Not long ago, keeping backyard chickens was a patriotic duty. Perhaps that time has arrived once again.

These days, I believe the best food grows closest to home. Raising chickens can be a great way for families to enjoy healthy fresh eggs and develop a deeper connection to their food.

Last year, I helped to make a film called Chicken Flick. The purpose of the movie was to shine a bright light on families raising backyard chickens and to help change zoning laws so that everyone can enjoy a small flock in their yard.

We’ll be screening the film at the Greenburgh Nature Center next Wednesday February 8th at 7:30. If you can’t make it to the Nature Center, I hope to post the film online here on this blog on Thursday of next week. Stay tuned!

Here’s the info:

CHICKEN FLICK – BACKYARD CHICKENS FOR ALL
WED, FEBRUARY 8, 7PM REFRESHMENTS / 7:30PM PROGRAM
Imagine your breakfast omelet made from your own fresh, organic, Omega-rich eggs! Come watch “Chicken Flick”, a short film made by local environmentalist filmmakers Nikki Coddington and Susan Rubin. You will meet four Westchester County families who are enjoying the fun and benefits of raising chickens in their own backyards. After the film, you can ask questions of the filmmakers and the panel of local chicken owners – You may even walk away ready to take up this easier-than-you-think, fun and profitable hobby yourself! Chicken Flick was made by Coddington and Rubin at the Jacob Burns Film Center and Media Arts Lab on behalf of Transition Westchester, a grassroots initiative that seeks to build community resilience. This program will be held at the Nature Center in partnership with the Sierra Club Lower Hudson Group. FREE

Spinach

The final ingredient in my three ingredient cooking class is spinach. I’m a huge fan of leafy greens and include them in some form for all of my classes. Spinach is particularly versatile and can be really easy to prepare. That’s why I chose it for this Cooking Class for Guys at Gilda’s Club.

Tonight, all I did was toss some baby spinach into the pan with a little bit of minced garlic. I had just used the pan to cook up the Seafood Magic Shrimp so it had some leftover oil and magic sauce. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

Curried Quinoa , Seafood Magic Shrimp and Sauteed Spinach are a tri-fecta of easy to make super yummy dishes that add up to an easy meal that any guy can put together.  Hopefully their wives will give me a full report on their progress!

Spinach Salad

Another easy thing to do with baby spinach is to put together a simple spinach salad. Some sliced veggies of your choice along with a hard boiled egg and you’re almost there. Simply add a nice mustard balsamic dressing that you make yourself and you’re all set. By making the dressing from scratch, you can insure that you’ll be eating high quality ingredients. Homemade salad dressing is so easy, this is fast food at it’s best!

Mustard Balsamic Dressing

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

juice of one lemon

3 tablespoons  balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together, adjust to taste.

The Wovel on it's maiden voyage

Back in December after shoveling out from our first snowstorm, I did some research and discovered the Wovel.  I ordered one and it showed up earlier this week, perfect timing with snow in the forecast. This morning I assembled the crazy looking contraption and this afternoon, I woveled 5 inches of snow.

I have to say, the Wovel lives up to its claims. It made fast work of my driveway, didn’t hurt my back one bit. It was FUN! Best of all, I’m not burning fossil fuels and polluting the air just to clear my driveway. Clearing the snow is as easy as taking a walk.

Two thumbs up on the Wovel! You can get one directly from the Wovel people or go to Amazon (see link below)

Earlier this week, I blogged about Green Washing with my new wash machine. there’s another kind of greenwashing, but it has nothing to do with laundry. Greenwashing is  a form of white washing.  It is the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly.

These sort of deceptive practices have become widespread since green has become everyone’s favorite color.

Here’s an example of greenwashing at it’s best. The Poland Spring Eco-Friendly water bottle. According to the improved label, the new eco-friendly shape “looks and feels different because it is purposely designed with an average of 30% less plastic to be easier on the environment.”  The label on the bottle neglects to mention that the water bottles are one of the most detrimental products for the world.  30% less plastic than an average water bottle is a nice baby step in the right direction, but it really doesn’t change the reality.  It’s like a hybrid SUV that gets 13 mpg, instead of 10mpg. Or my mom’s Salem Light cigarettes. Those light cigarettes didn’t prolong her life, this eco-b.s. bottle is not gonna make a bit of difference when it comes to a cleaner environment! Despite what the corporations like to tell us, baby steps don’t work.

It’s time to take back the tap. Visit the website of Food and Water Watch to learn more.

I’m not talking about the kind of cheap oil that goes into Girl Scout Cookies and other forms of industrialized junk food. Its the oil that comes out of the ground that I’m thinking about! Created tens of thousands of years ago from prehistoric animals, not cottonseeds or soybeans.

After spending the day meeting with Transition Westchester and talking about creating a positive response to crazy scary things  like peak oil, climate change and economic instability, I spent the evening at home watching There Will be Blood.

Oil was first discovered in western Pennsylvania in the mid 1850′s. Once found, oil was pretty easy to get. Dig a hole, watch the stuff fly on out! Oil was easy, cheap and plentiful. For many decades, our country was basically the “Saudi Arabia” of oil. It fueled our economic expansion.  The US reached “peak oil” back in 1970 as was predicted by  Dr. M. King Hubbert a geophysicist back in 1956. After our domestic oil production peaked, we started to import oil from other countries. Now, decades later, it looks like oil production world wide may be at its peak. This peak moment has real economic and every day impact for all of us.

Let me be clear on one thing, we’re not talking about running completely out of oil, that is still many years away. Transition groups like the one now forming in Westchester is considering what life will be like when fossil fuels become significantly more expensive. We’ll be re-thinking what we eat, what we do for fun, how we’ll live. Right now, our food, our livelihoods and our fun are directly a result of cheap oil. How will that change when gas hits $50 or $100 a gallon? It could happen as we deplete the world’s remaining oil. At $100 a gallon, there is no question that 99% of us would have to make some serious changes. Food from far away would become super-expensive. Local food will be more than just a “foodie” trend, it will become a necessary way of life.

“Dig the well before you are thirsty” Chinese Proverb

The time is now to re-think what we eat and how we live in the face of more expensive energy sources. There is no better time than right now to get involved in a community garden or to transform your lawn into an edible garden. Check out this great site on how to become a hyperlocavore and get your hands dirty!

This short and sweet video explains what peak oil is and how everyone of us will be impacted when fossil fuels become less available and more expensive.

There is a better way to deal with this potential crisis, it will take some planning and re-localization of our resources. This is why I’m getting involved with a local Transition Initiative. Check out Transition for more information