Growing Green Awards
NRDC honors farmers, business leaders, and promoters of sustainable food
NRDC's 2011 Growing Green Awards recognize sustainable food pioneers from across the United States. This year’s winners were selected from nearly 270 nominees in the categories of food producer, business leader, knowledge leader, and young food leader by a panel of sustainable food and agriculture experts, including Michael Pollan, best-selling author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Maria Rodale, chairman and CEO of Rodale, Inc., Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner of Blue Hill Restaurant in New York, and Dr. Tom Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at the University of California, Davis.
Here are essays from this year’s winners, followed by posts from past winners, judges, and finalists. Learn more at NRDC's website.
A Lunch Lady Serves up Healthy Schools, Starting in the Cafeteria
April 25, 2011:
I never imagined myself cooking for kids. I spent most of my first three decades as a chef, not knowing or caring what kids ate, and not really wanting to feed them. In fact, as a restaurant chef, my worst nightmare was the... read more >
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Natural Pesticides? Large-scale Farmers Turn to Safer Products to Keep their Plants Healthy
April 25, 2011:
It usually surprises people when I say that it’s a great time to be in agriculture. While the number of farmers has declined significantly since our parents’ generation, there’s no denying that food prices are up, as are the... read more >
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Old Roots Spring Anew in Young Farmers
April 25, 2011:
With young people revolutionizing the good food movement, it’s slightly ironic that at 29, I’m farming on one of the oldest agricultural landmarks in Missouri. I first visited the Mueller Farm as a teenager, when my dad took... read more >
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When it Comes to Food, One Size Doesn’t Fit All
April 25, 2011:
Editor's note: Read OnEarth's feature story about Jim Cochran, "Kicking the Chemical Habit."With strawberries lining grocery shelves from Boston to Tokyo, some say that global food supply chains are becoming ever more... read more >
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Why Is Our Food Making Us Fat?
April 12, 2011:
As a rancher and environmental lawyer, when I write or speak about America's food system, usually it's related to impacts on natural resources -- air, water, and soils. But these last few years I've also become increasingly... read more >
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Spreading Fresh Thoughts about Food and Farming in New York
April 27, 2010:
Each year, NRDC recognizes sustainable food pioneers across the United States through the Growing Green Awards. OnEarth is publishing blog posts from this year's four winners and two of the judges. All of the posts can be... read more >
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Water: The Lifeblood in the Body of a Biodynamic Winery
April 27, 2010:
Each year, NRDC recognizes sustainable food pioneers across the United States through the Growing Green Awards. OnEarth is publishing blog posts from this year's four winners and two of the judges. All of the posts can be... read more >
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Shepherd’s Grain: Reconnecting Producers and Consumers through a New Food System
April 20, 2010:
Each year, NRDC recognizes sustainable food pioneers across the United States through the Growing Green Awards. OnEarth is publishing blog posts from this year's four winners and two of the judges. All of the posts can... read more >
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From Conventional Walnut Farming to Growing (and Processing) Green
April 20, 2010:
Each year, NRDC recognizes sustainable food pioneers across the United States through the Growing Green Awards. OnEarth is publishing blog posts from this year's four winners and two of the judges. All of the posts can be... read more >
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Growing Green: We're Moving in the Right Direction
April 6, 2010:
It is no secret that our bones, heart, brain and every part of our bodies are made up of the matter that passes between our lips. But how many of us stop to think about this while rushing through dinner or supermarket... read more >
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Delicious, Nutritious, Local Food
April 1, 2010:
Our communities desperately need a transformation of our food system. All over the country, people are calling for locally produced, healthy, fresh, affordable food.We know that the support for change is growing - people... read more >
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Climate Change and Restaurants: Introducing the Low Carbon Diet
April 22, 2009:
When we at Bon Appétit Management Company first considered taking on the challenge of lowering the carbon emissions of our business, I admit, I was hesitant. I wasn't sure what fighting climate change had to do with serving... read more >
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The National School Lunch Program: Time for a Makeover!
April 28, 2009:
I believe that the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is in need of a complete overhaul. The inception of the program was predicated on the fact that there were malnourished children all across the country that couldn’t... read more >
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Does Regulating Industrial Agriculture Help Or Hurt the Clean Food Cause?
April 29, 2009:
To regulate or not to regulate, that is the question. As HB-875 wends its way through Capital Hill, farmers like me are watching its progress with shock and fear. This so-called Food Modernization Act is really the... read more >
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Hospitals Helping to Build a Healthy Food System and Global Health
May 4, 2009:
Over the last century, we have radically altered the way we produce and distribute food through the creation of a highly consolidated and industrialized food system. This transformation is fundamentally affecting the health... read more >
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Foodsheds - A New Ruralism Bridging Smart Growth and Sustainable Agriculture
May 5, 2009:
The urban-rural dichotomy doesn't work anymore. There's a connotation in the words ‘urban' and ‘rural' that suggests a neat line between the geographies of city and countryside. As a largely urban culture, we seem to need to... read more >
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Talking Shop: More and more, consumers really care about locally-grown food
May 6, 2009:
Produce Business magazine (March 2008) sent a team of 'mystery shoppers' into stores across the country to see whether retailers are complying with COOL (Country of Origin Legislation) and to see how shoppers feel about it (... read more >
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