INSPIRATION!

The Local Food movement is growing, it's picking up steam and momentum! Initiatives are spreading all over the country and the globe all to share the same message: "Let's Eat Local". Let's check out who is leading these movements and why it means so much to them!

Jack Johnson:

Jack Johnson is a famous musician from North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. His relaxed music is intertwined with an environmental and simple living meaning. Johnson has also adopted a simple way of life and has made the environment and the local food movement the base of his philanthropy. In 2010 Johnson was awarded the Billboard Touring Awards Humanitarian Award and in 2012 he was awarded National Wildlife Foundation's National Conservation Achievement Award. His "All At Once" social action network promotes sustainable and local food systems and plastic free initiatives. This site features individuals making changes in their communities to help their environment and shares non-profit and volunteer opportunities across the United States! The motto of "All At Once" is "An individual action, multiplied by millions, creates global change"! Johnson focuses on Your Actions, Your Voice and Your Choice and provides inspiring videos to help you get involved in your town! In addition to this great organization Johnson also minimizes his environmental impact of his world tours! According to the 2013-2014 Tour Greening Report, Jack Johnson selected 93 non-profits to partner with which were local to the cities in which he was touring, over $500,000 was donated to these organizations from Johnson's fans and the All At Once donation matching program! 2,416 single-use 16 oz. plastic water bottles were displaced by fans who refilled their own water bottles with 302 gallons of water at the All At Once water stations! Lastly, Jack, the Band, and the fans offset 2,730,000 lbs of CO2 emissions by touring in biodiesel buses and the overall greening of their world tour!

Jack Johnson on his Tour Greening efforts!

Check out this video promoted on allatonce.org!

Matt Damon:
Matt Damon continues to be a leading environmental activist in Hollywood. Most recently Damon was awarded an Environmental "Ongoing Commitment Honoree" for his work as a cofounder of Water.org and his writing of and acting in the major motion picture, "Promised Land". Promised Land released in 2012 is a film about the controversial method of removing natural gas called hydraulic fracturing or "fracking". It calls to attention the environmental and financial burden it places on the residents of areas where this occurs.
Water.org spreads awareness of the world-wide water crisis and how we as individuals can help! Water credit is one of Water.org's best inventions, by sharing the financial risks with the banks, they can convince banks to loan money to help those without water! Check out the video below!

What is Water.org? Click on the video above!

MOST IMPORTANTLY...YOU!:
As "All At Once's" motto states, "an individual action, multiplied by millions, creates global change"! Each and every one of us can do our part to help our community become more sustainable! This is our home and we want it to last! Be inspired by your neighbors, your favorite musicians, actors and celebrities and by your local farmers and friends and make a change. It is as simple as buying a reusable water bottle and using it or purchasing a water filter. It is as simple as recycling or composting. It is as simple as scheduling one 100% local meal a week. These small changes are making the difference. Inspire yourself and inspire others! Here are some people helping in their communities:

Soup Season

It's that time of year again, break out your big pots and load up on vegetable and chicken broths because it's soup season! Tortellini, Chicken Noodle, Clam Chowder, Minestrone, Tomato and the thousands of other combinations are ready to be tried out in your kitchen. It is said that people have been making soups since 20,000 B.C.! In 1300, Huou, a chef at the court of Kublai Khan (Mongolian Emperor) wrote a collection of recipes (mainly soups) and household advice titled, "The Important Things to Know About Eating and Drinking". It wasn't until 1897 when a chemist, Dr. John T. Dorrance, with Camden's Campbell Soup Company invented condensed canned soup. Today, Cambell's Tomato, Cream of Mushroom, and Chicken Noodle Soup are the three most popular soups in America. Americans consume 2.5 billion bowls of these three soups alone each year. That's a lotta soup! 

I recently made Illinois Prairie corn chowder soup but I cheated a bit and used Frontier Soups in Minutes packaged soup mix. Frontier Soups are prepared using all-natural ingredients with no added salt, preservatives or MSG! I made this soup vegetarian by using Field Day organic vegetable broth that I picked up from Friendly City Food Co-op instead of chicken broth as the recipe calls for. Also I added a bit of spinach for added protein! The recipe is simple:

INGREDIENTS

5 cups of Organic Vegetable Broth

1 cup Half and Half

Canned or Fresh Spinach

1 packet of Frontier's Soup in Minutes, Illinois Prairie Corn Chowder

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Boil the broth.
2. Add the Soup Mix Packet and return to a boil for 15 minutes.
3. Add the Half and Half and Spinach and cook on low for 5 minutes.
4. Let it cool slightly and serve to your friends and family!

