Foodprint Offers Food for Civic Thought - cupcakes!

Foodprint Offers Food for Civic Thought - Torontoist

Interesting panel on the possibilities of changing urban food patterns ...

"you can trace the progress of gentrification in a city by mapping the spread of its cupcake shops."

Though looking at how cities work solely through their food may seem like an odd, overly specific approach, consider this: according to work done by a Rutgers University researcher, you can trace the progress of gentrification in a city by mapping the spread of its cupcake shops.
It was just that kind of unexpected insight on the relationship between what we eat and urban environments that characterized Foodprint Toronto, the second in an international series of conversations about food and the city. Organized by Nicola Twilley and Sarah Rich and held at the always-great Wychwood Barns, the day-long event was comprised of four panels, each of which gathered a variety of people, from policy makers and academics to writers and suppliers, to discuss how food shapes and influences our city.
What quickly became clear over the course of the day was that how to sustainably and responsibly feed Toronto over the coming years in the face of climate change, shifting market conditions, our diverse population, and sprawling suburbs will—to put it mildly—be a little complicated.

As an example, Barbara Emanuel, senior policy adviser at the City's Board of Health and part of Foodprint's first panel, spoke about how she tried to get the City to allocate 10% of its twenty million dollar food budget to local produce. Heading down to the Ontario Food Terminal, however, she discovered that in the face of the $300 million contracts between suppliers and distributor, her $2 million budget could do little to change where produce was sourced from....

Nonetheless, as anyone who has watched The Wire will tell you, cities are incredibly complex places, and although some in government fail to innovate, many others—including those at City Hall—are making things happen. Some of the best examples came from Darren O'Donnell, who has organized dinners between his arty "theatah" friends and recent arrivals to Canada, breaking down the barriers between groups using food. Similarly, Laurel Atkinson of Not Far From the Tree explained how her program gathers people to pick fruit on homeowners' land that would otherwise go to waste, usefully blurring the urban distinction between public and private—not to mention saving about nine thousand pounds of fruit last year.

SierraEco eco floral organization

Sierra Eco Floral Organization:
ONTARIO FLORISTS who are members of Sierra Eco

Every time you give someone Sierra Eco flowers, you are also giving a family a chance to earn a decent living and provide for their children while preserving the environment for future generations - quality flowers that respect people and the environment!

Sierra Eco is committed to improving and assuring fair living standards for flower farm workers and their families by ensuring worker safety, wage security, education and health care. Farms that carry the Sierra Eco label secure funds for housing, education and recreational programs.

In order to maintain healthy soils and ensure the availability of clean water supplies, flowers with the Sierra Eco seal come from farms that practice environmentally responsible flower growing methods, recycling and waste disposal

Sustainable Wedding Florists

I spend most of my time between Toronto and Manhattan.  Its interesting to compare the two cities, and what type of green services are available.  Here is a great florist, located in a 'gentrifying' area of Toronto known as Corktown:

 Eco|Stems :

"We are an environmentally and socially sustainable flower shop located in downtown Toronto. Our award-winning designs use only local, organic, and fair trade flowers to create unique and beautiful floral arrangements that are available for delivery throughout Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.

We strive to minimize our impact on the environment.  We limit our water use, reduce emissions from cars by delivering by bicycle, reduce energy consumption, and use green electricity.  We reuse and repurpose floral containers and materials, and we buy used before new.  Our packaging is biodegradable, made from recycled materials and is recyclable.  Finally, we donate old flowers so they don't go to waste."

Lovely website, and their comprehensive approach to sustainability is impressive - because it also includes fair trade flowers - and here is an essay from the website discussing labour exploitation and other issues:

eco|stems offers local, organic and fair trade flowers, plants and accessories because we know the truth about the cut-flower industry. The majority of cut flowers bought in Canada are grown overseas, usually in Columbia or Ecuador. Workplace legislation in these countries offers little protection for workers. In the cut-flower industry, workers are paid less than a living wage, forced to work overtime without pay, exposed to hundreds of toxic chemicals, deprived of the right to unionize, and subject to harassment and violence.

Environmental issues also abound. The cut-flower industries in these countries use toxic chemicals that have been banned in North America. Some of these chemicals leech off of the flowers and contaminate the subsoil and water table where they are grown, but some remains on the flowers and end up in your home. The cut-flower industry also contributes to water and soil depletion by placing unsustainable demands on the local biosphere. When the flowers are fully grown and ready to be sent to Canada for you to enjoy, they are flown. Emitting 1.48 tons of carbon dioxide and contributing to global warming.

These are a few of the reasons why eco|stems chooses local, organic and fair trade flowers. To learn more about the cut-flower industry, please visit the International Labour Rights Forum's Fairness in Flowers campaign website.

Piezo-electric sustainable wedding dress?

For the ultimate in a sustainable wedding - why not wear a stylish ENERGY-GENERATING piezo-electric dress? This model is by Amanda Parkes. (Of course you could wear a solar dress as well, perhaps for the ceremony) but you could change to this for the reception. It generates energy AS YOU MOVE, so charge your removable battery with your first dance! Gives a new meaning to kinetic energy.
(and a little more romantic than this equally stylish POLLUTION-sensitive dress).

Recycled (remelted) family jewelry in your ring

Portovert has an intriguing post about recycling gold into a new ring. They suggest collecting gold from your relatives (old jewelry and rings) and having your jeweler refashion the existing gold into new rings. As they say: Experts say there’s enough gold currently above ground to supply the jewelry industry for the next 50 years. Translation: Gold mining and extraction, which exposes workers to toxins like cyanide and mercury and wreaks havoc on the environment, isn’t necessary. By using what’s available to you, not only are you gaining a responsibly produced, handmade heirloom, you’re also saving about 75% of the cost of new rings.. See the post above on making your own rings.

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.

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.