This just in from the National Restaurant Association: An annual survey of over 1,800 American chefs reveals that local sourcing of ingredients, sustainability, and nutrition will be among the biggest themes on menus for the coming year. Seasonality and regionality also figure into the top trends toward which hot restaurants are moving – and we are proud to say that the Clean Plates-approved restaurants are on the cutting edge of this curve! Nods toward sustainable and local eating in popular culture (think Top Chef) help pave the way for a greater overhaul of our food system. This is an exciting time in American dining!

Read the article and learn more at http://tiny.cc/MDFg6.

From the W.K. Kellogg Foundation-

W.K. Kellogg Foundation grants
$32.5 million to improve access to
fresh food and physical activity for children

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced last month that it will invest $32,450,000 over the span of three years in community-driven efforts and national projects that are working to increase access to healthy food and physical activity for vulnerable children and their families. This investment—called the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Community Program—brings the foundation’s total support for healthy food and farming projects since the mid-1990s to more than $230 million.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Community Program focuses on creating healthy places where all children thrive. It invests in efforts to provide access to good food and opportunities for physical activity. This work is part of a larger movement that builds on the foundation’s legacy in food and agriculture.

To learn more, please visit: wkkf.org/foodandcommunity.

Can diet and exercise change our genes? Unfortunately, no…while we may never be able to alter our fundamental genetic makeup, lifestyle and nutrition contribute to our proclivity toward certain diseases, and different diets may alter the expression of the genes we were born with. Learn more on the work of Dr. Jeffrey Bland online at http://tiny.cc/2ne6W, and feel empowered to make healthy choices for a better future!

You may be eating cloned meat without knowing it – the FDA approved its use a year and a half ago, with no legislation in place requiring it to be labeled as such. What are the ramifications – social, physical, economic – of eating cloned meat? Extensive research has not yet proven the safety of cloned meat, and whatever its possible benefits or harmful effects, the Clean Plates team agrees that we’d rather know where our meat comes from. You can rest assured that Clean-Plates approved restaurants source their products from sustainable and responsible farms, so you know what you’re eating, even when you can’t prepare your own meal at home. But when you can buy your own meat, consider doing so through a CSA, a local source that you trust. Our friends at Just Food have made it easy to find a great CSA here in NewYork at www.justfood.org/csa.

The Federal Trade Commission will host a public forum on December 15 titled “Sizing Up Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity.” The forum will assemble industry representatives, federal regulators, consumer groups, scientific researchers, and legal scholars to discuss issues related to food marketing to children, including current research on the impact of food advertising on children and the issues surrounding governmental regulation of food marketing. Panelists will also address the food and entertainment industries’ progress toward self-regulation. In addition, the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children – comprised of representatives from the FTC, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Department of Agriculture – will report on the status of recommended nutritional standards for foods marketed to children.

For more information or to view the live webcast:
www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/sizingup/index.shtml

Greetings, Clean Plates fans. We’ve had a big weekend here in New York City! Yesterday was the NYC Food & Climate Summit at NYU, which the Clean Plates team attended. A few highlights from the day:

–Opening remarks by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, whose office authored the NYC Food Pledge that we hope you’ll sign. He is a true advocate for a sustainable food movement in New York!

–Video address from Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

–An exciting and vibrant Twitter exchange all day among the 1,000 attendees (log in and search for #nycfoodclimate to read more – Clean Plates tweets under ‘jarkoch’)

–An inspiring video address by Vandana Shiva, founder of the seed-saving organization Navdanya

–Panelist Marion Nestle (author, educator, force of nature): “The same dietary advice that’s appropriate for people is appropriate for the planet!”

–Closing remarks by Mario Batali: Batali (whose Babbo is Clean Plates-approved!) spoke about the importance of taking a few extra moments to think each time we make a food decision – a way to choose better taste, better community, and better planet. Seek out producers, suppliers, and purveyors that align their values with yours, and support them!

It was inspiring to see so many people engaged in attempts to effect a more just, sustainable, and delicious food system. Many thanks to the folks who made the Summit possible. Visit their website for video and more information: www.nyu.edu/sustainability/foodandclimatesummit.

