EAT LOCAL WEEK

USEE Staff had a blast with eat local week. We are very lucky to be in an area with so many local farmer's markets and stores that carry local ingredients. The Sugar House Farmer's Market and Downtown Farmer's Market are just two of the markets in the Salt Lake region. There are also many stores such as Tony Caputo's Market and Deli, Cali's Natural Foods, Liberty Heights Fresh, and Whole Foods that shelve local products. Here's what we did to eat local:

Andree' is on vacation this week, but even on vacation she was able to hit up the local fruit stands and enjoyed local strawberries, white nectarines, watermelon, honey, and apples!

Maria enjoyed spending some extra time at the Downtown Farmer's Market to pick out ingredients for this week. She was able to eat mostly local throughout the week, but had some staple foods such as greek yogurt and bananas that were her downfall.

Here's some ideas from her week:

Local breakfast buffet-Scrambled eggs, whole grain spelt bread, peach fruit preserves, and an apricot

All ingredients found at the downtown farmers market.




Egg-in-a-hole

Method:
1. Heat butter in a skillet
2. Hollow out a hole in the middle of a piece of bread (I got mine from the Community Food Co-op)
3. Crack egg into the hole, cook both sides until lightly browned


Zucchini Fritters (adapted from Tara Poelzing's fritter recipe)

Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
1 large egg
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup grape seed oil or olive oil

Method:
1. After grating the zucchini, press excess moisture by pressing with paper towels.
2. Whisk the egg in a large bowl.
3. Add the zucchini, flour, and scallions. Mix to combine well.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop six mounds of batter (2 Tbsp each) onto the skillet. Flatten slightly. Cook, turning once, until browned (4-6 minutes) on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with remaining batter.
5. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt, I served with a slice of tomato

Aaron enjoyed a week with plenty Crumb Brothers bread! He also had some delicious local corn and has been eating less meat. Check out this article about meat reduction vs. eating local:

http://blogs.hbr.org/winston/2011/06/local-food-or-less-meat-data-t.html

He also spent time in the garden gathering vegetables:
"In our garden the tomatoes are coming in, but they're not quite ready to pick. I helped my friend and neighbor Zoe pick carrots and beets from her garden. What we did was just thin it out, removing about half the veggies to make space, so that the remaining ones can get huge and delicious. The end result was about 5 pounds cute miniature beets and carrots, and this isn't even the real harvest yet; later in fall they'll have more like 10 pounds of each. The carrots were excellent. We spent the afternoon eating them right out of the soil, and Zoe used the beets to make borscht."

He also ate at the Copper Onion which uses many local ingredients in their dishes. His favorite was the Baked Parmesan balls.

Crystal and her family did not eat out this week. They bought some produce from a local farm stand in Tooele as well as ate from their garden:
"Needless to say we ate A LOT of tomatoes and cucumbers because that seems to be what's growing really good for us so far this year!"

As far as recipes, they mainly just ate fresh veggies cut up and Crystal stir fried a few nights
"My kids loved the vegetarian stew I made from the farm stand goodies! No recipe just a
lot of eye balling :) all in all it was a good week of food, it required more planning and time but was completely worth it... For my kids, our health and that of the planet and my community!"


So whether you support eating local by visiting the farmers market, picking up products from stores that source locally, eat at cafe's that use local ingredients, or get produce right from your own yard, you are helping to reduce the environmental impact of industrial agriculture and are most likely leading a more healthy lifestyle as well!

Buon Appetito

We are so fortunate to have two incredible chefs for this year's Benefit Bash Adam Kreisel and Jason Sanders! These two local chefs have unique histories that have brought them together to create a spectacular menu for our Bash following our autumnal theme featuring local ingredients!


Adam Kreisel
Adam’s experience in the restaurant industry has been brief (14 years) but eventful. The bulk of his culinary education was gleaned in San Francisco, where he worked first as a line cook under chefs Reed Heron at Black Cat and Brenda Buenviaje at Oritalia, and did an apprenticeship under Suzette Gresham at Aqcuarello. Following these stints, Adam was the tournant at Oritalia, this time under the tutelage of chef John Nelson, and then the executive sous-chef at Mecca Restaurant under chef Mike Fennelly. Adam’s cooking knowledge is a composition of training at the California Culinary Academy and time spent at the aforementioned establishments where cuisines had Asian, Italian, Creole, and Southwestern influences. Major influence has also come from years of travel abroad to over 20 countries, as well as copious time spent specifically in Italy as both a student (studying architecture in Florence from June ’92 – January ’93) and a chef (cooking in Chianti for 3 weeks during the summer of 2005 and working as the exclusive private chef to Dick Ebersol and the NBC Executives during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino). Additionally, Adam was chosen to be one of three chefs to cook the prestigious opening James Beard Foundation Dinner for the IOC delegates to inaugurate the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Adam now owns Chaia Cucina, which translates roughly (as a combination of Hebrew and Italian) to “lifegiving kitchen”, a short phrase that poignantly describes the cooking environment he always strives to create. It is through this medium that Adam chooses to engage all components of the kitchen environment for his clients. Adam also teaches intermittent courses in the culinary program at the Art Institute International of Salt Lake and is involved in Slow Food. He currently owns a residence and lives with his 4 year-old daughter and willing food tester, Chaia, in the Sugarhouse section of the city. He and Chaia love to ski, hike, camp, and of course, eat.

