I know you all are waiting anxiously for the 5th Annual Rooting DC, which is still on its way in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, come and celebrate the excitement with us this Thursday, February 2nd, 5 – 8 pm at The Looking Glass Lounge!

Check out the Facebook event for complete details: https://www.facebook.com/events/312966532075646/

Celebration!

Join us for some treats and good company to celebrate 5 years of Rooting DC! We will be asking for a $10 donation at the door, but this is a suggested donation, and no one will be turned away! There are also some excellent drink specials from Looking Glass Lounge: $2 off draft beers, $1 off rail drinks and special just for US a $4 Rooter Shooter!!!

Silent Auction Fundraiser!

We have some awesome prizes so please bring cash or a checkbook & come ready for bidding! Prizes include gift baskets, certificates to yummy local restaurants, and many more! All money raised from the silent auction will go directly towards offsetting the cost of the Rooting DC forum (to keep it free for all who attend!)

Hope you can make it on Thursday! If not, save the date for Rooting DC – February 18th, 2012 from 9:30-4. Registration details coming very soon!

Stay up to date with Rooting DC details on Facebook and on Twitter (Follow us @RootingDC and help spread the word with #RootingDC !!)

Please come! Rooting DC is an annual, FREE, community and urban gardening focused forum, with over 500 attendees! Come, attend sessions to learn and get information about what is going on in your communities and how you can get involved. Want to know how you start your own garden or how to compost? Come to Rooting DC 2012!

Please feel free to pass this information and flier along to others – Hope to see you all there!

Follow us on Twitter @RootingDC as well as on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rootingdc

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, your families, friends and neighbors. Wishing you all a wonderful day of community and sharing.

Here is a great article for Thanksgiving reading and contemplating the way we cook and eat around this holiday, and how it can help improve our eating habits to make them more sustainable throughout the year: Written by Tamar Adler, an op-ed author for The New York Times, “Thanksgiving Thrift: The Holiday as a Model for Sustainable Cooking”

Next week will mark the first Food Day celebration with events occurring across the United States. According to the website FoodDay.org, Food Day “seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life—parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes—to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.”

It is a “people-powered” movement that provides the avenue for celebration, education and access to food and nutrition-centered events, cooking demonstrations, volunteer (and eating) opportunities. There are numerous events planned, taking place all across the Washington Metropolitan Area for you and your family to be involved in Food Day 2011. Please ask your local church, school, farmers’ market or town hall for more information about what will be going on in your area.

Another great place to go for resources is the Food Day website, FoodDay.org. Here you can search for events near your neighborhood, whether you live in Washington DC or outside the beltway. There are also resources for you to get an event started if you want to do something yourself. Take a moment to check out the website and see what will be happening near you!

The purpose of Food Day is to promote six central principles:

1. Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods

2. Support sustainable farms and limit subsidies to big agribusiness

3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger

4. Protect the environment and animals by reforming factory farms

5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids

6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

(for more information on the 6 Principles, please refer to Food Day – 6 Food Day Principles)

By conducting a quick search for the Washington, DC area, I was able to find almost an endless list of events that are planned including speakers, neighborhood garden open houses, food truck culinary appreciation, nutrition education, university sponsored events, and the list goes on! If you go to the FoodDay.org events page, enter your zip code or address to find something that is going on within your neighborhood. Among a few of my favorites include:

- Food Day Proclamation

- Food Day Food Truck Festival (13th-17th St and K St NW)

- Food Day Extravaganza

- Inaugural Bike Blender Smoothie Sale

- American University’s 3 Day Celebration also click here for more details: AU’s Food Day 2011 Celebration AUFood Day

And so many more!!

Check out the website, find what is going on in or around your neighborhood, and go celebrate Food Day 2011!

Strathmore Presents

MICHAEL POLLAN

IN DEFENSE OF FOOD: THE OMNIVORE’S SOLUTION

America’s Leading Voice on Food Industry Opens Strathmore’s 2011-12 Speaker Series

NORTH BETHESDA, MD – Acclaimed food writer, activist and “liberal foodie intellectual” (The New York Times) Michael Pollan takes aim at nutritionism as he explores food consumption and the industry that surrounds it in the first engagement of Strathmore’s 2011-2012 speaker series on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8 p.m. in the Music Center. After the demolition of the Food Pyramid in favor the USDA’s new Food Plate and just in time for families to ditch their Halloween candy, Pollan explores the theory of nutritionism, its flawed science and its dire impact on Western health. In making a case for more basic, natural foods rather than “edible, food-like substances,” Pollan candidly reveals the industrialization of agriculture and highlights the growing national movement to renovate the food system.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

Full PDF Text of the Press Release from the Strathmore Music Center – Michael Pollan – Oct 26 2011

Local Foods, Local Chefs Program Kicks Off October 1:  Arlington restaurants to feature locally-grown food

Throughout the month of October, dine at participating Arlington restaurants and enjoy a meal made with locally grown and raised ingredients. Supporting local vendors strengthens our local economy. But supporting local farmers goes even further. You’ll be helping to keep farmland in production and your food is fresher — often picked just the day before.

Event kickoff: October 1

Join the Local Foods, Local Chefs Kickoff October 1, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Whole Foods Market, 2700 Wilson Boulevard, where you’ll enjoy some tastings and get a chance to meet local vendors, farmers, and chefs. In addition, learn more about the benefits of local foods at a book talk and signing with Diane A. Welland, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local.

Participating restaurants:

Each of the Arlington restaurants below will feature meals made with locally-grown ingredients throughout the month:

•   Busboys & Poets, 4251 S. Campbell Ave.;

•   Domasco Trattoria Moderna, 1121 N. 19^th St. (inside Hotel Palomar)

•   Eventide Restaurant, 3165 Wilson Blvd.

•   Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza, 3017 Claredon Blvd.

•   Restaurant 3, 2950 Clarendon Blvd.

•   Santa Fe Café, 1500 Wilson Blvd.

•   Silver Diner, 3200 Wilson Blvd.

•   Sweetgreen, 4075 Wilson Blvd.

•   Whole Foods Market, 2700 Wilson Blvd.

•   Willow Restaurant, 4301 N. Fairfax Dr.

And more…

Learn more about the program>>>

For more information, call 703-228-6417 or visit the project web page.

Local Foods, Local Chefs is sponsored by Arlington County, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment.

Public Lands Day NCR Announcement

National Public Lands Day

and

Rock Creek Park Day

September 24th, 2011

Public Lands = Public Health

Rock Creek Park and The National Environmental Education Foundation invite the public to participate in a National Public Lands Day signature event on September 24, 2011. This day also is Rock Creek Park Day, marking the 121st anniversary of the park. The Public Lands = Public Health message will be highlighted during the event.

The day will feature service projects spread throughout several areas of the park in the morning, and a recreation and health fair at the Rock Creek Park Nature Center in the afternoon. This year, organizers of National Public Lands Day are focusing on the connection between public lands and public health. Participating sites will highlight outdoor service and recreation opportunities, and how they contribute to better health.

Please click on the link for a complete detailed list and schedule of volunteer projects and health and recreation activities which you can participate in.