"GreenDaily" news and stories

I don't know if it's all the summer produce that just happens to be filling the markets or if there's been some allignment of the planets, but it's been a banner week for food writing on the Weblogs, Inc. network. Over in the world of finance, Walletpop offered a couple of useful posts, exploring the relative value of in-store brands, and highlighting a free cereal offer from Malt-o-meal. Meanwhile, sustainability site GreenDaily offered some great suggestions for enviromentally-conscious summer cocktails, and an exploration of Pizza Hut's new quasi-organic vegetable pizza.

Over at ParentDish, Bethany Sanders questioned the bona-fides of supposedly healthy kids' snacks and Jennifer Jordan pointed out that (surprise, surprise!) most fast-food kids' meals are unhealthy. Speaking of health, That's Fit explored the benefits of tea, almonds, alcohol, peaches, spices, cherries, and even cake! They also waxed rhapsodic about the values of salsa, salad and beans, and even offered some suggestions for the healthiest kids' cereals!

Stay tuned for next week!

The question of whether to go green and shift your diet to a more organic is a challenging one these days. These days all we hear are reports of climate change, the need to buy carbon offsets when you go on long airplane ride and the importance of eating organic. I admit to being on the organic and local shopping and eating bandwagon, although I do it more because the food tastes so much better (and is often less expensive) than the stuff I can get at my local chain grocery store.

Over at Green Daily today, Bruce Watson ruminates on the issue of organic food and whether it's as green and planet-friendly as we'd like to think. Go on over and see what he has to say and let us know what you think.

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• Do plants have rights? Yes, if Switzerland has anything to say about it
• A sweet BioBag discovery
• Some organic food options for your furry friends
• Brits throw about about 1/3 of all their food
• Want to volunteer on an organic farm? Here's how
• Vegan bodybuilding: yes, it exists
• More reasons to be wary of seafood (or to go vegetarian)
• Bizarre food news: China grows huge food in outer space; ready-to-eat bugs
• Is your twice-a-day cheeseburger habit contributing to climate change?
• Good news for eco-friendly coffee growers
• Apples getting a little soft? Here's how to use them up
• What's your favorite ketchup company doing to stay green?
• Grow your food in a box

Sister site Green Daily has a great new feature: the Sustainability Series is composed of several videos about production and consumption of organic food in America. GD contributor Alexia Prichard interviews several people in the environmental and sustainable food sectors in order to uncover some oft-unknown details about organic and "natural" foods. They're full of depressing facts, like that most food travels, on average, 2500 miles before we get to eat it.

Prichard acknowledges that the USDA organic regulation system is a confusing one, and that most consumers - even otherwise environmentally-conscious ones - are frustrated and baffled by the labels emblazoned on their food. "Organic," "free range," and "natural" are terms that we once thought we understood, but that now take on entirely different meanings within the confines of the USDA's rules.

Learn about "re-localizing" your diet and how to overcome challenges that keep you from getting the healthiest, most local food you can.

Another round-up of food posts from our favorite environmental sister site, Green Daily:

• Tired of eating right? Check out organic dietary supplements
• Help save the environment at work during lunchtime
• Going on a picnic? Here are the most eco-friendly options for portable utensils
• Our own Suburban Farmer gives us the lowdown on egg hunting and broodiness
• Startling facts about organic food
• A Brooklyn man blogs about his experiences tracking the chain of his consumption
• No more salmon fishing on the West Coast, please
  
• No surprise here: report claims industrial animal farming is hazardous to our health and our earth
• Taco Bell is...moving toward sustainability? No, it can't be...
• Starbucks needs to teach its employees the meaning behind reusing and recycling

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