Click here for a full bio and more information about Chaia Cucina.



Jason Sanders

Jason graduated Le Cordon Bleu in Portland, Oregon in 2007. He completed his externship at the Heathman Hotel in Portland under Phillipe Boulot, (knighted by France for his cooking skills!). Jason has been cooking for roughly 20 years. He first met Adam at Redbones where they both were just lowly prep cooks about 16 years ago. Over time he has worked with Adam at Globe By Moonlight, Acme Burger Company, and various other side projects on top of traveling across the country with him at times to see concerts. Jason am married with one son. He currently is the Executive Chef at Stoneground. He enjoys golfing, has traveled the country seeing various musical acts, and loves to work on his vintage car and motorcycle.

Helping USEE Eat Local

As part of our member highlights, USEE staff traveled to Tara Poelzing's residence to interview her on her extensive blog about eating local as well as share a delicious local salad! During USEE's eat local week, Tara's blog is especially helpful! Her blog offers recipes and resources for finding local food in Utah.

Tara first became interested in eating locally when her friends told her about an article they read about an eat local challenge. She then decided to do her own 250 mile challenge, where for a month, she ate food that only came from 250 miles or less from her home. What she was most frustrated about during this challenge was that it was so hard to find places that offered local food. She wanted a place where she could go to look up organizations that sold local food without having to run all around town to look for a simple ingredient. This inspired her to start a blog that has a collection of resources for eating locally.

Tara explains that “we have to eat”. We may have a choice about driving or purchasing clothes and other goods, but as humans we need to eat to survive and every time we decide to put something in our bodies IT IS A CHOICE. This is why eating locally is so prominent, because we are faced with this decision multiple times a day and eating locally is something you can do that is both healthy for your body and the environment. So why would you choose anything but the best?

Tara admits that it isn’t always easy to eat locally. She explains that sometimes there are foods that aren’t possible to get locally that one may want or need for a healthy diet. For example, she wants her ­­­­son to have a healthy, diverse diet, which is hard if she is restricting his diet to only local foods. Tara admits that she has a weakness for coffee, which she does give up during the Eat Local Challenge. She notes that there are also seasonal difficulties like when all of the preserves for the winter are gone that also may make buying non-locally a necessity. This is why she focuses on practicality in her blog. She believes that if people think eating locally is an all or nothing effort that people will not be inclined to try it and that is not what eating locally is about. Tara believes any kind of effort to eat more local food is a step in the right direction. Tara suggests making the move towards a local diet “little by little”. Making a sweeping change isn’t practical for most people and therefore will not last very long. For her, however, as she did the Eat Local Challenge year after year and continuously focuses on buying local when she can, eating local has become integrated into her normal lifestyle. She also notes that eating local is catching on. She, as I’m sure many of you are starting to realize that there is more advertisement for local foods in magazines, newspapers, and a variety of stores and restraunts that are offering local food.

Tara appreciates the continuous networking opportunities and support given by USEE. She also received her Environmental Education Teacher Certification through USEE and explains that she is so greatful to have been given a mentor to guide her through her goals and who understands her work and whom she is still in contact with. In 2009, Tara was recognized by USEE as the Vern A. Fridley Enviornmental Educator of the year. She expresses that this not only made her feel important, but also supported by a group of people who were willing to fight for the beliefs she shares.

Tara is proof that you do not need to be a food scientist or expert to maintain a sustainable diet. Tara has an academic background in Environmental Education, but when it comes to food, she explains it is all on the job learning. She has done her own research on where to find local sources from resources such as edible Wasatch, but she explains many of the resources on her blog were things that she found by taking the time to go into stores and markets and ask around.

Lucilly for us, we have Tara’s blog, which has an extensive list of businesses that carry local food organized by food group on her blog.

Why is it important to eat locally? Look up her top 6 on her blog

Upcoming events

9/10/11 Eat Local Challenge (Tomato Sandwich Party with Wasatch Community Gardens 11-2)

8/23/11 Green Drinks, Eat Local Challenge Kick Off

9/14/11 Pasta Making Party with Slow Food Utah 630-830pm

9/17/11 1 week party at the Downtown Farmers Market

No Impact Summer

Inspired by the readings of No Impact Man, USEE has decided to take on a No Impact Summer!! For the next 5 weeks, USEE will be taking a new challenge every week to reduce our impact on the environment. We will be posting the stories of our successes and frustrations as we work through this project. We hope you'll join us in trying some no impact challenges for yourself! Here's what our summer looks like:

