AliveAndKickN

Time to Catch Up on Food Politics

Now that my wife's stationery show is over, and DNDY part deux has passed, I have time to check my various sites for the news that doesn't make it to print.  First, the Farm Bill passed, in case you hadn't noticed.  Environmental Defense Fund says the part about subsidizing the big five crops still doesn't make sense, especially with the direct payment system, and high crop costs.  On the other hand, all of the businesses that gain from high crop prices are benefiting.  They can't keep John Deere's on the shelves and Monsanto fertilizer is flying.  Lucky us.  Fiji Water (a company whose ads have appeared on my site) is being labeled a greenwasher for trying to make themselves a green company.  Food and Water Watch is quick to point out that any company that takes water, puts it into a petroleum based container, and then ships it across the world so that the bottle can eventually become landfill, simply cannot be green.  I would have to imagine that Fiji isn't the only guilty party in this effect.  According to the Live Earth web site, both Presidential Conventions are going green, and will be calculating their carbon footprints in flying all of those delegates in from around the country to wear styrofoam hats.  Of course, none of this calculates the carbon footprint of campaigning every day in different parts of the country up until convention.  It makes sense to start in Iowa, go to New Hampshire, then Florida, then California, then Michigan, then New Jersey...well you get the point.  Clif Bar is posting the two mile challenge.  Apparently 40% of car trips are made within 2 miles of your home.  Check it out for yourself.  I'm guilty as well.  According to Green Business, Coca Cola is planning on rolling out 100,000 new energy efficient vending machines by 2010.  I guess we should feel good about this, except that they have roughly 10 million out there, distributing soda, bottled water, or some derivation thereof (see above about Fiji water).  So 1% of the coke distributing vending machines will be green.  I don't feel better anymore.   According to Ecological Internet, China is banning the use of ultra-thin plastic bags and will have charges on thicker plastic bags.  Other countries have done similar.  I think I get two cents back for reusing my plastic bags here in the US.  If only the schools could have been built better.  Maybe more would have survived the earthquake.  Are our schools built any better? 

With summer approaching, I hope many of you will be frequenting your local farmstand.  Whether you check www.localharvest.org, or others, it's worth the visit.  Support locivorism.  Allright I made up that word.  Move on.       

Pay by the Ton, starting May 1

According to the news, starting May 1, New Jersey has reinstated the Recycling Enhancement Act, which means there will be a $3 per ton tax on municipal solid waste, and that money will go towards other programs geared towards recycling more.  Apparently this was in place several years ago, but the recycling tax expired in 1996 and recycling rates in NJ have gone down since.  Will municipalities start pushing recycling more?  Will they pass the additional taxes onto individual consumers or businesses who don't recycle and/or discard more trash?  Good Questions.

Yesterday, the weather held out and the second annual "Dave's not Dead Yet, part Deux" extravaganza went off without a hitch.  The band was good, and in my opinion not too loud, although some of my older neighbors who were planning on attending never showed.  Sorry.  Once again, the amount of food was just about correct as only a dozen or so burgers and dogs were leftover, plus a few beverages.  I got to wear my Indiana Jones hat (see picture but without the horse) which is now actually in style.  Kids played on the lawn and in the street, and according to my kids, very few of them actually cared about eating (I think my three kids in total ate six pieces of corn, two bowls of fruit, a couple of dogs, and a few cookies in four hours).  Leave the kids to play and they will.  Hover over them the way helicopter parents do, and they'll eat some of what you force them, but leave the rest.  Final tallies were three garbage bags of trash, two garbage pails with bottles and cans for recycling, six boxes broken down for next week's recycling.  Some of the food scraps went in the composter but the meat and bones went in the trash.  Ice and melted ice from the coolers went into the rain barrels, which both filled up in today's downpour.  During the party, I pulled out a sleave of cups I found hidden in the basement.  One of my friends noticed that they were cups from a breast pump, which has been gathering dust for several years now.  Knowing my sense of humor and my medical supply business, many thought they were urine specimen cups.  Either way, the forty-plus year old frat party continued, although I'm pretty sure no one hooked up.  I will say that too much sangria and not enough colon are a tough combination.   

