Check out this slideshow on Huffington Post Green and it's "Week of Eating In" campaign.According to the Clean Air Council, nearly 44 million American workers purchase or eat lunch out every weekday. This contributes to the tossed out paper & plastic cups, forks and spoons every year, which could circle the equator 300 times.According to the Dogwood Alliance, Americans use 15 billion disposable coffee cups a year, not to mention all the extra trimmings that come with it.
Neuroscientists have found that by damaging a laboratory rat’s anterior cingulate cortex, or by injecting the rat with morphine, they can likewise block its affective perception of pain. The rat reacts to a heated cage floor by withdrawing its paws, but it doesn’t bother avoiding the places in its cage where it has learned the floor is likely to be heated up.
Recently, scientists have learned to genetically engineer animals so that they lack certain proteins that are important to the operation of the anterior cingulate cortex. Prof. Min Zhuo and his colleagues at the University of Toronto, for example, have bred mice lacking enzymes that operate in affective pain pathways. When these mice encounter a painful stimulus, they withdraw their paws normally, but they do not become hypersensitive to a subsequent painful stimulus, as ordinary mice do.
If someone asked me what my dream job would be at this moment in my life it would a recipe tester, cookbook author and/or a vegan food writer. I love the topics I write about, and, fortunately, many of them deal with food in some capacity. But, during my self-determined breaks - probably more than usual - as a freelance writer, I've been trying out different recipes. Here's some from today:Granola3 cups oats (I used 2 c. thick, rolled oats; 1 c. quick-cooking)1/2 c. slivered almonds1/4 c. raw sunflower seeds1/2 c. chopped walnuts2 tsp. cinnamonhealthy pinches of ground ginger, cloves, nutmegpinch of sea salt1/2 c. (or less) of maple syrup2/3 c. (or less) oil (canola, safflower or sunflower work best)1/2 c. raisins and/or cranberries
- Set oven to bake 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Dump the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds and walnuts into a medium-sized bowl until well combined. Add in the spices and salt, and toss once again.
- Add the maple syrup and oil and toss until all ingredients are well coated. Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes, stirring the granola on the pan in 5 min. intervals (4 times throughout the baking process).
- When finished, set aside to cool on the baking sheet. Once cool, add the raisins and/or cranberries. If there's another dried fruit or ingredient you'd like to add, this is the time to do it.
- The finished product will yield about 1 qt of granola and it will last up to a month in an air-tight glass jar.
Curried carrot soup w/roasted garlic2 Tbs. olive oil4 large carrots, peeled, cut into think slices/rounds of equal size1 red onion, peeled and diced1 clove roasted garlic (you can use fresh, but roasting the garlic ahead of time gives it the taste that the soup has been cooking all day)1-2 cups veggie stock3-4 cups water1 baked potato, skin removed and flesh chopped (opt., but adds a creamy texture to the soup and it just happened to be in my fridge)healthy Tbl. of curry powdergenerous grind of your pepper millpinch of red pepper flakes
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized pot and add in the onions until translucent and/or browns on the edges.
- Add the carrots and cook for 5-10 minutes to soften slightly. Add the curry powder and pepper. Add the broth and water, bring it to a boil and bring down simmer for 25-30, or until the carrots are cooked through. Add the potato and cook for one minute more.
- Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender, or carefully place in a regular blender, to create your desired texture. Return to pot and warm through before serving. Serve with homemade croutons.
Kale Chipsbunch of kale leaves - washed, thoroughly dried, and shredded/cut to remove leaves from the stalk.1 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil or canola oilsprinkle of ground black pepper + red pepper flakespinch of sea salt (opt.)- Preheat oven to 350 F. Prep. a baking sheet with parchment paper.- Put washed + dried kale pieces in a medium-sized bowl and add olive oil, pepper and salt, if using. Toss together.- Arrange kale on baking sheet in one layer. Bake for 8 minutes.
Famed NYC - and now in LA - vegan bakery BabyCakes and it's owner Erin McKenna were featured on "Colameco's Food Show" on PBS. At the end of the show, McKenna baked gluten-free cookies with host Mike Colameco. The recipe is featured in the store's cookbook of the same name. 
"All I ask of you, especially young people . . . is one thing. Please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism - it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you, amazing things will happen."
"When people are confused or worried the natural tendency is to just say no," says Monsanto scientist [David] Stark. "The only thing we can do is produce products with real benefits and hope that people eventually become comfortable what we are doing is good."
The challenge before us as environmentalists is immense. To succeed, we must realize that while small stuff can seem trivial, it’s actually critical. People need to feel invested in a movement on a personal level before they can embrace and advocate change on a societal level. Strung together with purpose, small steps can carry us great distance. - Grist columnists Cathryn Clarke Murray + Kai Chan (excellent column!)