Stage 1: July 9-15 NO TRASH WEEK
-Reduce amount of trash, compost, use reusable bags, scrap paper, recycle

Stage 2: July 16-22 NO CONSUMPTION WEEK
-Don't buy anything new that is not food, no extra shopping, try second hand if needed

Stage 3: July 23-29 REDUCE ELECTRICITY WEEK
-Work with the lights off, turn off lights in your house, unplug chargers and appliances

Stage 4: July 30-August 5 EAT LOCAL WEEK
- Buy from the farmers market, get creative, incorporate at least one local food into every meal

Stage 5: August 6-12 SAVE WATER WEEK
-Take shorter showers, turn off water in the sink, hand wash

Keep checking our blog and facebook for posts throughout our journey and feel free to share stories with us about how you are reducing your impact!

More Local than "Local"

Can't help but feel excited and giddy about the Downtown Farmer's Market opening? Or how about local farmers markets in Murray or Sugar House coming up in the summer months? I know I look forward to shopping for the healthiest fresh produce and get a humbled feeling knowing that it came from right here in Utah.

Here's an idea if you too love the idea of local food. Why not start your own garden? What could be more local than that? Not only would you know EXACTLY where your food came from, but you could also have control over what and how much you want to grow. In the article "Messy Gardening for Food and Fun", Julia Parslow, an educator, working mom, gardener and knitter living and working in southern Utah, explains that the important thing is having a garden that fits you and your family, not how exact the rows are. For her, having a garden means having the freedom to plant as much or as little of any kind of food her and her family desire! That seems like a sweet deal to me.

How's that for playing with your food?

Where does your food come from?

Sadly, some would answer this question by spouting off the names of the various grocery stores they support. Many people do not know (and some do not want to know) the source of their food or how it was grown, processed, and packaged.

(Photo Credit: http://www.foodincmovie.com/about-the-film.php)

There is, however, a global movement to debunk this misconception that food comes from the store, and educate consumers about the food that they eat. There are books about this, like "The Omnivore's Dilemma," television shows like "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," and documentaries, like "FOOD, INC." which was not only nominated for an Academy Award, but recently featured on Oprah with author Michael Pollan.

Tomorrow the Salt Lake Main Library will be showing "FOOD, Inc." at 2:00 pm, and USEE will be there before and after the show with information and sign-ups for some of our food-related programs and events.

This upcoming growing season, we will be starting a few community discussions around one of the Northwest Earth Institute's discussion courses titled "Menu for the Future." This discussion course explores "food systems and their impacts on culture, society and ecological systems" and considers our role in "creating or supporting sustainable food systems."

We also will be having a Green Bag food series. This series will start with a panel discussion on April 13th, featuring local farmers from Morgan Valley Lamb, Bell Organics, Canyon Meadows Ranch, and Heritage Family Farm. (Location to be announced.)

Let's Move Initiative

Earlier this week, the First Lady appeared on Larry King Live to discuss her Let's Move Initiative, which is the same day that her Let's Move task force on childhood obesity was launched. The Let's Move Initiative has an ambitious, but critically important goal to "solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation."

Let's Move says that "Childhood obesity or excess weight threatens the healthy future of one third of American children. We spend $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is growing. Obesity rates tripled in the past 30 years, a trend that means, for the first time in our history, American children may face a shorter expected lifespan than their parents."

As far as I'm concerned, this is a problem of epic proportions with drastic consequences. Especially when it concerns so many quality of life issues. Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything about getting kids outdoors and as an environmental educator, this seems like a natural fit. I would love to see some kind of a partnership between the No Child Left Inside Coalition (which in addition to getting kids outdoors to play and combat obesity, also promotes investigative and integrated learning through environmental education) and Let's Move. But this initiative is definitely a step in the right direction, and I am anxious to see where it will go from here.

Let's Move has identified 4 ways in which to accomplish the goal to "Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids"

1. Helping parents make healthy family choices;
2. Creating healthier schools;
3. Encouraging physical activity; and
4. Widening access to healthy and affordable food.

There is more information on the Let's Move website about how the task force will be moving on these steps for combating childhood obesity. We'll see if anything in the outdoor education world develops along with Let's Move, but for now, check out Michelle Obama's interview with Larry King about childhood obesity:

7 Spectacular Seed Starting Tips

Here are seven tried and true tips to successfully get your seeds ready to be planted outside this spring! This was originally published in Wasatch Community Gardens' e-newsletter (USEE Institutional Members).

1. Keep a garden notebook. Keeping records from year to year will help you remember which seeds you ordered, which plants you grew and which were successful. You'll thank yourself next growing season.

2. Start with a seed starter mix. Generally, it is best to use a soiless seed starting mix that doesn't contain fertilizer to grow seedlings. It is not recommended that you re-use potting soil or use soil from your garden for starting seedlings because soil will hold too much water and these may contain bacteria or fungal organisms that might be harmful to your plants.

