...]

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12 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic (2010)

12 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic (2010)

Last weekend, I got a friendly warning from a farmer at our local Greenmarket. Holding up the big, beautiful bell pepper I’d selected, he said, “You may find a little friend inside.” Friend? I cast an uncomprehending look at him. “We don’t use pesticides,” he explained. I assured him I preferred the little bug I [...]

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Your Own Kitchen Garden

Your Own Kitchen Garden

Have you been thinking about planting a kitchen garden this spring with vegetables and fruits you love to eat? Food grown in your own garden will be fresher than anything you can buy — even from a farmer’s market. In many cases, it will be tastier, too. My favorites are just-picked, sun-warmed tomatoes and sweet [...]

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BPA Linked to Heart Disease, Study Confirms

Heer’s another reason to steer clear of food and drink packaging containing BPA — it’s been linked to higher rates of heart disease. In a sampling of U.S. adults, those with the highest levels of BPA in their urine were almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than those with the lowest [...]

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Green Holiday Entertaining — and a Recipe for Vegan Latkes

When you throw a dinner or party for the holidays — whether for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year’s — you use a lot more of the earth’s resources than you do in day-to-day life. How can you reduce the ecological footprint of your feast without compromising on hospitality? Follow the game plan in Holiday [...]

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12 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic (2009)

12 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic (2009)

If you can’t afford to get all your food organic (how many people can?), you will be interested in the latest edition of the “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides” from the Environmental Working Group, which lists the fruits and vegetables with the highest and lowest pesticide loads. EWG says its research shows that “people who eat [...]

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Local Foods in March: Jerusalem artichokes and fava greens

Local Foods in March: Jerusalem artichokes and fava greens

The big greenmarket at Union Square in Manhattan was jammed yesterday due to the pseudo spring weather. I went there hoping for a taste of the real thing, and while disappointed in that regard — most of the produce still came from winter storage — I got the usual lift from buying, and later cooking, [...]

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Which Plastics are Microwavable?

The question of which plastics are microwavable can be answered different ways, depending on what you mean by “microwavable.” If you just want to know whether a plastic container will withstand microwaving without becoming damaged or exposing you to on-the-spot injury (such as a burn), the answer is, follow the instructions on the container. However, [...]

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Local Foods, Even in December

Humans have been importing foods from far-off places throughout recorded history, so we’re not likely to stop now. But perhaps we could strike a better balance, as of old, choosing local foods when available, and thinking of imports more as supplements for what we can’t get at home. My December This Green Life addresses this [...]

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Vegetable Broth Recipe

In moving to a more plant-based diet, I have found vegetable broth (or vegetable stock as some call it) to be indispensable. It is much quicker to prepare than its meat-based cousins, so much so that I make it one or two times a week. I even use vegetable broth in meat dishes if I [...]

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