It's really that easy! Also soups are a great option if you don't have a whole lot of time or money because you can toss a bunch of ingredients from your fridge into a crock pot and you are set! There are a plethora of soup recipes on the internet and many of them will include ingredients that you already have in your fridge. 

What is your favorite soup to make or eat? (Post responses on Facebook or below in the comments) Post the recipe on the blog to share your love of the soup with others!

Happy Eating!

"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food."

- W.C. Fields

~Ryan

Local Eats in a BIG City

If you've been to New York City you know just how many restaurants are in the city, there are a few on every block in Manhattan. In fact in Manhattan alone there are over 3,500 restaurants and another 1,000 in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx combined (USA Today). This makes choosing a restaurant in the city a difficult task considering all the options, especially for tourists visiting the city. But is it possible to find local food in a city of New York's size? Sure it is. On a recent trip to New York, a friend and I ate at a few excellent restaurants that offered local, natural, sustainable and organic foods on their menus. Thanks to Greg for the great recommendations! I am going to give a little review on each of the two restaurants we visited.

THE SMITH:
First was "The Smith" located in Midtown at 956 Second Ave at 51st Street. A trendy underground style restaurant with subway tiled walls and a wooden floorboard ceiling. Quotes are printed on the tiled walls and vintage Edison light bulbs dangle from the ceiling. Upon being seated a waiter or waitress brings a bag of bread and a clear glass bottle of sparkling water and a bottle of flat water. The Smith purifies their own flat and sparkling water in efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.


The ambience portrays a busy and upbeat classy restaurant with undertones of a unique dive. Young business professionals loosen their black ties and find solace from their hectic wall street daytime life in this simple Manhattan eatery.

To start we tried an appetizer of hot potato chips drizzled with a bleu cheese fondue, a starter recommended by Greg! The chips were delicious and started the meal of right. Quick and attentive servers bustled around as more professionals poured in from the frigid Gotham streets. To our left was a full bar featuring craft brews and bottled beers. 3 of The Smith's 7 unique draft beers are local selections, two of which are brewed in Brooklyn and the other is a milk stout from Oceanside, NY. To our right was a young family, a few couples, and a group of coworkers all enjoying drinks and food.

In a timely manner our entrees arrived at the table, mine a bowl of hot ravioli topped with mushroom bolognese, crème fraîche and tarragon and my friend's a sizable pork chop with a side of corn and bacon flapjacks, creamed kale and maple jus. We both dove right in and loved every bite of our meal! I would say it was one of the best meals I've ever had! Kudos to The Smith and all of their dedicated employees and chefs for creating a great New York dining experience.

Ryan's Rating of 5/5 STARS!

Photos Courtesy of The Smith

ROSA MEXICANO:

Second was "Rosa Mexicano" located at 61 Columbus Ave at 62nd Street. After an afternoon of art appreciation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art we gained an appetite of art of a different kind, food art. After a chilly walk through Strawberry Fields, Central Park we happened upon a relaxing 2nd story restaurant. The Mexican eatery has a cascading wall waterfall starting from the 2nd story and falling down to the bar lobby. White tablecloths drape the tables with woven chairs tucked beneath. The menus are filled with delicious offerings from fresh guacamole and chips and enchiladas to freshly made tacos. For a drink we ordered homemade passionfruit iced tea served in a 2 glass pitcher for each person and served with awesome homemade simple vanilla syrup. 

This vegetarian and gluten-free friendly restaurant offers a great option for lunch called "Lunch Crunch". This option is a three course lunch with just the right amount of food. Served all at once the diner receives a scoop of freshly prepared, delicious guacamole with a handful of tortilla chips, a bowl of seasonal soup, one taco with your choice of filling and a vanilla flan infused with espresso. This is what I ordered and I loved every bite of it. My friend tried the Chicken Tortilla Pie served with house rice and refried black beans. 

The flan was excellent and we had an overall great experience at Rosa Mexicano! A great Mexican selection in New York with locations in cities up and down the east coast as well as in San Francisco and Los Angeles! I recommend trying Rosa Mexicano in the city closest to you!

Ryan's Rating of 5/5 STARS!

Photos Courtesy of Rosa Mexicano, NYTimes, and RamenandFriends

"If food is poetry, is not poetry also food?" - Joyce Carol Oates

~Ryan