3. Generously and gently water. If you have a ton of plants, a watering can is helpful. However, a simple plastic cup with small holes poked in the bottom is a great, gentle way to water your seedlings indoors.

4. Thinning out. After the seedlings have all emerged, remove all but one seedling in each cell of the cell pack. Cut or pinch the stems of the seedlings you are removing; DON'T pull the seedlings from the soil. Pulling unwanted seedlings will disturb the roots of the seedling you do want. How you know if your seeds are ready to be thinned out brings us to step number five.

5. True leaves. The first set of leaves seedlings sprout are not "true" leaves, so do not thin out at this time. The first set of leaves are called cotyledons and they will wither when the first "true" leaves form (really, the second set of leaves). This step is important to note because the growth of the "true" leaves marks the start of photosynthesis for your plant.

6. Warmth for germination, sun for seedlings. Best practices says to keep seeds that are germinating warm and give your successful seedlings plenty of sun.

7. Toughen up your seedlings. Prepare your seeds for the unsympathetic outdoors by gently running your fingers over your seedlings or placing a fan near your seedlings to simulate wind and to strengthen the stems of your plants.

With these seven spectacular seed starting tips: go, plant, germinate, grow! Do you have more questions or yearn for more information? Are you not sure which seeds to start? Learn so much more at Wasatch Community Garden's Seed Starting and Heirloom Selecting Workshop on February 6th from 10am-noon. Visit their website to learn more or to RSVP for this workshop at wasatchgardens.org today!

Salt Lake County Jail Horticulture Program

Last month I posted an article about the Green Job Training programs that the Washington State Prison system has been running. I was very excited to hear about the program, and after posting it reader Justin quickly pointed out that we have a similar program here in Salt Lake. I hadn't heard of it before, but I have since been looking into it.

The Salt Lake County Jail Horticulture Program is directed by Maggie Shao, who is an assistant professor of horticulture for Utah State University Extension. (She is also an enthusiastic member of USEE's PLT steering committee.) The program's purpose is to use gardening as a tool "sow the seeds of change in troubled men in the jail system. They learn the economics of gardening as well as nutrition."

The inmates sell the produce that they grow in the gardens at the Salt Lake City Farmer's market every Saturday. Last year they made $20,000 in vegetable sales and donated several hundred pounds of garden produce to local homeless shelters. Channel 2 news ran a story about the program, which you can watch here. The rest of the story text is below.

For years, Check Your Health has encouraged Utahns to “eat healthy and be active”. And there is no better way to do that than through growing your own fresh fruits and vegetables. But these days, the Salt Lake County Jail is using gardening as a way to sow the seeds of change in troubled young men.

“This is a golden opportunity. I can say that for pretty much all of us out here.” Tony Walker, and inmate at the Salt Lake County Jail, is talking about the three-acre garden at the Salt Lake County Jail, where he and several other prisoners grow chemical-free tomatoes, melons, berries, pumpkins, herbs, and more. The garden is one of the education programs offered at the jail and is a collaboration among the county and the Utah State University Extension program.

Horticulture Professor Maggie Shao is their instructor. She teaches these new gardeners the economics of gardening, as well as nutrition. “Today I asked all the guys to do an oral presentation on one of the vegetables we grow here in the garden. As part of that presentation, they talk about the nutritional value, about the amounts of calcium and vitamins and antioxidants in some of the vegetables.”

Tony says learning about nutrition and tasting all the different vegetables has been an inspiration. He dreams of becoming a chef. “It's going to help me a lot. I'll know a lot more about the vegetables I'm using to cook with, I know how to grow them and that's going to save me money.”

Working in the garden has been an opportunity to learn a life skill for Torese Mosely. “When I get out and get back to Louisiana, hopefully I will be able to learn a lot and take the class back with me and hopefully able to say ‘hey kids, come on out let's grow a garden!’ And I'm really excited about that because I'll actually know what I'm talking about.”

For Sgt. Cathy Romero, watching these inmates grow and develop into responsible citizens is the greatest reward of all.

“This is a very rewarding, giving back type of program,” says Sgt. Romero. “I couldn't be more proud. I've been here over a year and a half and I was sold in my first week - seeing how this program works, why it works, what it can do, talking with these prisoners, and seeing them outside in society.”

Romero says one of the main reasons they started the program is to get away from just 'warehousing' prisoners - to give them an opportunity to learn a trade, and reintegrate into society in a positive fashion. One test of their social skills includes going to the Pioneer Park Farmer's Market on Saturdays, where their fruits and vegetables have developed a following among the locals.

“We donate a lot of this food,” says Sgt. Romero. “Last year we sold at the Farmer's Market almost $20,000 worth of produce and we donated several hundred pounds, as well, to the homeless shelters. This is giving back to the public.”

A good bargain for taxpayers, says Maggie. “There are studies that show that when you invest a dollar in an educational program you get back about $1.60 because they benefit from the program, they are less likely to come back to jail, and they become employed, which just adds to the economy because by being employed you are much more of a benefit than being in jail.”