Hope to see you there next year!

An evening of excerpts from upcoming documentary films tackling food and agricultural issues will take place on December 15, 2009. A lively panel discussion and Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by food activist and author Anna Lappé, will follow the screenings. Hungry Filmmakers is a not-for-profit event hosted by Anthology Film Archives and Jimmy’s No. 43 and curated by food writer Cathy Erway and filmmaker Shelley Rogers. Proceeds will benefit Just Food, a nonprofit working to promote access of fresh, seasonal, sustainably grown food for all New York City residents.

On view:
What’s “Organic” About Organic?”
by Shelley Rogers
Big River and Truck Farm
by Curt Ellis & Ian Cheney
The Greenhorns
by Severine von Tscarner Fleming
Grown in Detroit
by Manfred & Mascha Poppenk
Faces From the New Farm
by Liz Tylander, Kat Shiffler & Lara Sheets
Untitled Film by Sara Grady

Hungry Filmmakers
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Doors open at 7 pm, screenings begin at 7:30 pm,
after-party at 9 pm at Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 East 7th Street)

Anthology Film Archives
32 2^nd Avenue (at E. 2nd Street)
New York, NY  10003
Admission: $10
Tickets available at www.hungryfilmmakers.blogspot.com

From Carlo Petrini at Slow Food:

“1,000 communities are celebrating Terra Madre Day this December 10, in one of the largest global occasions to promote sustainable food and ‘eating locally’.

Held on the occasion of Slow Food’s 20th birthday, Terra Madre Day is being celebrated by more than 100,000 farmers, producers, cooks, students, and consumers across the association’s network of 150 countries.

A global revolution can only grow from local roots, and together these community actions are building opposition to the negative impacts of agribusiness and promoting healthy food and communities.”

How will YOU celebrate?

www.slowfood.com/terramadreday

TOMORROW: Join Clean Plates at The Village Green Show and Sustainable Business Network NYC Holiday Party!

The Village Green is an entertaining, informative and inspiring one-hour variety show focused on the issue of local and sustainable food in NYC. A sort of green version of A Prairie Home Companion, The Village Green will feature live music, comedy, and interviews with local policy makers and leaders in sustainable business. Following the event, stay for networking with the Sustainable Business Network.

Featuring:
Michael Hurwitz, GreenMarkets
Cynthia Yang, Great Performances
Ben Lingsley, President of Bright Farm Systems
Jared Koch, Clean Plates NYC
The Village Green Band
Special Musical Guest Seth Glier

Learn more and buy tickets at www.sbnyc.org/events/VillageGreen2009.html

The Village Green
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Village Green Show 7 – 8 pm
SBNYC Holiday Party 8 – 9:30 pm
WNYC’s Greene Space
44 Charlton Street (at Varick Street)
New York, NY 10014

From the folks at the Office of the Manhattan Borough President:

Dear Friend,
The movement to make New York City healthier and greener by changing the way we eat is gaining momentum with each passing day, and we have now arrived at a crucial moment in this campaign. Your voice can make a difference, and I am reaching out to ask that you get involved.

Please sign the pledge to consider your food choices and to support the ten simple but potentially life-changing principles contained in the NYC Sustainable Food Charter.

In signing the pledge, you will be joining a virtual who’s who listed below of leading thinkers and advocates in the sustainable food movement, including Anna Lappe, Marion Nestle, Joan Gussow, Fred Kirschenmann, Catherine Gund, Maya Wiley, Lucy Cabrera, and Joel Berg. I could not be more proud to have their support.

The goal of this campaign is to spur government to create a food system that improves the health and well-being of you, your family, your neighborhood, and all New Yorkers. I urge you to take a moment to read the Food Charter and, if you are so moved, to sign the pledge.

As Frances Moore Lappe, the mother of one of our most distinguished food advocates, has said, “democracy is not what we have; it is what we do.” Please express your views.

Sincerely,

Scott M. Stringer
Manhattan Borough President