It’s Getting Haute in Here:

The Green Youth Movement Presents L.A. Fashion Week’s Eco Fashion Show

Nonprofit Greens the Runway to Raise Environmental Awareness

This season, green is the new black. Los Angeles-based nonprofit, the Green Youth Movement (GYM) will be presenting THE GREEN INITIATIVE: A Humanitarian Fashion Show at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, California. As part of Los Angeles Fashion Week, this highly anticipated event aims to celebrate sustainable living by showcasing collections from eco-friendly designers. THE GREEN INITIATVE is positioned to prove that fashion and sustainability can go hand-in-hand, and that eco-conscious alternatives can be just as “haute” on the runway.

Produced by The Gallery Los Angeles, THE GREEN INITIATIVE will feature collections from sustainable designers such as Emily Factor, Lizzie Parker and others. All designs are made in the United States, utilize sustainable materials and are responsibly produced – just the kind of environmentally sound solution that the Green Youth Movement advocates in its mission to promote sustainable living and green education amongst the younger generation.

“THE GREEN INITIATIVE is an opportunity to communicate the importance of living sustainably to the next generation of consuming adults,” says 17-year-old Ally Maize, Los Angeles’ resident “green teen” and founder of the Green Youth Movement. “We want people to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink the choices they make every day in every aspect of their lives, including fashion.”

Proceeds from THE GREEN INITIATIVE will go to the Green Youth Movement’s conservation and reforestation initiatives, notably a tree-planting project in the Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area to offset the fashion show’s carbon footprint.

“Fashion is such a big part of youth culture and serves as an ideal means of raising global awareness of sustainable living,” adds Ally. “We hope THE GREEN INITIATIVE gets people excited about being green and making environmentally-conscious lifestyle choices.”

To join in on the glamour, purchase tickets for THE GREEN INITIATIVE at http://gymfashionshowtix.eventbrite.com.

For more information on the Green Youth Movement, please visit http://www.greenyouthmovement.org.

Release via TylerBarnettPR

The first food-oir I ever read was ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ by Frances Mayes.  I loved the book because I could live vicariously through the author.  I was transported to a land of olive scented breezes, the shade of Cypress trees and the warmth of the sun peeking over the hillside, while still in my tiny 700 sq ft apartment on the Upper West Side.  Today I am reminded of her adventures and especially the contentment she felt just living everyday full of appreciation as I prepare to leave sunny southern California for New York.  Though I lived in New York and grew up in Chicago; I have managed to avoid extended amounts of time in any wintry climate.  This has been a year of unprecedented snow storms on the east coast; the last one dumping 14” of snow on the city just a week ago.

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Basil Lemon Grilled Chicken

Ingredients 10  Fresh Basil Leaves 2    Tablespoons Olive Oil 3    Cloves of Garlic Juice of 2 lemons Salt and Pepper Method: I blended the ingredients in my Magic Bullet to make a marinade for the chicken. Pound 2 organic free range chicken breasts with a tenderizer until they are flat as pancakes (less than a 1/4” thick) and pour the marinade over the chicken.  The basil makes the marinade super fragrant--yum!

Orzo Salad

• 1 cup of uncooked orzo
• 7  cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
• 2   green onion (chopped)
• 1/4 cup arugula (chopped)

Method:

• Grill the chicken for 4 minutes on each side.
• Add the asparagus to the grill when flipping the chicken.
• Prepare the orzo as instructed (just boil for 4 minutes and then drain)
• Toss with the tomatoes, green onion and arugula and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top, if desired.

Grilled Asparagus was as simple as wrapping the asparagus (after breaking off the tough ends) placing them in a sheet of foil, drizzling lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Wrap them up, ready for the grill.

Slow Food in 15 minutes.

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But what a difference a week makes, as I am being twittered by friends of the sunny, 50 degree weather out east.  I guess Spring is blooming in New York.  Something to look forward to.  But on my last weekend in LA, I wanted to celebrate everything that makes my day to day life here special, so today Ethan and I went for a hike in the Santa Monica mountains.

The weather was sunny, but not hot--perfect for hiking.  We had quite a bit of rainfall this winter, so the rushing water of creeks and the waterfall added to the soundtrack of the hike.  Chirping birds, frogs, and cricket sounds blended together like background instruments to the running water, with an eagle soaring overhead conducting this symphony of nature.  We managed several highlights along the trails--ocean views, climbing rocks along the waterfall and hidden caves.  Because of the rains, there was a lot of new plant growth, so when we actually stopped to take time to smell the flowers, literally, it put so much in perspective.  Ethan ran through the woods with his ‘sword’ (a stick) ahead of me, making sure to protect me against dragons in the woods.  It was the Disney version of Lord of the Flies.  

When we got home, we saw that the lettuce we planted nearly 3 weeks ago from the nursery were ready to be picked and washed.  In honor of my last weekend in California for a while, we decided to make a meal, using as many ingredients from the garden as we could.  We tried to gather all the ingredients and wanted everything to be fresh--nothing processed; nothing from a box, following the principles of The Slow Food Movement, which began in Italy in 1986 in an effort to combat fast food; specifically  the first McDonald’s in Rome.  It advocates to preserve the local cultural cuisine, food, plants and seeds.  It educates consumers about the risks of fast food, lobbies against the government funding of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and also seeks to preserve culinary traditions of local regions.  What started in Italy is now a movement in over 132 countries, counting over 100,000 members.