Zucchini Insights

Even though it is September and the height of the Zucchini season has passed, I still feel inspired to write about these delicious and diverse vegetables.

I heard somewhere the other day about "Zucchini Day," or otherwise known as "Sneak Some Zucchini on to your Neighbor's Porch Day," which I think was aptly named. The holiday is celebrated by stealthily disposing of excess zucchini and summer squash by leaving them in neighborhood yards, cars, and porches. (Check out some fun ways to do so here.) Unfortunately I missed this summer harvest holiday, on August 8, but I will look forward to it for next year.

As I was looking up information about Zucchini Day, I also came across the National Zucchini Bread Day. I checked it out and was surprised to discover that this holiday is on April 23. Why isn't it in August? I don't know about you, but unless you have shredded and frozen vast amounts of zucchini, I think zucchini bread isn't exactly on your mind in April - or is it? Maybe by the time April rolls around, the urge for some tasty zucchini bread is prevalent six months after the creative and frantic vending of zucchini and summer squash.

Finding out about "Sneak Some Zucchini on to your Neighbor's Porch Day" and "National Zucchini Bread Day" was inspired by a chat with my mom the other day. She mentioned that she had to go to the store to buy some zucchini in order to make a zucchini cake that she wanted to try...This made me feel terrible: I have so much zucchini I don't even know what to do with it all! I've been making (or eating other people's stuff as they try to use their zucchini as well) zucchini cake, chocolate chip zucchini cookies, zucchini bread, feta and zucchini pancakes, sauteed, raw, grilled, and even pasta made out of zucchini. I have four giant freezer bags full of shredded zucchini in my freezer to use this winter - And here is my mother, buying zucchini at the store. Guess I need to remember to bring some over next time I stop by for dinner.

Photo Credit

Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water

Photo Credit

(The following information is taken from a USU Water Quality Extension publication. To see the entire article, click here)

When cleaning out your medicine cabinet, what do you do with your expired pills? Many people flush them down the toilet or toss them into the trash can. Although this seems convenient, these simple actions may be contaminating your water supply.

Recent studies are generating a growing concern over pharmaceuticals and other personal care products entering surface and ground water. Pharmaceuticals include chemicals such as over the counter medicines, cosmetics and other personal care products, as well as antibiotics and growth hormones used with livestock.

Starting in the mid 1980’s, studies began to sound the alarm. In the US and in Europe, aspirin, caffeine, nicotine and biproducts of soaps, shampoos and other personal care products were showing up in rivers below waste water treatment plants. A sampling program in the 1990s found 30 different pharmaceuticals and related chemicals in surface water samples (Ternes, 1998). More recently a study published by the U.S. Geological Survey found a broad range of chemicals downstream from urban areas. Of the 95 chemicals the USGS measured, one or more were found in 80 percent of the streams sampled and about one-third of the streams contained 10 or more of the chemicals (USGS 2002). Recent work by Colorado State Universityhas also found elevated antibiotics in surface water downstream from livestock operations and manure fields ( Davis, 2004).

Are humans or the natural environment affected?

The levels of most of these chemicals measured in streams and groundwater are very low (parts per trillion) and therefore below the prescription dosage. However, evidence is mounting that these chemicals are finding their way into humans. For example, one study looking at household and industrial chemicals found that over 80% of American children contained residue of at least 1 pesticide. Scientists are concerned that these chemicals may disrupt human hormone systems, may cause lower sperm counts, and may be linked to increased rates of breast, testicular, and prostate cancer, and increased incidence of hyperactivity. Antibiotics in our environment create a different type of problem. Disease causing bacteria exposed to low levels of antibiotics over extended periods of time may lead to resistant strains which cannot be treated easily.

Around the world, changes in fish, amphibians and other organisms have been noted. These range from premature spawning in shellfish to the inability of fish to repair damaged fins (Reynolds 2003). In all cases, low levels of these chemicals are a prime suspect.

How do these chemicals get into the water?

Sources of pharmaceuticals and personal care products include pharmaceutical industries, hospitals, medical facilities, households, and agricultural areas. Because up to 90 % of oral drugs can pass though humans unchanged, many of these drugs enter the environment through human and livestock waste. Improper disposal of unused products is also a factor. Many of these drugs and care products do not biodegrade and may persist in the groundwater for years.

The amount of these chemicals released into the environment is also a concern. The amount of personal care products and pharmaceuticals released to the environment is estimated to be about the same as the amount of pesticides used each year. Furthermore, the U.S. accounts for about half of all pharmaceutical use in the world.

What can we do?

Unfortunately, clean up and removal of these pollutants is a difficult task. Wastewater treatment methods used in the U.S.aren’t designed to remove many of these chemicals, and much of the contaminated water is from nonpoint sources and is never treated. This means that much of what goes down our toilets and our drains finds its way to our streams and groundwater.

