It sounds innocuous enough: You want to eat local, support small family farms, and consume products from animals that have been raised without hormones and antibiotics, and slaughtered away from the horrific conditions of typical slaughterhouses. But your seller doesn’t have a license to distribute the dairy or meat, and they haven’t taken the animal to a federally-inspected slaughterhouse. The meat isn’t USDA-approved, and the milk has not been tested for pathogens. The USDA says you are playing Russian Roulette with your health, and if the farmer gets busted, he could be charged with a felony, serve jail time, and be required to pay huge fines. Why take the risk?

“People want the health benefits, and they want to know where their food comes from, how the animals were raised, and what they ate, especially in light of the recent tainted meat scares,” says “Melanie,” who illegally distributes raw milk and meat out of the back of her Northern California store, some from animals she’s raised on her small farm. “People also want to buy local and keep commerce in the neighborhood,” she continues.

Melanie is part of a growing milk and meat black market. These renegades hope to shift food production towards local farmers, and away from unsafe and unclean large-scale factory farms that ship meat across state—and national—borders. “I come by this honestly and am interested in honest food production,” Melanie says. “I’m starting at the bottom, close to home, to change the food model.”

Melanie raises beef, pork, lamb, and the occasional chicken on her hundred or so acres. Currently she has about ten cows and twenty sheep, either born on her property or bought from other people she knows who raise animals in the same manner she would. “Essentially, I raise them with no intervention except for feeding them good and being nice to them,” she says. “They don’t need blankets and pillows, but I keep things clean and give them a varied diet.” She believes that she is participating in the animal’s entire lifecycle, from birth to death.

Melanie kills the chickens herself, but she takes her other animals to a nearby, non-USDA-inspected facility to be slaughtered. (Her closest USDA-approved facility is a four-hour drive, round-trip.) “He has a really nice place and he does a good job,” she says of her butcher, who processes, wraps, and returns the meat to her for around the same price as the USDA-approved facility. “If I had a nice facility at my place I’d rather do it myself, but I don’t know how to butcher,” she says.

She uses all parts of the animal, a practice she wishes more people would adopt. “People are out of the habit of using all the weird bits, like organ meats,” Melanie says. “They want the T-bone and the easy parts. We need to get back into the habit of using all of it.” She says that some people buy organ meats to eat, but most often, she sells those parts to people to use for pet food.

I ask how she fell into black market distribution. After acquiring some goats and using their milk herself—“long enough ago that no one was even into the raw milk thing,” she says—Melanie saved an older dairy cow from slaughter and started getting several gallons from her daily. “I began telling people, ‘I got more than I need, and you got some money,’ and that’s how we got started,” she says. “Plus, I grew up as a vegetarian and when I decided to eat meat, I decided it would be local, and I wanted to know exactly where it came from.” Recently she began selling meat from the animals she raises on her farm, and she also sells raw goat’s milk for an area farmer who drops it off at her storefront.

Melanie says that legalizing her meat and milk sales would be onerous. Although her farm is small, she is required to adhere to the same laws as industrial farms; she says the process to obtain licensing is “lengthy and complicated.” After getting her license, her farm would need to undergo routine inspections, and she’d have to use the USDA-inspected slaughterhouse.

Selling raw milk is even more difficult.  Raw milk distribution is legal in California and 25 other states, but there is no federal standard for raw milk, so each state handles its distribution differently. In California, it must undergo rigorous testing to adhere to more stringent standards than pasteurized milk must meet, and the products require warning labels. Conventional milk suppliers use the pasteurization process to kill pathogens, so there is no requirement to test batches before they are released. Raw milk, on the other hand, must be tested for pathogens at several different steps before it can be sold.

According to Melanie, it’s not worth the hassle for a smaller producer, and she says meeting the required standards is purposely difficult, to discourage small farmers from distribution. “It’s just too hard,” she says. “It’s way more difficult than meat, with more rules and more inspections. You must constantly test the milk.”

In states where raw milk is illegal, or for distributors who do not have the means to meet the stringent requirements, raw milk is often sold with a “pet food only” label, even though consumers purchase it for human use. Select Whole Foods Market stores carry such products, but in early October, sixteen Whole Foods stores in Florida decided to pull their raw milk “pet food” from shelves.

