Farmplate: Sustainable Food Directory to Fuel Your Fitness

Photo credit: replacements.com

Many weekend warriors, athletes, and fitness buffs aim to fuel their endeavors with the best food possible. There’s no shortage of diet programs and books for bodybuilding, vegan bodybuilding, endurance athletes and any stripe of athlete in between. Tons of studies show that a balanced diet with a lot of variety and sufficient calories will meet almost any athlete’s energy and nutritional requirements.

One way to ensure that simple, clean eating will meet those nutritional needs is to eat organic food. At the very least free range eggs and any fruit or vegetable contain more nutrients than processed foods. Some studies suggest that organically grown produce contain more nutrients than produce grown with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. But how do you find organic food?

FarmPlate aims to create the largest online directory of sustainably and ethically produced foods. With your help. FarmPlate currently lists 40,000 sustainable food producers. Users can search, rate, and review farms and agricultural producers. If your favorite farmer isn’t listed, you can add them. It’s like yelp…for sustainable food only.

“FarmPlate’s mission is to help sustainable food businesses expand their markets. They are the engine of local food systems, and we are committed to contributing to their growth in any way that we can,” says Kim Werner, founder and president of FarmPlate.com.

So if you’re looking for user-rated organic, sustainable food, hop over to Farmplate. Feed your body the best to perform the very best.

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Primal Is the New Green Exercise

Maybe it’s nostalgia for the early hominid lifestyle, but recent years gave us the paleo diet and now we’re seeing the rise of “primal fitness.” Primal fitness is outdoor exercise involving jumping, running, and lifting natural objects like logs and stones. Practitioners tout it as a whole movement approach (as opposed to training one muscle or muscle group with one movement) with the added psychological benefits of spending time outdoors.

Similar to an outdoor boot camp, primal fitness may also be a little different from the Cross-Fit style boot camps that spring up in local parks. Indeed, many municipalities now ban the use of public parks for paid fitness instruction.  Cross Fit recently has been under fire for overuse injuries and many boot camps have caused complaints by other parks users.  Is there a real difference?  It probably depends on your trainer.

Of course the real questions are whether primal fitness is safe and effective. Addressing safety first, I’d say that its emphasis on whole-body movements (squats, lunges) is positive. As long as your fitness trainer has appropriate training and skills, knowledge of progressions and contraindicated moves, and good form, you should be as safe participating in primal fitness as you would be in any other exercise. Injuries happen. You could trip while leaping over a log or drop a rock on you foot but there is no inherent reason why primal fitness would be any more dangerous than a sculpt and tone class.

Many studies show that simply spending time outside improves mood. Theories abound whether the brain is responding to vitamin D production or to returning to the natural environment. On a personal level, after Iadopted a dog, I learned that Philly winters aren’t so bad, if you take a mid-day walk to get fresh air and daylight.  My mood improved and I didn’t get sick.

Primal fitness is certainly a greener option than heading indoors to the gym.  The sun provides the heat and light and you’re not on a perpetual motion machine that draws from carbon-energy grid.  Even if you use gym equipment that creates or returns power, using your own energy outside still has less ecological impact.

My take on primal fitness?  Getting outside to move is always the right thing to do.  Incorporating natural, whole movements is relatively safe.  Ultimately if you enjoy exercise, you’re more likely to continue.  If your chosen exercise also gives you additional mental and emotional benefits, you’re more likely to continue.  Get out and get primal!

Go Circular Free!

Apply this official Philadelphia Circular Free Decal to your property.

You come home from work (if you’re lucky in this economy) only to find your rail, steps, and sidewalk covered with fliers, circulars, and advertisements. You spend 10 minutes picking it up and putting it int your recycle bin, fuming the whole time because of the trees and energy wasted printing, distributing, and recycling unwanted matter. It will happen again at least once this week.

Put a stop to your circular woes by filing for a Circular Free Property Designation. The city maintains a list of properties that don’t want to receive grocery store circulars, fliers, etc. Of course, this doesn’t stop junk mail but it does reduce the litter blowing off doors and rails into the street.

Simply fill out the request, receive a decal to place on your door, and go circular free. Don’t worry about violators. They can be fined, if you agree to have your address on the complaint.

Today Is America Recycles Day

Fill Up Your Recycling Bucket!

A project of Keep America Beautiful, America Recycles Day is the nationally recognized day dedicated to the promotion of recycling in the U.S. Since 1997, Americans have celebrated America Recycles Day on Novovember 15. Learn more about the program and how to participate.

