Big box store Target has recently announced that it will cease to sell farmed salmon in any of its nationwide retail outlets, replacing the controversial product with wild Alaskan salmon. The corporation has consulted with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program to ensure adherence to stricter sustainability standards. This step may have far-reaching impacts, and will hopefully influence other powerful retailers to consider similar changes.

Read more on The Daily Green.com.

What exactly is Clean Plates NYC, and who is it for? In this short video, founder and coauthor Jared Koch presents a simple description of how his restaurant and nutrition guide can serve as a helpful and accessible resource for New Yorkers and visitors alike.

Tickets are still available for the 10th Annual CSA in NYC Conference, hosted by Just Food this Sunday. The event is an opportunity for CSA members and farmers from around the city to come together for a day of workshops, discussion, and good food. Registration and more information is available online at http://tiny.cc/t6Jsq.

For updates on presenters, workshops and expo participants, please visit the Just Food website at www.justfood.org.

Just Food CSA in NYC Conference
Sunday, February 28, 2010
8:30 am – 6:00 pm
Teachers College, Columbia University

Local, sustainable food has a new spokesperson – and he puts a handsome face on a serious subject. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been awarded the 2010 TED Prize (TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment, Design”) for his goal of transforming American foodways to eliminate obesity and poor nutrition. The TED Prize awards its winner with $100,000 to achieve his or her goal, and helps the winner to raise funds and critical support for the project.

Jamie Oliver’s wish: “I wish for your help to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

To learn more about the TED Prize or to offer support, please visit www.tedprize.org/jamie-oliver. To sign Oliver’s petition to improve the quality of school food in America, please visit his website below.

Hunger & Environmental Nutrition Special Interest Group of the Greater New York Dietetic Association presents

The End of the Line
A film by Rupert Murray
Narrated by Ted Danson

Can you imagine a world without fish? The End of the Line is the world’s first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing and what we all can do about it. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009, the film has been described as “The Inconvenient Truth of the Oceans.”

Screening: The End of the Line
February 2, 2010
7:30 PM
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street (between Avenues B and C)
New York, NY 10009
Admission $5 at the door

For more information: gnyhen.org or diane@gnyhen.org.

From the heart of Brooklyn comes Eat Well Guide’s latest video: Learn how a community in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn is fighting to keep their farm, a former neighborhood garbage dump that they’ve transformed into an urban oasis producing over 7,000 lbs of fresh food every year, and helping to feed more than 4,000 people a month through the Brooklyn Rescue Mission. The residents are in danger of losing it to development, and the video speaks beautifully to the value of the Farm and points visitors to a petition to save it. Help spread the word!

blog.eatwellguide.org/2009/11/a-farm-in-danger-help-save-bed-stuy-farm

Local, fresh, sustainable food in the media — check out last night’s Iron Chef America! Spoiler alert: the secret ingredient = the seasonal, fresh, organic contents of the incredible White House garden, as well as meats sourced within 100 miles. The challenge, in Alton Brown’s words: to inspire America to eat fresh, eat, local, eat well! We’re thrilled on many fronts – the Food Network’s decision to promote local eating through Iron Chef America, as well as the Obama administration’s values demonstrated by their organic vegetable garden. As if we didn’t already think Michelle Obama was the bee’s knees.

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.

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.

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!