Raw milk is touted for its health benefits, mainly its immunoglobulins and beneficial bacteria that bolster the immune system, and because it contains lactase, an enzyme that helps people digest milk. Some people experience allergies or difficulty digesting pasteurized milk because the heat used in this process destroys lactase.

Melanie feels that the meat she sells has its own health benefits; she believes that the butcher she deals with poses less of a contamination risk than larger-scale slaughter facilities, and she says her own farm is much cleaner than industrial feedlots. According to a recent New York Times article, so far in 2009, almost half a million pounds of E. coli-infected ground beef have been recalled nationwide, and a single hamburger can include various grades of meat from hundreds of different cows—even from different slaughterhouses. Amazingly, there is no federal requirement for meat grinders to test their beef for pathogens.

To add to confusion, meat labeling can be misleading. “Organic” does not imply humane slaughter, and “grass-fed” does not mean the animal was not also given hormones or antibiotics. Use of these two terms is USDA regulated and sometimes third party–approved, meaning audits from animal welfare or food safety manufacturing organizations take place in the slaughter or processing facility. “Free-range” applies only to poultry and is more of a marketing claim; there is no enforcement from the USDA or other agencies.

“It is surprising how little inspection there is when you take an animal to be [legally] slaughtered,” Melanie says. “When you take it to slaughter, they don’t ask you how you raised that animal, what meds you gave it, how you fed it, anything.” She believes that her slaughtering process is more humane; she says after bringing her animals to her black market butcher, he will let the animals sit on his lot for a day or two to calm down after transport, a practice she says results in better-tasting meat. “If the animal is less traumatized the meat comes out better,” she says.

Word is spreading about Melanie, and so is demand. But she is truly afraid about being caught. “You can really get in a lot of trouble,” she says. When I press her for details, she replies, “I’ve heard of people losing a lot and being fined a lot but I’ve pretty much tried to stay out of it and not ask. I don’t even want to know.”

Indeed, the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA), which inspects meat and produce and regulates farm safety and management practices, is serious about halting illegal sales. Steve Lyle, the agency’s director of public affairs, says that state and federal laws “provide food safety for consumers. While both milk and meat have substantial nutritional benefits, if not handled properly, they also can be easily contaminated.”

Pathogens that cause food-borne illness may contaminate meat or milk that is improperly handled (not wrapped tightly enough, for example), or stored at temperatures that are warm enough for bacteria to proliferate. The most common are Salmonella and Campylobacter, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

“Illegal meat and milk processing has led to serious illness and even death,” Lyle continues. “That is why the handling of these particular food products is carefully regulated.” Salmonella causes about 550 deaths per year in the US.

Lyle says that CDFA investigators make an average of two arrests or prosecutions per month across the state, typically for the unlicensed manufacture or sale of raw milk products, including cheeses. “Manufacturing or processing for resale of any milk or milk product in a facility not licensed by CDFA is technically a felony,” he says. Can you get in trouble for buying the products? “We usually focus on unlicensed sellers, and strive to educate consumers,” says Lyle. Regulation at the county level may be more lax—the environmental health department worker I spoke to says his department rarely makes arrests for unlawful meat or milk distribution. Then again, he says, because the offense is considered so serious, most cases are handled directly by the CDFA.

To date, there are only two legal raw dairy producers in California: Organic Pastures, near Fresno, and Claravale Farm in Panoche. Organic Pastures sells raw dairy products from pasture-raised cows. On this 500-acre farm, no environmentally unfriendly pesticides are used, and its 350 cows are not fed hormones, antibiotics, or soy. Pasture-raising cattle is considered more beneficial for the cow, the milk, and the environment—unlike conventional dairies, there is no accumulation of manure in a concentrated area, lessening runoff and pollution.

Organic Pastures CEO Mark McAfee explains that because of California state standards for legal raw milk, he must “go the extra marathon” to test every step of the way to show that his milk is free from bacteria and pathogens. “Our protocols are pretty intense here,” says McAfee. “A lot of testing and cleaning. We can’t be sloppy. It’s not the bacteria coming off or out of the cow that is the concern; it’s how the milk is handled after it’s been milked.”