Drinking water treatment plants can remove many of these chemicals, but the technologies that are most effective are not common in the U.S. The most effective treatment methods include advanced oxidation, membrane filtration, and nano-filtration, while the least effective method is chlorination, which is the most common technique in the U.S.(Reynolds 2003).

Prevention is always the best strategy for reducing contamination. Individuals can minimize overuse and misuse of drugs and return unused medications to pharmacies, rather than dump them down a drain. Industries are working to produce more environmentally friendly chemicals and increase point of use treatment.

The good news is that the concentrations currently being detected are very low, and there is time to develop new treatments and modify our current practices to protect our waters. All these actions to keep drugs and care products from finding their way into your water will ultimately protect you and your family.

For references and more information, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

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In addition to the wonderful information supplied by USU Water Quality Extension, you can also check out http://www.medicationdisposal.utah.gov/ where you will find drop off locations and events, or plan to come to the Be Well Utah Fair on Saturday September 12th from 10am - 4pm at the University of Utah to drop off all of your unused medications.

Earwigs!

Photo Credit

During our weekly staff meeting here at USEE, we have an agenda item entitled "Nature Reports". During this time, we go around the room and discuss anything interesting we've seen or experienced in the natural world. Not only is it a good way for our staff to bond a bit, but it also tends to bring up some interesting questions.

This week, Alaina, one of our Interns noted that she's seen many earwigs in her garden and yard. I too have had a lot of earwigs in my garden, as has Jason. We started talking about the origin of the name earwig and realized there were a lot of "urban myths" about it. I don't think I've ever met someone who doesn't dislike the little critters, and part of that may come from their unfortunate name. Here are some of the origins I have heard....

* They crawl into your ears at night and nibble away at your brains
* They crawl into your ears and lay their eggs
* They are attracted to the smell of ear wax
* Their wings are shaped like ears
* They like to get into ears of corn (Nicole suggested this one...)
* They'll pinch you (doesn't have anything to do with ears, but it adds to the dislike of earwigs I think)

After looking at a couple websites, I found that all of this information above was basically false. The BBC Science and Nature website gives the following information, so maybe we should show these guys a bit more respect. Its not their fault they got the name earwigs rather than cute-cuddle bugs or something non-chill inducing.

Common earwig
Forficula auricularia Despite its name and threatening appearance, the common earwig is a harmless and interesting creature.

Note:
The name earwig is derived from the old English 'earwicga' which means 'ear beetle'. It was once commonly believed that earwigs would burrow into people's ears at night and lay eggs in their brains. In fact the story still circulates as an urban myth. Earwigs are not parasitic and would rather lay their eggs under a stone. The human ear, though about the right size for an earwig, is not an ideal resting place. So if one were to crawl into someone's ear it would not be typical behaviour but the actions of one very confused and lost earwig.

Statistics:
Earwigs are 8-18mm long.

Physical Description:
A small smooth elongated brown insect with a pair of pincer-like appendages at the end of its abdomen. They have a pair of fan-like hindwings that are normally folded away behind the thorax and hidden under their short leathery forewings. Males and females can be distinguished by their tail pincers, which are more curved in males than females.

Distribution:
They are found all over Europe but have been introduced to many other parts of the world.

Habitat:
Earwigs can be found in damp crevices in houses, gardens and woodland.

Diet:
They feed on decaying plant and animal matter and other insects. (Though, I know they eat my garden plants, and Colorado Extension will verify that as well.)

Behavior:
Earwigs rest during the day inside damp crevices such as under bark or in hollow plant stems. They are scavengers and emerge at night. Their pincers can give a small nip to a human but they are normally used to scare away predators and to help them tuck their wings away.

Reproduction:
The female lays eggs under stones and in crevices and will stay with her eggs guarding them. From time to time she will gently clean the eggs with her mouthparts to prevent fungal infection. She will continue guarding her young, which look like miniature versions of their parents, until they have grown large enough to fend for themselves.

Indoor Plants and Indoor Air Quality

-by Alaina Caudillo

At USEE's most recent Green Bag Lecture, Indoor Plants and Indoor Air Quality, Brandie Balken from Cactus and Tropicals had some excellent points about why indoor plants are beneficial both emotionally and physically for our indoor environments.

First of all, people gravitate toward natural environments. We like to shop in stores with plants, people drive slower on streets lined with trees, and they have many aesthetic qualities such as blossoms that make us feel happy.

Brandie pointed out that plants aren't just pretty to look at as they have amazing benefits for us during our time spent in indoor environments like our homes and offices. Tropical plants in particular thrive in the same humidity level range that people like to thrive in (30%-60% humidity). By including plants in your decor, they will clean the carbon dioxide emitted from our exhaled breaths out of your indoor air, replacing it with fresh oxygen to nourish us.

Plants naturally add clean water vapor through evapo-transpiration to our indoor air, allowing the optimal humidity levels so that we can breathe easier. House plants also break down toxic chemicals found in the indoor environment like benzene and formaldehyde, often used in the production of common household goods like furniture.