Memorial Day was bittersweet as always.  Fewer people along the parade route and at the municipal complex for the ceremony.  Enjoy the day with friends and family, but remember why you have the ability to do so.  I think not only of those who died in service, but those who changed things for the better.  I waiver between trying to imagine myself doing the same, but at the same time feeling so small and insignificant.  Could I versus who am I kidding?  Quite a dilemma.   

With the NJ primary coming up, some of my associates are working on their campaigns.  Tonight, I declined to sign a letter going out naming someone as a "not-so-do-gooder," if you know what I mean.  Sorry but it's not my style to bash others, especially by name.  State the facts or the acts, and let others decide will hopefully be my policy, now and in the future.  Call me naive, too nice or both.  I can live with both of those labels for now.

      

Let the Rumors Begin

Interesting stuff on the political end yesterday, as I received my notification that I was accepted to Bergen Leads.  Pretty cool.  I could be the next Kelly Clarkson, paving the way for other aspiring political wannabees in Bergen County (are there more than 30?).  BTW, Kelly Clarkson was the original winner on American Idol.  Anyway, I got together with the Mayor in the afternoon to discuss my town council campaign, and although I am currently unopposed (see above note about the number of political wannabees), apparently the first rumor about me has been swirling.  And it's not the one about the goat and the bottle of Thunderbird either.  Supposedly the rumor has me getting paid as a volunteer soccer coach.  Sorry to say that although I collected team fees, none of it went to me, even if my talent as a coach (or lack thereof) warranted it.  I can have one of my former team money managers break out the books if necessary.  If this is the worst of it, I should feel lucky. 

Memorial Day looks to be a flurry of activity as we have the parade, the town festivities, and the second annual "Dave's not Dead Yet" extravaganza.  I've been scouring the Internet and local stores trying to find biodegradable disposables for the party, but either no one calls me back or they don't have any in stock.  So unfortunately, unless something changes in the next 48 hours, the party will create landfill, much to my dismay.  This Memorial Day I will think about not only those who served and perished, but the hundreds of thousands killed or displaced by the natural occurrences over the last year, plus those who live in fear at any given time from their rulers, or lack thereof.  In the age of 24 hour news and the Internet, I just find it hard to fathom death on that great of a scale. 

I took eldest and middle to see Iron Man in the theatres.  The plot was a little different than from my comic book reading days.  Getting past the special effects, it made for a very interesting plot.  Can a war-profiteer (or anybody who makes a living for that matter) change in mid-stream and try to do what's right instead of what makes money?  As always, the corporate executive who reports to the board and won't allow change is the bad guy.  Ironic, huh?  Maybe they should have called it "Ironic Man."  For the past several weeks, I have been working on the "accreditation" process for my medical supply business.  Essentially, I need to kill several trees to produce documents indicating all of the compliance I would provide if I had employees, trucks and an office/warehouse.  In practice, my business, and virtually every similar business out there, does very little of what's documented.  However, in order to satisfy the statute and continue getting paid for supplying stuff I don't believe in, I need to do the paperwork.

Just like the Iron Man character, if my clients weren't getting stuff from me, they would get it from someone else.  In my case, it's food through a tube, in his case, it was military hardware.      

A Snapshot in Print

I apologize for not posting for a few days, but I've been with my wife at the National Stationery Show in New York City.  As I worked in our booth and walked the floor visiting the other vendors, I saw this as a snapshot of what has occurred over the last several dozen years, alongside what is occurring now.  You had the big companies who took up as many as a dozen booth spaces, filled with corporate displays and salespeople at every post.  Then you had the individual owner with the 8x10 booth put together by hand.  As always, I am not anti-business.  The larger corporations should be proud of what they've accomplished financially.  My issue is with how economic success has created unsustainable practices. 

Let's start with the location.  The Javits Center, roughly a gazillion square feet of space, is filled with metal halide light fixtures, which although they give off a lot of light, also use a ton of electricity.  The Javits Center, along with the UPS and Fedex Distribution centers around the corner, and several parking garages nearby, could cut their electric bills practically in half just by replacing lighting with more energy-efficient fluorescent.  Given the electricity costs in Con Ed, I think the return on investment period would be about a week.  Alright, leaving the electricity, I got a kick out of the Starbucks locations there (I think there were 4 in the Javits Center alone).  Usually, I bring my reusable coffee mug to Starbucks and I get a discount.  At the show, I received no discount, and they gave me a cup anyway.  When I refused the cup, they threw it away, which unless I am mistaken, goes against the concept. 

