Image linked from the April 2010 issue of the Iowa Source
The Iowa Source just issued its special Green issue for April. “Cut Flowers, Locally Grown,” “”Sustainable Repairs: The Barhdyt Pipe Organ Gets New Life,” “You Too Can Go Green!” “An Alternative to Bovine Submission” and more. Pick up a copy in the state of Iowa, or check it out online at the Iowa Source website.
Are you ready for the EcoFair 2010 in Fairfield, Iowa on April 30-May 2?
Held on the Maharishi University of Management campus, this year’s EcoFair will feature Diana Leafe Christian, the author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, speaking on Spiritually Oriented Ecovillages. Also, you will hear Mark Lakeman and Micahel Cook on City Repair and the Power of Placemaking. Meet Mike Nicklas, president and co-founder of Innovative Design, Inc., who will talk about Key Strategies for Green Development. And more. Speaker’s list. Schedule.
On Sunday May 2, the Ecofair will become an Unconference using Open Space Technology. Open Space Technology is a highly participatory process that has been successfully employed in multiple situations all over the world. Learn more.
Want to live a green, sustainable lifestyle without breaking the bank? Live it up at this new website by my friend Leanne, Green on a Shoestring. Find resources and tips for eating, shopping, composting, DIY and more! Visit the site now.
Leanne is a student in the Sustainable Living Program at a university in the Mid-West. This website is part her life-long desire to help the environment and help people.
By Lee Leffler
Printed in the August 2009 issue of the Iowa Source.
When I originally wrote “Savoring Sushi” in the Iowa Source 11 years ago, three restaurants offered a limited selection of sushi, all similar. Since then, the Ten-Ten has closed and Bonnie’s China Deli is now the Second Street Cafe with just one style: ginger sushi. The Noodle House’s two sushi selections have been staples in Fairfield for the last 13 years: imitation crab sushi and avocado sushi wrapped in toasted green nori (seaweed).
Sushi Maker Aron Zaragoza In June, The Noodle House debuted their new offerings, Simple Sushi: 16 types of Maki sushi and three Nigiri sushi selections.
On a recent visit to the Noodle House, a hush fell over the table as Noodle House cook Aron Zaragoza lowered a tray containing a white rice roll (about the size of a paper towel tube, but thicker) dotted with orange roe, smothered in stripes of spicy mayo, topped with a mountain range of crab salad. I pulled out one of the eight generous two-bite pieces to find an internal strip of green nori and a stuffing of spicy cooked Ahi tuna (shipped fresh from the West Coast), thick deep-fried tempura shrimp the size of a short cigar, white cream cheese, green asparagus, shredded carrots and zesty green onions.
“Appearance is everything,” said Zaragoza. “It starts with having the right atmosphere to bring people in. Then the food has to look amazing. Try it,” encouraged the sushi chef.
By Lee Leffler
M.U.M. Organic Farm
The Maharishi University of Management Organic Farm in Fairfield, Iowa, has received a $13,750 grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture to study growing vegetables in large gutter-connect greenhouses in winter without added heat.
Not heating the greenhouse will reduce the farm’s fossil fuel consumption by about 88%. “This is an innovative study and a significant step in making the M.U.M. Farm and the University more sustainable,” said Steve McLaskey, assistant professor of biology and agriculture and director of the farm.
Fairfield Iowa Farmer's Market (Photo courtesy of the Fairfield Iowa Visitors and Convention Bureau)
http://www.care2.com/farmersmarket/4150/?refer=3700.04.1245934465.314460
By Lee M. Leffler
Published in IndZine, the Magazine for the Entire Family! July 1997, page 54-56.
If you care about the food you eat, you need to know how genetic engineering is threatening the quality of your diet. Scientists are altering the genetic code of food crops. These foods are slipping into the food supply without labels, bringing the possibilities of unknown toxins, allergens, and environmental side-effects. When genes from animals are inserted into plants, vegetarians can no longer tell if a vegetable is a vegetable. Without labeling, you have no way of knowing if you are eating such foods. Chances are, you are.
Genetically engineered food is new. The first commercial genetically engineered food, the Flavr Savr tomato, was introduced in 1992. The Flavr Savr tomato was genetically engineered to soften more slowly. Thus, the tomato could stay on the vine an extra week, giving it time to ripen before being shipped.
By Lee M. Leffler, The Newsletter Gal (www.newslettergal.com)
Published in Everybody’s News, September 1997, pages 5-6, Fairfield, Iowa.
Revised and Updated June 2009.
Organic food means more than just food grown in harmony with nature, without chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. When you buy organic food, you’re also voting for the health of the earth and the people.
Why do people buy organic food? A sampling of shoppers at Everybody’s Whole Foods Store (Fairfield, Iowa) and farmers at the Fairfield Farmer’s Market (on the Fairfield Town Square) revealed that people who buy organic food care about the quality of their food. They want tasty, nutritious food, free of potentially hazardous residues from pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. They enjoy the better taste, texture and nutrition of organic food, and want to avoid the potential hazards of genetically engineered foods.
Lugging bags full of fresh organic broccoli, green beans, parsley, cilantro, and tomatoes through Everybody’s checkout, Elinor Hall said, “I don’t want the pesticides poisoning my body. These chemicals aren’t natural. Why would I want to put anything in my body that wasn’t natural when I have a choice?”