Some people feel that they are not "plant people". For those of you with this concern, take solace in knowing that there are plants that are right for every kind of person, from easy to needy plants, depending on the care and light you can provide them.

To improve the quality of air indoors, you need about 2 plants for every 100 square feet, so stop by your local nursery today to find your new friends. They will help clean the air while you are away in exchange for a little water and sunlight.

Photo Credit

Grow your own Shiitake Mushrooms

I heard about purchasing a "mushroom log" and growing your own mushrooms, right in your house, from my parents a couple of weeks ago and thought it might be a good blog post.

According to the owners of shiitakemushroomlog.com, the Japanese starting cultivating shiitake mushrooms in the 1930's by taking logs and using saw cuts to inoculate the log with mushroom spawn. Now, instead of using saw cuts, holes are drilled throughout the log. Then the grower waits for the fungus to colonize the log. Commercial growers usually grow the mushrooms on blocks of sterilized sawdust. Holes are drilled in the sterilized blocks, just like the logs. With the sawdust blocks, commercial growers can grow many times the amount of mushrooms than logs can and can increase their profits by as much as 10-fold.

Apparently the mushrooms grown in sawdust blocks are not as meaty and tasty as the mushrooms grown on a log. In Asia, sawdust block-grown mushrooms sell for about $2-$3 a pound while log-grown mushrooms sell for $40-$60 a pound.

So how does growing your own mushrooms work? Well, you first have to purchase a mushroom log from a supplier (there are many to choose from online.) After that, you have to "fruit" the log, or force it into thinking that it's the spring or fall rainy season, which is when the shiitake fungus usually produces mushrooms. This is done by soaking the log in ice water for 24 hours. This is called "shocking." Growers recommend that logs shouldn't be fruited more than every two months, and in the mean time the log needs periodic "soaking" times and rest times. The log should be soaked every two weeks, anywhere from 12-16 hours, depending on the humidity level of your area.

Shiitake mushroom logs can be kept in your house, anywhere that you would place a low-light house plant. There are definitely different ways to nuture your mushrooms, and some people even say that they produce better when in positive environments and less when there in tension or arguing in a household. I couldn't say either way, since I've personally never seen a mushroom log, but this definitely sounds like an easy pet to have that even feeds you, too!

Clean the Air Challenge

The USEE staff has joined together and created the Utah Society for Environmental Education Clean the Air Challenge Team! By accepting this challenge, USEE is doing its part to help improve air quality and make Utah a better place to live for us all and for future generations. On the Clean the Air Challenge site we are going to track how many trips in the car we are eliminating each day by walking, biking, carpooling, taking public transportation, working from home, or other endless possibilities.

You can take the challenge too! Register at www.cleantheairchallenge.org and invite your friends, family members, and coworkers to join you.

Don’t have a team, but would like to participate with other EEers? Join the USEE team by selecting the Utah Society for Environmental Education under “join an existing team.” Good luck and happy air-cleaning!

Tomatoes: To Plant or not to Plant

When to plant your tomatoes (and other similar plants) is always a big topic of discussion among Utah gardeners. Planting them too soon will probably lead to dead, frost-bitten plants. Waiting too long can lead to a shorter growing time, which means less delicious, juicy red fruits for salads, sandwiches, and sauces.

I have often heard that after Mother's Day is the general guideline for planting tomatoes, but it seems like Mom's day is coming a little early this year. This spring has also been so wet and cold, I'm a little nervous to put those plants out there just yet. We came across some info that we wanted to share. According to the locals, the time to plant tomatoes is:

"When the snow is off the Oquirrh Mountains."

That makes sense. Regardless of the snowfall, rainy season, or dryness of the year, the snow on the mountains will reflect what is going on in the rest of the valley. I'm going to take this bit of advice and plant my 'maters when I can't see any more snow on those western mountains.

What advice do you live by in your own gardens? Any tips for a beginning gardener like myself?

Photo Credit

Community Food Co-Op

My favorite day of every month is known quite affectionately as Distribution Day. I am a member of the Community Food Co-Op of Utah and on the last Saturday of the month I walk to my local distribution center (about 2 or 3 blocks from my home) and pick up a wonderful array of food. On these special Saturdays I can expect to pick up a healthy assortment of fresh fruits and veggies along with some grains, too. Through the power of cooperative purchasing and volunteer power, all of this food is very affordable (usually $5-10 below retail).

I have been ordering food from my local Co-Op for almost three years now, and though I love the fresh vegetables and fruits that I receive every month, the main reason I order from them is the affordability and community aspects the Co-Op provides. However, last summer I participated in USEE's Menu for the Future discussion course and learned all about healthy food choices.

In one of the chapters of Menu for the Future, we learned not only about the importance of healthy nutrition, but also about how additives and processed foods can effect your health so negatively. High fructose corn syrup is ubiquitous and is even in things you might not expect (unless you're paying attention) from yogurt to whole wheat bread, from ketchup to fruit juice. One sure way to avoid high fructose corn syrup is to eat fewer processed foods, and I do this by being involved with the Co-Op. The Co-Op provides a bounty of food for relatively little cost and the monthly supply is a parade of balanced fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and meat.