So let's talk about the booths. Ever heard of foam core?  Apparently foam core is the cheapest material known to man.  Compress styrofoam into sheets, color it as cheaply as possible, and turn it into two sidewalls and a back wall.  Use disposable plastic ties to keep it hanging on the bars, and you're set.  The problem is the size versus the quality and cost.  Given the cost of shipping (even years ago when fuel was cheap), foam core is not worth the cost of shipping, so we all know what happens.  At the end of the show, all of the booths that were made out of foam core are left there.  And by the way, there was no trash differentiation at the Javits Center.  Hmmm, a huge convention of paper products and no paper recycling.  Garbage containers every day were filled with paper, empty bottles (I think a 20oz water cost $10.25), food containers, carpeting remnants, and of course foam core.  Waste, and wasted money as well.      

So what were my favorite products - plastic battery operated refrigerator magnets, bridal emergency kits, cheap pens with schmuzzies at the end, electric blinking candle wreaths, jars of cookies with pretty labels (who has time to bake?), and of course all of the cheap stationery made from virgin paper as cheaply as possible overseas.  According to the statistics, 2 billion Christmas cards are shared every year.  Factoring in events and other major Hallmark holidays such as Halloween, Passover and Arbor Day (ironic huh), a whole lot of paper is being created, and wasted. 

But wait, is something changing?  Consumers are apparently looking for more in their stationery than just witty comments and sentimental pictures.  Consumers want to see sustainable practices in those words that truly say how we feel.  We had our stationery dealers coming up to us and asking what type of material goes into our stuff, what kind of inks we use, and more.  Now we were comfortable with the questions, as many of the invitations are made from 100% cotton printing papers, recycled cotton rag and mullberry, plus our letterpress is handcranked.  The wrapping paper is 100% post-consumer recyled and the ink is soy-based.  Again, going back to the different types of companies presenting at the show, the newer companies were promoting their green credentials more significantly.  The bigger companies were trying as well, but it remains to be seen if it was "greenwashing."  30% and more post-consumer recycled paper was popular.  A few even had paper made from elephant poop (no I'm not kidding).  One had paper that actually had seed in it.  After you receive the invitation, you could plant the whole thing and flowers would grow.  We took some samples to try and work with.  I even grabbed a few anniversary cards, as it's my wife's 15th anniversary.

So, the experience is symbolic, or maybe symptomatic.  Years of doing things the same way without repercussion cannot last.  Sustainable practices are probably 5% or less of the market, but it's growing.  Maybe the west side of NYC will do the same someday.  I think oil hit $130/barrel today.

                

In case you don't produce your own gas

With Memorial Day coming, and since I couldn't invite my entire world to the second annual "Dave's not dead yet" extravaganza, many of you will be driving somewhere.  Sierra Club was kind enough to forward a page from the Union of Concerned Scientists.  Apparently there are things that make your driving less economical - excessive speed, weight, drag, improperly tuned, uninflated tires, and more.  For every 10 miles/hour above 60, you are using fifty or so cents more a gallon.  Idling for more than a minute makes less sense than shutting and restarting your car.  Park in the shade to reduce evaporation.  So, to summarize, keep your car in the garage or under a big tree, and walk wherever you can to lose weight in case you have to go somewhere else later.  How many SUV's do you recall seeing on the turnpike passing you at eighty miles an hour, with only the driver, plus a huge Thule bin on top? 

Starting Sunday, my wife and I will be at the national stationery show launching a line of eco-friendly wrapping paper (shameless plug).  Is the world ready for wrapping paper made from 100% recycled material and non-voc inks?  We'll see.  1% of the revenue will be donated to not for profit organizations dedicated to preserving our natural resources, so hopefully it will be succesful. 

