After a recent Ignite SF talk on the health benefits of eating raw, I was excited to get author Rod Rotondi and north Bay publisher New World Library’s “Raw Food for Real People.” And know that I’m skeptical–there’s nothing I like more than a hot mac’n'cheese or a bowl of minestrone (made by Amy’s or hopefully someone I know and can convince to make it).
But the book opened with a welcome that surprised me–who expected a holier than thou, shun-the cow-killers approach: “I have to admit that being a raw-food chef is easy. No, really. It’s like Dumb and Dumber easy…the truth is that if you can cut an apple in half, you are a raw-food chef. And if you can slice or cube that apple, you qualify as a gourmet raw-food chef.”
Rotondi, who started his own organic line in LA, shares recipes for a buckweat breakfast feast (think avocado, sea salt, and nuts) and “bedouin burritos” (complete with homemade tahini and alfalfa). There’s instructions on carrot cake that doesn’t require cooking and coconut macaroon balls that I can attest are delicious after trying them some made by a better baker than myself. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure that “baker” is the right word for someone who makes this crunchy concoction, but then, neither is “cook.”
I’m glad to see pal and MamaHope founder Nyla Rodgers’ work with Kenyan communities attract so much positive attention lately (including a great piece by Xeni Jardin on Boing Boing this morning). Nyla has collaborated with good production partners–including local groups Whirled, creator of the Commando kid video at right, and Storytellers for Good, which created the story spot–to highlight her non-profit’s work in sustainable health, water and education projects. The most recent message (“Stop the Pity. Unlock the Potential”) is an important one that’s humorously told.
I hit the road with Federated Media Publishing and our partner Clever Girls this week for the Altitude Design Summit, a meeting of design bloggers in Salt Lake City. Last year left me most inspired, as evidenced, and I’m excited about today’s conversations about strategic content sponsorships and determining which metrics matter most. Some of the FM partners presenting include:
I had fun sitting down with Acumen Fund founder Jacqueline Novogratz recently to talk about addressing the causes of poverty and her book “The Blue Sweater.” She talks about simple technologies and “patient capital” as ways to combat hunger, energy needs, housing, and other issues that philanthropy alone can’t tackle.
Thanks to JustGoodTV for shooting, and you can see more about how the fund works below (I like the Girl Effect-esque approach to text and illustration).
While holiday shopping in my neighborhood last weekend I kept walking past (or out of my way to see) Hayes Valley Farm. The urban farm off Laguna has volunteer work days, day camps for kids and a great website–not bad for a space that was going to be an expressway on-ramp pre-recession. And you’ll be wishing it wasn’t winter when hearing about the produce they’re planting.
I’m headed to our nation’s capital for the first TEDWomen conference but am sad to miss the newest Art Technology and Culture Colloquium talk across the Bay. Rebar Art and Design Studio director Matthew Passmore will be presenting on User-Generated Urbanism at Cal to discuss ways that landscapes are publicly organized. Rebar, his SF-based “art design activism” firm, created the park bandshell and parking day installations that I’ve so enjoyed and that you may have seen at public gatherings. The plans for the event show why this Berkeley Center for New Media talk is especially worth participating in if you can:
“In recent years, the technocratic urban planning establishment has begun to recognize that small-scale, creative, temporary, tactical urban interventions are a powerful instrument for spatial research and experimentation. New collaborative strategies between artists, designers and city agencies have emerged, resulting in urban spaces that are iterative, modular, flexible and designed, in part and over time, by the people who use them. This talk explores recent developments in this trend, known as ‘user-generated urbanism,’ and examines the role of the artist and tactical designer in contributing to the quality and character of urban public spaces.”
As proof that good things in twos (and threes), on Thursday the market Liga Masiva will be coming to Chronicle Books to launch its international wares. Direct trade coffee, Latin street food and education about the organization’s work with farmers in the Dominican Republic are planned. And given their motto (“our standard is awesomeness”), the night should be as well.
With history’s first mass-produced plug-in vehicles just weeks away from delivery, the SF-based organization Plug In America is releasing a series of smartly humorous PSAs created by people who have driven gas-free vehicles for years. Think “Mac vs. PC” spoofs that show the differences between electric vehicles and gas cars (with a cameo by Fabio thrown into the next video to be released later this month).
The first of the seven videos were released today by the nonprofit leading the plug-in vehicle movement and discuss the superiority of plug-ins and true cost of gasoline. They were spearheaded and produced by actress and long-time environmental activist Alexandra Paul (who you may recognize from “Baywatch” and “Who Killed the Electric Car?”) and feature Stephen Zimpel, appearing as “Electric,” and Marvin Campbell, starring as “Gas.” (Full disclosure: I’m helping the organization get the word out about the spots, but I’d feature them anyway between their post-Gulf oil spill timeliness and fun approach.)
After she brought the wonderfully insightful Fail Faire to SF, Heather Fleming, the co-founder of Catapult Design, and I talked at her Mission Street office space (the consultancy’s work to develop products and technology that improve livelihoods were the topics du jour). The engineer and Stanford design and sustainability instructor talked to Women 2.0 about wearing business development and project management hats simultaneously at the helm of the new non-profit.
Be it for pair of original sneakers or a handwoven denim rug, your vote for a winner in the Ecouterre Recycled Denim Challenge should be submitted by Thursday to count towards one designer’s sustainable vision. Sponsored by Gap’s 1969 line (and, full disclosure, produced by my company, FM), the contest has collected photographs of readers’ most inspired creations from recycled denim, including Hyun Gun Jang’s striking geometric dress repurposed from wide leg jeans and Miranda Chance’s woven saddle bag made from old pants and coats.
Judges of the final 45 entries included Jill Fehrenbacher, creator of Ecouterre and the Inhabitat sites, and Ecofabulous founder Zem Joaquin among other design experts. The crowd favorite will win the opportunity to have their designs featured on Ecouterre, Inhabitat and the Gap 1969 Stream. I’ll be watching in my
