Food
August 17, 2012
The Greene Report is a compilation of environmental stories written by Linda Greene. This week's edition includes:
- Great Lakes action on nuclear reactor risks
- Activists halt operations at mountaintop removal coal mine
- Dow requests approval for GE soy resistant to 2,4-D
- EPA stalling on bee die-offs
- Pennsylvania to shut down one of biggest U.S. coal ash ponds
- Establishment of the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
- U.S. clean-up of Agent Orange-contaminated Vietnam
- Hazards of “green” household cleaners
- Nigerian oil spill near Exxon operations
- Ukrainian environmentalist murdered
January 13, 2012
Bloomington Web Master Emily Brown stops by the Bloomingfoods on Sixth Street every morning for breakfast on her way to work at City Hall. During breaks, she often enjoys lunch there as well.
She didn’t realize the store functioned as a cooperative grocery until she spoke with a member about the benefits a year and a half ago.
“This is the first community that I’ve lived in with a co-op that I knew of,” the 30-year-old Brown said.
August 25, 2011
Feeding Indiana's Hungry
Feeding Indiana’s Hungry and Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization, today released a new study which reveals that 24.5 percent of children under the age of 18 in Indiana are struggling with hunger. This is about 388,640 or one in four Hoosier children, spanning all 92 Indiana counties.
The study, Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011, reveals that there are children struggling with hunger in every county in America. Nationally, while one in six Americans overall is food insecure, the rate for children is much higher: nearly one in four children is food insecure. The study shows that rates of child food insecurity in Indiana range from a low of 17 percent in Hamilton County to highs of 32 percent or more in Fayette, Elkhart, Adams, Miami, Crawford and LaGrange Counties, touching all areas of the state.
February 18, 2011
Food Works for Middle Way House sits opposite of the Boys and Girls Club across Third Street Park in the former Coca-Cola building. Blueberry and melon plants fill the patches of land around the recently opened kitchen. A rooftop garden with solar cells rests atop the childcare center next door.
The area exudes a sense of growth -- from the locally grown produce used in the kitchen’s recipes to the women working inside the store.
“My goal is to work with a woman and get her regular and stable hours,” said Donna Storm, the kitchen’s business and operations manager.
May 30, 2010
In December of last year, Amy Countryman submitted her undergraduate thesis for an open-access community orchard to the City of Bloomington. It was a school project, and she thought nothing more would come of it. But about a month later, Lee Huss from the Bloomington Tree Commission called and said the city was interested in her idea.
Since then the project received approval from the city, along with an offer for an orchard location. A plant selection committee was created, along with a board of directors. Plans have been laid out for around 80 trees, and with the help of Bloomington residents, the project won a grant for at least 20 trees from The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (FTPF). And last Saturday the orchard had its first community work day.
"Bloomington was ready for this project," said Countryman. "People are really excited about it. And it just took some folks getting together and organizing."