Apparently I'm Screwed

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night as I had a lot on my mind.  Yesterday, I had my interview with Bergen Leads, a 10-month learning program for adults interested in discussing and working on issues facing Bergen County and beyond.  One of the questions from my interview was "who is my hero, someone I really look up to?"  I hadn't really thought about it previously, and was briefly stumped (I felt like one of those beauty pageant contestants).  I chose Barack Obama given the obstacles he's faced and his potential to transcend the status quo.  But then I backtracked to FDR and Lincoln who had overhauled systems that were entrenched for so long.  I look at our energy-dependent lifestyle which has quickly evolved since the Nixon administration, and we are definitely in need of an overhaul.  After the interview, I thought about the question further, and although I think my answer was ok, my real answer should have been the every day men and women who go the extra yard for someone else, even after a full day of work/life, and the craziness it entails.  Which leads to my next level of concern....

After my interview, upon arriving at the home office, two Jehovah's Witnesses came-a-calling.  Apparently if I don't adhere to the letter of the Bible, Satan has won.  While giving the sales pitch, one of their cell phones rang (was Sprint in the Bible?).  It wasn't God so we were OK for now, but I need to find an ark pretty soon.  I couldn't help thinking of the Linkin Park song "I tried so hard, and fought so long... but in the end it didn't really matter."  My more immediate concern is Mother Nature taking back what we have taken from her. 

It was a lot to think about for a simple guy like me.  I think I'll keep doing what I do, and in the end, it may matter after all.  At least I tried, and I'm pretty sure God will understand.   

Spongeworthy

Today and tomorrow will hold the headlines of the earthquake in China that killed tens of thousands and also the twisters in the heartland that killed dozens and destroyed towns.  Yesterday and before, we had the headlines of Myanmar and the tens of thousands, maybe a hundred thousand killed and/or displaced by the forces of nature.  So what will happen a few days from now, if no natural disaster returns?  Two more state primaries are taking place, so the Presidential "race" will return to our focus.  Should Hilary drop out?  Can Obama capture the white working man's vote?  Is Reverand Wright actually Iron Man?  Where's my rebate?  It costs how much to fill my SUV?  Some say speculators are driving prices so we'll have a bubble; some say demand; few are reducing and our entire nationwide structure is predicated on fossil fuel so it doesn't matter.  However, these questions and more will once again dot our agenda, allowing us to get past focusing on long term strategies. 

On the lighter side, somehow my family and I managed to get colds in the middle of May (usually I don't get colds - I have organs removed every ten years or so).  Since OJ combats a cold (although it is not FDA proven), I decided to take a chance on something I hadn't done in a while, invest in frozen orange juice (and we were out of B&J Creme Brulee ice cream).  At less than two bucks a can, it's cheaper than a container (unless you use bottled water to fill the pitcher), it costs less to ship than containers, there's virtually no expiration, and as we all know, a full freezer uses less energy than an empty one.  The A&P brand tasted just as good as a container of Tropicana, so I think I made a wise choice.  Even the misses liked it.  I'll try the frozen apple juice on #3 next.  Both were made from concentrate and neither had high fructose corn syrup listed as an ingredient.

I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day of course.  My wife and I had tee times reserved at the new golf course that was supposed to be built in the Meadowlands.  Unfortunately, EnCap fell through so we planted and watched eldest's soccer game.  A nice 1-1 tie, so everyone (or no one) is happy.

         

Good Stuff in the Times Today

Obviously the Myanmar typhoon aside, the NY Times had some good stuff today.  First was an article about how 70% of the waste in San Francisco is recycled.  Once again, they understand what I've been saying all along - recylcing is money.  Watch all of that raw material, especially paper, head overseas and laugh all the way to the bank.  NY is about 30%, but I guess we don't need the money in this area.  Also, the Climate Counts scorecard just came out.  I can feel better about eating my Skippy all natural PBJ, and washing it down with a Starbucks venti mocha and Stonyfield yogurt, as long as I use my reusable mug of course.  See how your favorite establishment stacks up.  Since I typically charge my IPOD in the car, I don't feel so bad about the Apple score, although it is somewhat surprising.

   

Sweet!!

