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Food Rescue Programs

Pooja Jhobalia — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:50:29 +0000

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “More than 10 percent of the U.S. population depends on nonprofit food distribution organizations for a significant part of their nutritional needs.” With the impact of our economic downturn, more families are at risk of deciding between putting a meal on their plate or keeping a roof over their heads.

Food rescue programs ease this tension by providing food for a low fee or at no cost at all. Bridging the food industry with non-profit organizations, food rescue programs collect surplus prepared and perishable food from restaurants, corporate cafeterias, caterers, grocery stores and other food service establishments and distribute the food to social service agencies to help families in hardship.

Here are some local food rescue programs worth checking out:

Food Finders

Located in Long Beach, Food Finders is a multi-regional food bank that operates as a conduit between donors and people in need. Serving 230 agencies and over 50,000 meals per day, it has diverted 72,000,000 pounds of food from landfills since its inception in 1989. With the generosity of commercial and private donors Food Finders established Finders Keepers, a program that resells reclaimed furniture, antiques and household items as well. 100% of the proceeds are donated to Food Finders to continue their invaluable efforts in serving the community. For more information on how you can become a Food Finders volunteer, please visit their website or call (562) 598-3003.

The City of Irvine

A local government that has pledged to solving hunger and reducing our waste stream is the City of Irvine. Our neighbor to the south has sought out a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County to establish the Irvine Food Rescue Program. Second Harvest is a non-profit organization that coordinates food drives and donations with other partnering organizations such as churches, shelter, senior centers and other emergency assistance organizations. Within the past year, the Irvine Food Rescue program has benefitted 112 agencies resulting in over 363,264 lbs of rescued food. Angie Burgh, Management Analyst II at the City of Irvine, says, “The City of Irvine strives to be a leader in sustainability. Our partnership with Second Harvest of Orange County has created a fresh approach to reduce unnecessary waste by rescuing food for individuals in need.” For more information on volunteer opportunities at Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, please visit their website.

Macy’s

In the business world, Macy’s has launched a “Come Together” campaign to raise 100 million meals for Feeding America and its network of food banks in tribute to “Hunger Awareness Month” last month. This campaign encourages the public to host special dinner parties at home and ask guests to pledge a donation to Feeding America in lieu of bringing a host gift. Macy’s will match donations dollar for dollar until the goal of 100 million meals is reached.

Whether it be a non-profit, public or private agency that crafts solutions to eliminate hunger and reduce waste simultaneously, we can see that communities are making a difference.

Feeding America states, “99% of all participating food banks reported increases in demand for emergency food assistance over the last year.”

Help out these organizations by finding better use for your reclaimed household items or better yet, encourage restaurants in your area to donate their perishable food to a great cause while also keeping waste out of our landfills.

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In With the New: Obama’s Fuel Efficiency Standards

Pooja Jhobalia — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:15:13 +0000

As we are officially in the busiest driving season of the year, let’s take a look at the cars already on the road. More than 15,000,000 Angelenos drive the roads and as much as I hate to admit it – we are exceedingly dependent on foreign oil. It is remarkable that when gas prices plummet, we see more SUVs (aka cars the size of houses) driving around. And when gas prices soar, we see people driving compact cars with people piled up inside. It’s not surprising that our new presidential administration seeks to change these habits.

According to the EPA, our current vehicles get only 21 mpg on average. The Obama White House has unveiled an aggressive standard for auto manufacturers to boost the overall fuel economy by 40% over seven years.

The Obama Administration passed a new rule on May 19 requiring an average fleet fuel efficiency of 35.5 mpg by 2016. The old federal standard sought that efficiency by 2020.

Under the new system, all vehicles will need to meet or exceed a target adjusted to their vehicle size. For example, a Chevy Tahoe, which is 55 square feet, will be required to get about 24 mpg by 2011. Currently, the vehicle gets about 15 mpg. Additionally, this vehicle will have to continually improve from that point on. A senior administration official states that this transition will “remove 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air, take 177 million cars off the road, and shut down 194 coal-fired power plants.”

By the time these changes come into effect, it is estimated that gas prices will be closer to $3.50 – translation – people will flock to their mini compact vehicles and leave their SUVs hibernating in the garage. The Obama Administration states that the cost per fuel-efficient vehicle would increase to an optimistic $1,300 per new vehicle. It would take less than a few years to visualize the benefit of fewer trips to refuel our vehicles’ empty bellies.

How do gas-guzzlers suddenly become fuel efficient? No drastic changes need to be made to the infrastructure and many manufacturers have found that only minor modifications to the vehicle and engine design are necessary. So the only question left unanswered is: why have we not done this already?

For those of us who do not plan to purchase a new vehicle anytime soon, here are some tips to reduce your trips to the gas pump: Decrease aggressive driving, avoid excessive idling and maintain properly inflated tires. By following these tips you can significantly improve your vehicle’s fuel economy. Remember, the best gas mileage comes from adjusting our driving habits.

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Lush Handmade Soaps

Pooja Jhobalia — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:04:04 +0000

It’s not very common to find a handmade soap and cosmetics company that creates organic, environment friendly and vegetarian/vegan products that smell great and leave your skin thirsting for more.

Lush is one of these rare finds. Lush is a handmade soap and cosmetics company that utilizes fresh ingredients, such as strawberries, lemons, and mint, with minimal preservatives in their products. The company’s products are 100% vegetarian, 70% of which are vegan; you can rest assure knowing that their products are not animal tested. Remember, Meatless in May!

Lush products are handmade with little or no packaging. Most products are sold completely naked, including their bath bombs, shampoo bars, bath fizzes, massage bars and solid facial cleansers. Products sold on store shelves are rarely older than a few days, and when packaging is needed, products are wrapped in post-consumer recycled, recyclable and/or biodegradable materials.

My favorite naked product is Lush’s Buffy Body Butter. It is at the top of my “gotta have it” list every time I step through the door. The buffy body butter uses body heat to melt into your skin and is comprised of fair trade cocoa butter, crushed rice, almonds and aduki beans which exfoliate and moisturize your skin to silky-smooth perfection. It is great to use on your elbows, shoulders and that gorgeous derriere.

Lush developed Charity Pot, a skin-softening hand and body cream made with fair trade cocoa butter for animal rights, environmental protection and humanitarian concerns. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to this charitable fund. So you can have the soft skin fragranced with ylang ylang and marigold essential oils while knowing that you are helping someone in need.

While Lush continues to do great things through its charitable contributions and support of environmental activism, the continued inclusion of “safe synthetics” leaves something to be desired. After all, there is nothing “natural” about sodium bicarbonate, stearic acid or propylene glycol. We applaud Lush for choosing to use fresh, organic ingredients in its product lines and encourage them to do even more by removing these chemical ingredients from their ingredients list. FYI, Lush does provide a list of all the ingredients used in each of their individual products online.

If you have any concern about a Lush product, you can type the name of the ingredient in the product into Cosmetics Database. This database will populate symptoms and advise you of potential harmful effects you may experience from using a certain product.

If you would like to know more about Lush products’ ingredients, charitable organizations, and promise to aid international communities; please visit: www.lush.com

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