McAfee says that because raw milk is a live food that contains beneficial bacteria, it does not putrefy; rather, its cultures ferment into another usable form such as kefir or sour cream. With pasteurized milk, beneficial cultures have been killed during the heating process, but it contains spoilage bacteria that render it unusable after its expiration date.

All the testing is worth it for the relationship his dairy has with its customers, McAfee says. “We want to be an example,” he says. “If you look at our food chain that we have here, there is a very intimate relationship with our consumer. There is no one between the consumer and myself, and they visit us directly. Other dairies do not know their consumers. They get paid poorly, and the consumers get poor nutrition. We get paid very well, and our consumers get incredible nutrition from a short food chain.”

But in many areas, it can be hard for consumers to find legal raw milk or local meat-sellers who have complied with the USDA’s rules. To circumvent food regulations—or a retail middleman like Melanie—some consumers are chipping in to collectively buy an animal, paying a farmer for its care and upkeep, and divvying up the milk, organs, meat, and other byproducts. (There is no law against using raw milk or meat from an animal you own.) Depending on the county or municipality, you can keep chickens or even goats in your backyard, a practice that is growing in popularity. “You’re lucky if you live somewhere where you can raise animals in your backyard, but you can’t do that everywhere,” Melanie points out.

Meanwhile, the black market provides a compelling alternative for Melanie’s customers, although she admits she is considering going legit. “With a little more effort I could probably be totally legal, but I’m just lazy,” she says. “I need an inspected freezer and a clean, tidy little section, but everything would have to go [to the USDA-inspected facility] to be slaughtered, which takes forever.” For now, she is flying under the radar, and business is booming.

About half of the 7.5 acres are planted with gourmet tomatoes, while the rest contains summer and winter squash, peppers, and herbs. Hempel, who has farmed here for four years, employs two interns and a part-time professional crew of four that takes on nitty gritty work from trellising to harvesting. As we make our way through the vines, he pauses occasionally to pluck tomatoes and show them off, describing the varieties and their history.

“Here is our first ripened tomato in the field,” Hempel says, proudly displaying an heirloom from Italy. “It’s a Costoluto Genovese, named for its deep ribs. These are popular and they come on early.”

We amble on, checking out Pink Mortgage Lifters, Speckled Romans, and new this season: Green Days and Duros. Some are shaped like hearts, some like strawberries, and others are striped, ribbed, or streaked with color. Hempel takes a moment to recount the origin of flavorful but oddly named Pink Mortgage Lifters, telling the story of Radiator Charlie, an auto mechanic. He had no formal education or plant breeding experience but created this legendary tomato back in the 1940s by cross-breeding some of the largest tomatoes he could find, and selling the resulting plants for one dollar each. He was able to pay off the $6,000 mortgage on his house in a few years.

Hempel has a PhD in plant developmental biology and has bred many of the forty varieties on his farm. “Half are gourmet heirloom—the best seeds I could find—and half are varieties I bred,” he explains. “We have a lot of diversity, every color and shape. Lots with stripes because those are the ones that I’ve developed, and that’s what I breed for.” Hempel tells me the average average production for tomatoes grown organically in California is 25,000 pounds per acre. Last year he yielded
over 40,000 pounds. “This is really good soil,” he says with a smile.

Earlier today, Hempel toured these rows with a USDA organic certification agent, who visited the farm to renew his certification for another year. Hempel’s farm has been USDA-certified organic since July 2008, and he is required to undergo yearly inspections to assure he is adhering to the standards set in 2002 by the National Organic Program (NOP), when legislation required the USDA to develop national standards for organic products.

Hempel chatted with the certifying agent about his choice of fertilizer (rabbit manure); weed abatement (he plants his rows far enough apart to run the tractor through, which keeps most of the weeds in check); and his farming practices. “It involves looking around, chatting about the farm, looking at weeds, and talking about how you farm,” Hempel explains. “They can
spot red flags. They want to see the crew and get a sense of the work that goes on.” Hempel also must provide records. “If you begin using something new, you must document to show you’re not buying non-organic seeds,” he offers as an example.

If the agent discovers problems such as suspected soil contamination—samples can be taken for testing— gaps in record-keeping, or improper pest management, the farm could have its certification revoked until the issues are corrected.