The Co-op is for anybody and everybody. The catch? Each month you must volunteer 2 hours of your time. These 2 hours can be spent volunteering anywhere, be it at the Co-Op, your friendly USEE, or any organization that you are passionate about. It just has to be 2 hours of your time volunteered for a cause or group of people other than the members of your family and for these 2 hours you can purchase this wonderful food well below retail value.

One of my favorite things about the Co-Op is that I don't just get apples, oranges, and bananas every month. I get different things, depending on the season. Tomatoes, corn, squash, and peaches come in the late summer and fall from local growers. This month I received artichokes, which proved to be an exciting adventure as I have never even thought of buying and cooking an entire artichoke. (Which is delicious, by the way.) Sometimes we even get eggplant. Participating in the Co-Op has definitely expanded my taste buds' appetite and cooking abilities over the years.

If you live in Utah, the Co-Op has team sites all over the Wasatch Front where you can pick up your orders. So, if you want to purchase a healthy balance of foods for the next month (and embark upon a peregrination of the palate), I suggest you print out an order form, find a pick-up near you, and enjoy!

If you don't live along the Wasatch Front in Utah, I would encourage you to find an organization in your area that provides similar services. Or another option could be participating in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Right now is the time to join CSA's as they are starting to plan (and plant) their crops for the growing season and often wont accept orders after March or April. Either of these options are great ways to be involved in your community, maintain balanced nutrition by eating fresh produce, and to save a little money on your grocery bill.

Credits:

• Peppers
  
• Leafy Greens
  

What's Cooking?

I read a fascinating article on economist.com this morning about some research presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting on the evolutionary role of cookery.  Dr. Richard Wrangham from Harvard University argues that the act of cooking food is a human universal, which greatly helps in the digestive process:

Cooking alters food in three important ways. It breaks starch molecules into more digestible fragments. It “denatures” protein molecules, so that their amino-acid chains unfold and digestive enzymes can attack them more easily. And heat physically softens food. That makes it easier to digest, so even though the stuff is no more calorific, the body uses fewer calories dealing with it.

He argues that this ability to better digest food is directly related to the human evolution of a smaller gut, which was able to support a larger brain.  If this topic interests you, I also found an interview with Dr. Wrangham about how he came up with his theory at Scientific America.

Experiment: Create your own Inversion

The Salt Lake Tribune ran a full page story yesterday on Air Quality. It has some great pictures of how inversions work (similar to the Winter Inversion Blues I posted a few days ago) and it also features some useful items. There's a section on what we can do to reduce inversions like reducing idling, slowing down when we drive, and reducing your traveling all together. There's a section on EPA standards, health effects, and comparisons of the different valleys that are affected by inversions in Utah. To view this story, click here.

One of the most interesting things about this article, however, was at the bottom where the article included directions on how to create your own inversion:

"Experiment: With a clear glass or jar, food coloring, water, salt, a funnel, measuring cup, and some rubber or plastic tubing, you can create an effect similar to a thermal inversion.

1. Pour Water into the glass or jar until it's about half full. Then pour about 1/2 cup of water into the measuring cup, adding about 1/8 cup salt. Stir mixture until well blended.

2. Run tubing from a funnel to the half-full glass, resting the tube's end on the bottom and securing tubing to the glass with a clamp (or have someone hold it.)

3. Without agitating the water in the glass, carefully pour the salt water from the measuring cup into the funnel so that it comes out at the bottom of the glass. Gently remove tube.

4. The salt water represents cold air, which is denser than the normal air (represented by plain water). The denser water is now trapped below the plain water.

5. To see the layers, gently squeeze three drops of food coloring near the surface of the glass of water. The coloring would stay in the upper layer above the dense salty water."

This experiment creates an effect that is similar to the effect that is caused by a thermal inversion.

White House Farmer

There's always been a White House Chef, now it's time for a White House Farmer! Inspired by Michael Polin's call for a farmer in cheif, WhiteHouseFarmer.com was conceived by the Brockmans, a farm family in central Illinois. They have gathered over 100 nominations across the country and the voting is open until January 31.

Utah has its own nominee, Jim Kennard, who has dedicated a portion of his life and resources to promoting the Mittleider Method of gardening through the Food For Everyone Foundation. "The Foundation’s purposes include encouraging and fostering the development, understanding, and distribution of the most efficient scientific non-polluting and ecologically sensitive food production procedures, by sponsoring and supporting the research, development, and dissemination of the best possible gardening methods and techniques, and the most effective information delivery systems and teaching methods throughout the world, with primary emphasis on the developing countries."

You can vote for Jim here.

This idea ties in perfectly with USEE's Community Discussion group Menu for the Future, a six-session course exploring the connection between food and sustainability for the workplace, community center or home. Contact Jason if you're interested in starting a course.