Serge the Concierge

Stomach Churning Bloody Meat Poster by Mathieu Frossard, UK National Vegetarian Week, May 20-26

One of Londoners favorite expression (punctuation) 'Bloody' takes new meaning with stomach churning 'Bloody Meat' Poster created by Mathieu Frossard for Do The Green Thing and on sale on their site.

Will it encourage you to eat more vegetables during UK's National Vegetarian Week (May 20-26, 2013)?

Raw take for Green Day # 251

Previously:

Natural Wine Pop Up hosted by Caves de Pyrene, May 21, at London International Wine Fair 2013

(* Bloody Meat poster image from 'Do the Green Thing' website)

Natural Wine Pop Up hosted by Caves de Pyrene, May 21, at London International Wine Fair 2013

Is Natural Wine Pop Up presence on May 21 at London International Wine Fair 2013 (May 20-22) influenced by the fact that for a couple of days the event has to share the London wine stage with all natural wine all the time Raw Fair (May 19-20).

Some of the offerings:

"Les Caves de Pyrene will host this Pop-Up, with a selection of over 50 wines from its own portfolio as well as others, both available in the UK and also seeking distribution. Producers will include critically-acclaimed biodynamic Rhone estate, Domaine Gramenon; Pheasant's Tears from Georgia; Villalobos with their Carignan made from "wild vines" in Chile and Jura's Philippe Bornard, whose reds and whites are made without sulphur. There will also be wines made in qvevri and amphora; orange wines from extended skin contact; sparkling natural wines made in the ancestral (pre-Champenoise) style, and other gems from a multitude of different terroirs and rarely-seen indigenous grape varieties."

Heard it through the grapevine for Green Day # 250

Previously: Vacant Lot Turned Vegetable Garden, Newark, 8th Street and 11th Avenue

Vacant Lot Turned Vegetable Garden, Newark, 8th Street and 11th Avenue

On my Monday run, I was going down 8th Street towards Central Avenue in Newark and noticed that a formerly garbage strewn vacant lot on corner of 8th Street and 11th Avenue had become a vegetable garden.

City farming for Green Day # 249

Previously: Organic Grappa, Vino Santo and Olive Oil from Cavalierino near Montepulciano

Organic Grappa, Vino Santo and Olive Oil from Cavalierino near Montepulciano

Midway between Montelpulciano and Pienzo, one can find Cavalierino, a producer of organic grappa and Vino Santo and organic olive oil.

If you happen to visit the area, Cavalierino also offers to host you with a number of appartments available for rent.

Booking is available online.

Green olives and green wine for Green Day # 248

Previously: CCSW, in plain English, Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing, Another Label?

CCSW, in plain English, Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing, Another Label?

It is hard to keep track of all the organic, sustainable, fair trade stamps of approval-accreditations.

Are you familiar with CCSW? In plain English it means Certified California Sustainable Winegrowin, a mouthful.

On a less technical side, April 2013 is Down to Earth Month for California wineries.

A dedicated site shares Top 10 Reasons California Wines are an Eco-Friendly choice.

I will let you be the judge(s).

I discovered CCSW label by way of The Vegan Wine who sells wines produced without use of any animal products.

Getting Down to Earth for Green Day # 247

Previously: Besides Dressing like a Banana, What Can You Do in March? Equal Exchange Banana Month

Besides Dressing like a Banana, What Can You Do in March? Equal Exchange Banana Month

Looking for greener ways to celebrate Easter from jelly beans (don't choke on them) made without high fructose corn syrup to organic-fair trade (and sensibly packaged) chocolates and ended up slipping on a banana...sort of...

Visiting Equal Exchange for their latest chocolate news, i found out that they also sell bananas from El Guabo in Ecuador and Cepibo in Peru.

They declared March Equal Exchange Banana Month and explain why in All bananas are not created equal by Jessica Jones-Hughes. 

Besides dressing like a banana, an easy thing to do is read The True Cost of Bananas (Small Farmers, Big Change...June 7, 2011) by Phillis Robinson and get a bit more knowledge on the topic.

Slipping on bananas, sort of for Green Day # 246

Previously: Tempted by Hairy Surface of Borage Leaves, A Feast of Weeds will be Pure Delight

Tempted by Hairy Surface of Borage Leaves, A Feast of Weeds will be Pure Delight

We tend to dive into intellectual digressions on best ways to 'green' our daily diet when part of the answer lies at our door.

Celebrity chefs have turned foraging into a hipster thing when foraging has been around for centuries, practiced by the rural and the poor who tried to scrape a living.

In his erudite and poetic book, A feast of weeds (University of California Press, 2012), Luigi Ballerini makes us discover or re-discover the long tail of eating weeds.

Each chapter is built around one specific food item. We all have eaten blueberries, cooked with thyme.

Have you made or served a dish with borage, milk thistle, red poppy leaves, samphire, mallow?

All of them and a few others get their time in the limelight in 'A Feast of Weeds', a book to devour.

Recipes that flavour the book were created by Ada De Santis.

Don't be afraid to eat your weeds (edible ones) for Green Day # 245

Previously: Long March to Earth Hour, Standby Lights are Evil, Joe Stephenson Kim Jong iL Red Dot Poster

Long March to Earth Hour, Standby Lights are Evil, Joe Stephenson Kim Jong iL Red Dot Poster

All of us, myself included, tend to leave chargers plugged in (even if they are not charging anything) or worse keep our electronics on even when we are not using them.

Turn them off is the message Joe Stephenson wants to convey with his Kim Jong iL red dot poster, Standy Lights Are Evil.

Standby Lights Are Evil was the March 8 offering in Do the Green Thing long march to Earth Hour on March 23, 2013.

Not on standby for Green Day # 244

Previously: Cut Carbon Footprint, Eat Seasonal, In March, Green Cabbage Cauliflower, Leeks

Cut Carbon Footprint, Eat Seasonal, In March, Green Cabbage Cauliflower, Leeks

As a recent piece in The Guardian noted, some food choices (Vegan, Vegetarian) are not that earth friendly as ingredients loved by its practitioners often come from far away and in some cases (quinoa) become unaffordable for local populations because of the price inflation caused by demand abroad.

With that in mind, I looked at what is in season in March.

All vegetables (in Europe), they are green cabbage, cauliflower, leeks and the faddish kale.

In the US, blood oranges are in season.

The Eat Seasonably Wheel gives you a month by month guide to what's in season in the UK.

They suggest using some Green Cabbage to make a Bubble and Squeak for Breakfast.

Bubble and Squeak is an English term for turning leftover vegetables (often cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower plus potatoes) into a dish.

Not familiar with Bubble and Squeak, here's Bubble And Squeak Soup Recipe from Restaurant Arras in Sydney which I originally shared in June 2010.

Vegetables, no waste for Green Day #243

Previously: Green Eyelashes Batting for Europe 'Eco Label'

(* Image of Bubble and Squeak cakes above from Bubble and Squeak Cakes recipe -Vegan Yum Yum, September 2008- by Lauren Ulm)

Green Eyelashes Batting for Europe 'Eco Label'

European commission seems to have decided that entertaining your audience can be more effective than a big expose.

 

They balanced the lengthy expose of Generation Awake on overconsumption, recycling, etc...with light hearted green eyelashes batting for Europe Eco Label (launched I believe in 2012).

Sprouting eyeslashes for Green Day # 242

Previously: Green not Drab, Brio Bamboo Lacquer Spotlight, Eco-Laboration with Anne and Thibaud Klepper