I believe slow food is a way of life in many communities throughout the world; but it frightens me that it is threatened by agri-business and corporations.  It angers me that people now have to fight to preserve this way of life that is so natural and makes sense.  I like this idea of slow food because simply stated--it is the definition of conscious eating.  You know where everything comes from because it is local, without chemicals and it is what people are meant to eat.  I remembered a recipe Frances wrote about in ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ that involved basil, lemon, olive oil and a roasted chicken.  Simple.  While the principles of slow food are opposite to what we know as fast food; the ‘slow’ portion of the moniker doesn’t necessarily describe the amount of time to prepare.

Our Under the Santa Monica Sun meal consisted of grilled chicken, asparagus, and an Orzo salad.  Full disclosure:  the orzo did come from a box; but it was made of 100% organic durum wheat semolina from Italy.  Everything but the orzo, chicken, olive oil, parmesan cheese, cherry tomatoes, garlic and asparagus (all produce from the farmers market) were from the backyard.

 

Learn more about Eda at http://edamame2003.blogspot.com/

Every day I am pleasantly surprised by how many people are as concerned, interested and active in the search for better food and healthier eating as I am.  And its always in the form of a surprising advocate.  All those stories about hormone-injected meat and poultry has become part of our collective consciousness.  I don’t recall food recalls as a child; but over the past few years; some of our most basic foods have been tainted--peanut butter, salads, cantaloupe, beef, and poultry.  Is that just about every food group?  That is frightening!



I have no delusions of being able to grow everything I eat.  But I do believe in making the effort in order to understand the process.  Ethan and I eat and use the food we grow.  We think it makes our meals more delicious--probably because it was grown with our sweat equity.  Composting, planting, watering and harvesting.  Its been a year of saving vegetable peels, seeds and coffee grinds.  Finally after a year, our bin filled to the top has yielded enough beautiful dark rich organic soil to plant our spring plants--cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, cilantro, a few lettuce varieties, and a lime and lemon tree.    Ethan has a chance to see where our food comes from and to appreciate his work of nurturing his plants from seedlings to dinner.  After watching a 60 Minutes profile of Alice Waters, I learned more about school gardens and what a great experience it is for kids.  Learning about Alice Waters’ flagship edible garden made me want to start one at Ethan’s school.

I’ve been trying to eat locally grown food in season and available at my farmer’s market.  Living in Santa Monica makes it easier for me to eat and cook more sustainably.  The farmers whose booths I frequent talk (with pride) about sustainability.  From these conversations, I’ve learned that sustainable farming is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals (no synthetic hormones or pesticides), does not harm the environment, is humane for workers and animals animals, and provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports these farm communities.  What’s not to like?  And I doubt there will be a recall of your beets and broccoli.

I interviewed Alicia Silverstone for her movie, ‘Excess Baggage’ before she became the poster child for PETA and Macrobiotics.  I saw her recently at an event for her bestseller, ‘The Kind Diet’ (The Kind Diet Book)  While I’m not ready to give up meats (including some seafood) and dairy (I love my cheese); we do make an effort to eliminate white and wheat flour, sugar and processed foods from our diet.  Macrobiotic eaters believe that eating locally grown in season produce maximizes the nutritional value of the food and that cooking in a microwave reduces the nutritional value of foods.  That makes sense to me and we follow that theory for the most part.  Alicia makes it easy for those of us dabbling in macrobiotics, providing carnivores (referred to as Flirts in her book) with some plant-based substitutes.  But you don’t have to become a vegan to become a more conscious consumer, and still be as chic as Alicia.  She provides tips for a more conscious lifestyle on her blog:  The Kind Life

But to take all of this sustainability from macro to a micro level.  My friend and co-executive producer of a TV show I am working on surprised me the other day by bringing me a dozen eggs.  Hatched by his chickens.  That live in his backyard.  I mention this because it just goes to show that this idea of a conscious lifestyle is the zeitgeist of modern living today.  He keeps 4 chickens as household pets.  One of them is an Auraucana hen that lays green eggs.  It is unbelievably beautiful--the bird and her eggs.  In addition, these eggs have the thickest and most orange-yellow yolks you’ve ever seen--they stand up like 3 inches high!  

And talk about free range--they certainly live the life; eating chicken feed, vegetable scraps, bugs and grass in his backyard.  Clearly they are the happiest hens, producing an average of 6 eggs a week each!  My friend Tony says he bought the hens as baby chicks from a local feed store.  They started producing eggs after about 6 months--no word on the house training.  Though I personally think he reads bedtime stories to them and lets them watch TV (only educational programming of course).  

While I plan to make many dishes (including a breakfast of eggs over easy); I used one of these green eggs as a special treat in Ethan’s all time favorite comfort food.  On a wintry day, Americans cuddle up to a warm bowl of oatmeal.  For Asian families, the rice porridge is a hearty breakfast staple:

Brown Rice Porridge (Khao Tom in Thai)

• 1 cup of cooked Jasmine brown rice
• 2 oz ground organic turkey
• 2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
• 1 Egg

Method:

• Boil 2 cups of water on the stove top and add crumbled ground turkey for 7 minutes or until turkey is cooked.
  Add rice and fish sauce.
  
• When the rice boils, crack the egg into the porridge and boil the egg to the desired softness/hardness
  If desired, top with chopped green onion, cilantro and black pepper.

So simple...So satisfying.

Learn more about Eda at http://edamame2003.blogspot.com/