Somehow I managed to find organic sugar buried on the bottom shelf of the baking aisle at the supermarket.  At eye level was Splenda, Equal, and the various other processed sweeteners, just as compact flurescent bulbs are buried on the top shelves with incandescents at eye level.  I decided that the organic sugar was worth the additional cost and 30 calories per coffee cup.  I will say that the taste is definitely better, especially the aftertaste, which tends to last quite a long time.  I have actually noticed that I'm taller and have re-grown hair on my forehead, so that's a plus as well.  On the toilet paper note, my wife and oldest have indicated their displeasure with the texture, so I'm going to have to find an alternative to the Marcal 100% recycled.  I'll let you know what I come up with. 

After the overblown CNN coverage of the primaries in North Carolina and Indiana (I don't know whether I should be more pissed at Rush Limbaugh's stunt or the media that he is poking), I decided to get out for a breath of fresh air.  On a night before paper recycling pickup, I found only about 50% of the houses had their paper out for the next day.  Granted that some people put out their recycling with the late night dog walk, and maybe some were on vacation, and maybe some don't get junk mail or bills, so they don't have recycling.  But considering our little town makes about $5000/month on paper, and with budgetary constraints coming up the turnpike (and parkway), maybe even more could put out their recycling and double that monthly amount (sound like a better campaign slogan than IFRTALOT?)  In the past seven days, I was in two healthcare facilities that don't recycle, which means they don't receive that revenue either.  In addition, they actually pay sanitation companies by the pound to fill landfills with their shredded paper and cardboard. 

In the past week, I was in eight warehouses and a healthcare facility totaling over a million square feet, all filled with metal halides and older fluorescents (I packed my homemade oatmeal cookies and refilled my coffee and water containers, so no waste, and ate at the local deli).  Each of these places had proposals presented years ago, and had financials put in front of them that would have paid for themselves years ago as well.  What people don't realize is that the demand is not decreasing.  Pressure put on oil, gas, and coal (sorry - clean coal) are pushing prices up, not only at the pump, but in the electrical outlets as well. 

I'm currently racking my brain trying to figure out where I would spend my gas tax windfall first.  Maybe I'll buy a petro-dinner for the family at Taco Bell and hope the experimental corn shells don't affect me worse than the refried beans.         

Top 10 Reasons to Buy Organic

So, I'm trying a new cereal from Hain this morning, Blueberry and Cream Granola, and I'm packing the kids with Health Valley snacks for school, and my emails from overnight arrived.  I'm not sure what set this off today, but my in box has been flooded with a video about Monsanto, and the evil of genetically-modified foods.  It was actually a nice change from the Reverand Wright nonsense.  Anyway, it happens to be pretty interesting "food for thought" so to speak.  But since fuel prices continue to rise, and therefore food prices which are dependent upon fuel to get to your table continue to rise, I give you the same recommendation I gave you several months ago.  Buy less, but spend more.  In other words, buy organic, local, and if possible directly from the farm, and if you're pissed at the farmers for food prices, don't be.  With only .5% of the farming done organically, our entire food system is predicated on fuel.  When fuel prices are low, food prices are low.  When they're not, you see the result.  Not being the economist in the room, I believe the one way to reduce the price is to reduce the demand for fuel-driven food.  Know when your farmer's markets are on display now that the weather is warmer, and stop on your way to/from work/little league/nails, etc.   

If you've never been there, a cool section of Orange County is known for their black soil, and their great tasting onions.  Lately, the onion market "stinks" due to cheaper imports, and will in all likelihood continue due to recent trade agreements with Peru and others.  So buy some onions from Orange County, make some onion rings, and watch the Monsanto movie.  Bon Apetit.

This week, I put a pear tree, a nectarine tree, two blueberry bushes and a black raspberry bush in the ground.  #3 child helped dig and water, thereby making himself an walking mudpie, and my steroid-infused muscles were too much for the rake which snapped in two, so it was somewhat eventful.  Middle child adopted an orca and a macaw from the World Wildlife Fund.  It was all his idea, with no prompting from anyone else.  #1 child texted and complained about not having the right flavors of Ben and Jerry's.  2 out of 3 isn't bad.  I guess there are worse things.