Artisanal Food Locator

A great new website, Foodzie.com allows you to search local zip codes for artisanal, organic foods (including cakes and such).   I've just spent a few hours browsing hungrily.  All US so far, so we need a Canadian version!

Locavoring in New York - Blue Hill and Greenapple

I was sad to have to turn down at wedding at Blue Hill Farms (sniff!)- as an organic farmer married to a chef, it sounds like heaven. But if you're in New York this weekend, go to the Green Apple Festival, and Blue Hill will be there, as well as on a panel at the Museum of the City of New York on Tuesday panel with the greenmarket director.

Update: So happy to hear the Obamas dined at Blue Hill!

Eco lingerie

Who knu? Bambu! Enamore (UK) features 95% bamboo lingerie on their wedding website. And here is their organic silk white wedding lingerie set. I'm certain there are local US and Canada suppliers, I just haven't gone looking. Let us know if you spot some.

Poetic Justice Wedding Dresses

A reader sent us to PoeticJustice organic clothing,(aka Marylou Sanders of M.L. Marsh) which has a very nice line of hemp and organic cotton dresses, quite feminine and traditional. Seem to be N. Carolina, and they state "fairsewn", without attribution, though.

Peace silks, and other terms for dresses.

We've gotten mail from some organic suppliers, with interesting backgrounds on fabrics. For example, here is a blurb about peace silks from Puridee.com

"Ahimsa (without violence) also referred to as peace silk, is spun from cocoons where the silk caterpillar is allowed to complete the life-cycle and emerge as a moth...Tussah, is wild-crafted" thus, both organic and peace silk". The site also explains the sourcing of the woman-to-woman chain of micro-businesses: dyes in a woman-run farm in El Salvador, the spinning in India and in the US, etc.

If you click on the sketchy dress designs you can actually see the dresses, which are quite nice. It seems to be an LA location.

Another LA site, Annatarian, uses vintage and remnant fabrics and organics and incorporates family jewelry into your dress. Similar designs to Puridee.

Locavore Wedding Catering

It's a trend! [If you've been out of the locavore loop - this means food produced and marketed within 100 miles of your abode.] See The 100 Miles Diet.
Some weddings are now 'locavorian', and some caterers advertise they can do this, especially in Canada. See the website Les Louises.

But you have to do some research, of course, and there are all sorts of websites and services IN PRODUCTION for local resources for organic food, but right now, it's completely dependent upon YOUR LOCALITY. Your organic food store will know the nearest suppliers of local food, of course. Try typing "Locavore" and your city in Google, and you'll find locavore clubs and contacts.

as in:
Locavore's Guide to New York City
Locavore.ca, Canadian blog.
La Vida Locatore - food and politics.
and
Organic Consumers Association - more food and politics

Here is a "local food wheel" for San Francisco, California. With debts to the Farmer's Alamanac of course.

Factoid: Hidden Meat items in Vegetarian Recipes

Organic, natural wedding dresses

Here is the original article on organic, natural dresses on ethicalceremonies.com.

The picture is a dress made of toilet paper - just for fun. (I think the paper is bleached, though -LOL).

Here is our list of wedding dress suppliers so far. These sites are meant to be for inspiration as well as for retail purposes.

Conscious Clothing Santa Fe, NM
Rawganique BC, Canada, Portland OR, & CA
OliviaLuca Portland, OR
TaraLynnStudio VT
Threadheadcreations(tennesee?)
AnnatarianCA
Wholly-Jo London, UK
Puridee.com Peace Silk, LA
Isadora Bridal, BC, Canada
Rene Geneva mostly bridal corsets, but some gowns.
Consciouselegance Another extravagant seamstress - once located in the UK, now in State College, PA, only a few hours' drive from New York.
They get lots of extra points for their thoughtfulness, including labour and packaging:
"Our eco-friendly fabrics are completely sourced from sustainable materials and are 3rd-party certified organic by Control Union World Group (formerly SKAL). We at Conscious Elegance earn a fair living wage and no child labour or sweatshops are involved in any facet of our dressmaking. Our biodegradeable packaging is purposefully chosen to have minimal impact on the environment and we ship our gowns through eco-friendly couriers."

Cheaptux.com PETA recommends them as a "non-wool" Tux supplier - but that means polyester, and you still have to pay for carbon-intensive shipping. Perhaps you should visit a good vintage shop for a vintage tux!

UPDATE: Here is a useful post on the possible 'greenwashing' of the 'sustainable bamboo' fabric industry:

Please let us know of any additions, recommendations, or discoveries. Check Organic Consumers clothing suppliers for more ideas.
and here is another really fun paper dress from the Craftzine.com blog

Poetic Justice has a wedding section, (tip to Matthew). North Carolina. Very nice traditional dresses.