Compost Q & A

PHILLY COMPOST PRESENTATION
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
6:00PM at Schuylkill Center in the
Dick James Room
 
For a discussion and question and answers with Lee Meinicke, founder of Philly Compost.
 
Lee welcomes an opportunity to discuss the benefits of composting and educational opportunities with the Roxborough Civic Associations and other Community Groups.

The Green Revolution: Turning the Pedals Generates Power

The Green Revolution retrofits Spin bikes to generate electricity that feeds back into a club’s power system, reducing the club’s reliance on the grid and reducing the carbon footprint of the club. The Green Revolution is a suburban Philadelphia company. It is also a start-up.

The Green Revolution has been submitted to the GE Ecoimgaination Challenge. If the Challenge generates enough interest, GE may invest in some of these companies. Winning the Ecoimagination Challenge could secure more funding for the Green Revolution and help them continue retrofitting Spin bikes to make the world a cooler place.
It takes two minutes to vote. Please register and cast your vote.

Want to see more videos of The Green Revolution?  Here’s a starter and there are more on Youtube!  

Household Hazardous Waste Collection This Saturday

Two day countdown ’til you can dump your hazardous waste without creating three-eyed fish! This Saturday, June 26, is the next household hazardous waste collection. Simply take your hazardous waste (list of materials accepted) to Domino Lane and Umbria Street between 9 AM and 3 PM.

Unsure if you have anything to contribute? You do. Common household items like batteries, paint, antifreeze, pesticides, household cleaners, & moth balls do not belong in the trash. Bring them to Household Hazardous Waste and save a planet!

Can’t make it this time? The next collection date is July 22 so mark your calendars.

Typical Household Hazardous Waste

Acts of Weatherization

Our blue cellar ceiling

Foam between joists

We’ve just had our crawl space and basement (cellar, if you’re not fancy) treated with foam spray. The foam spray should retain heat and cut our energy usage while reducing our energy bills and delivering a tax credit.

The process did not take long. The contractors showed at about 8 AM as expected. At 11 AM, I asked if they minded if I took the dog for a walk around the block. They replied that they were already done.

Our old house is drafty and rather cold in the winter. Even when wearing slippers and socks, our feet feel cold. We know we suffer immense heat loss. The foam treatment should reduce our heat loss and make us more comfortable.

The best factor is that we get a tax credit for our act of weatherization. We not only hope to see a longterm reduction in our heating costs but we will see additional savings on our tax bill. The money comes later but winter is soon. Hurry to stay warm and save!

Erase Your Trace

This Tree Erases Carbon Dioxide

What’s your annual carbon dioxide emission? You can find out at Erase Your Trace, a new tool from the City of Philadelphia. Erase Your Trace is a carbon calculator that estimates carbon dioxide usage by asking questions about your habits and behavior.

Whatever your usage is, Erase Your Trace aims to nullify it while increasing tree coverage. The project uses the CarbonPlus Calculator, developed by the U.S. Forest Service, to estimate carbon production. Using a carbon price at 20 dollars per ton, the price currently used by the Obama Administration, Erase Your Trace assigns a dollar value to your own carbon emissions. Users then donate part of that cost to The Fairmount Park Conservancy, which in turn will donate the combine money to neighborhoods for tree planting.

Trees help reduce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming, and they reduce other pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone and particulate matter. Philadelphia currently has approximately 2.1 million trees that sequester 16,100 tons of carbon per year. Philadelphia’s trees also reduce urban heat island effect, decrease stormwater runoff, and increase property values.

While Ms. Philly Organic knows we can’t live without an impact and we can’t simply erase our carbon emissions, we can plant trees, benefit the city and parks, and minimize the effect of our carbon output with a few clicks of the mouse. Why not learn more and reduce the effect of your personal carbon production?

Carrotmobs: Now in Philly!

Carrotmobs are not like this.

Carrotmobs, similar to flashmobs but completely different from protests and boycotts, are coming to Philadelphia. What is a Carrotmob? Carrotmobs encourage business to implement more environmentally sound policies by directing customers and sales to the business during a targeted time. The aim is to show the strength of green movement and to show how much money we have to spend, thereby encouraging targeted businesses to go greener.

The organizers work to identify businesses that are open to the message and that may have existing plans to become more environmentally sound. The Carrotmob organizers and the business arrange a time and date, then ask supporters to come and shop. It’s been so successful in some cities that Carrotmobbers form long queues just to make a purchase!

Carrotmobs started in San Francisco and are spreading around the country. Philadelphia is one of the earlier growth sights! There are also offshoots in Europe. To participate, you just have to shop at the right time and place. To learn the right place and time, you have to visit their blog or follow them on Twitter.