It’s still a little early in the season; I haven’t hit peak harvest time, from mid-August until mid-September. “Peak flavor occurs when there is just a hint of green stripes,” Hempel explains as he examines one of his varieties. “We pick them early because they ripen just as well off vine as on. The whole Chez Panisse thing about eating only what you pick that day—it doesn’t work
with tomatoes. In fact, some tomatoes require that you let them sit for two to three days. If you eat them the same day, you’re actually eating an inferior product.”

We come across several tomatoes that have been half-noshed by gophers, and I inquire about Hempel’s chemical-free pest control. He gestures toward Poppy and Ladybug, and also adds, “Tomatoes don’t have many pests. The biggest risk is fungus, so you want them off the ground, and don’t over-water.” Over-watering also reduces taste. Hempel also explains that he rotates the squash and tomatoes yearly for good soil health. He spends the winter developing new varieties.

The USDA organic stamp is intended to show that foods adhere to strict quality standards and are grown without chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. Prior to national standards, organic certification was conducted by several organizations such as Oregon Tilth or California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), each with its own set of standards. As the organics
movement gained popularity, the USDA created a standardized certification process to eliminate confusion, prevent fraud, and ensure a level of adherence.

But NOP attracts critics galore, starting with the charge that while large producers of inorganic produce needn’t prove anything, organic farmers must pay to be certified and constantly prove their methods. Moreover, the regulatory certification is a potential barrier for small producers due to increased costs, paperwork, and bureaucracy.

I ask Hempel for more detail about the certification process. “It’s not without effort, but not overwhelmingly difficult or unreasonable,” Hempel replies. “Farming’s just hard in general,” he says. “My point of view is that it protects the term ‘organic’ from large enterprises that would throw the term around loosely if they weren’t required to certify.” Hempel thinks the process forces small farmers to plan ahead. “I don’t think the certification process is energy wasted, and as a consumer, I think it is a valuable protection.”

On his first application for certification, he filled out about a day’s worth of paperwork, and now he renews yearly, which involves time spent organizing his receipts and records and the couple hours touring his farm with the organic certifying agent. He’s been growing organically the entire time he’s had his plot, because one must practice organic methods for at least three years before the farm can be certified.

What are the benefits to being certified organic? “It’s different from what I originally thought,” he explains. “All the high-end chefs don’t give a damn. Consumers at the market don’t care about certification, as long as we said we were growing organic. But the larger stores care. My relationship with them changed immensely and immediately once I became certified. It’s more important to the commercial, traditional stores because it’s what they sell when they put up signs in the stores. Being organic matters if you want to sell through large markets.” Hempel sells to local restaurants, farmers’ markets, and grocery stores.

Some regard the USDA-certified organic stamp as a seal of diluted standards—and are determined to use their own set of standards. For instance, a group called the Mendocino Renegades wants to keep the government out of organics, so they created their own standards that are tougher than those developed by the USDA.

“The USDA was threatening to include sewage sludge and genetically modified organisms into organics at one point,” says Mendocino Renegades founder and committee member Els Cooperider. Sewage sludge is the thick slurry left behind in the sewage plant after wastewater has been treated, and it contains highly toxic materials such as industrial solvents and heavy metals that would be released in soil when used as fertilizer. “That didn’t pass, but it will constantly be a threat, so I decided it was time to turn away from this and do our own thing.” Cooperider owns the Ukiah Brew Pub, the country’s first certified organic restaurant, and she is heavily involved in food policy in Mendocino County. “We were really into local organics, and I suggested a project where we privately certify people who want to be organic,” she says. The program spread by word-of-mouth and now includes eighteen farms.

Founded in 2000, the Renegades are committed to promoting local organic and biodynamic farms, so they don’t certify outside the county—and their farmers can’t sell outside county lines. Their aim is to create an inexpensive, credible organics program for Mendocino County restaurants, stores, and consumers, and the founders structured the program to stay small and local. “We all work on a volunteer basis—no one is being paid,” says Cooperider. “We charge one to three hundred dollars to become certified instead of the four to five thousand [the government charges], so it’s very reasonable.”

The process works in a similar manner to the NOP, except that the initial application process is simpler. “It’s way easier to apply, even though our standards are much tougher than the USDA,” Cooperider explains. “The application is very short and user-friendly. Then our committee will do inspections, and these are done in pairs; that way, someone on the committee is always learning something. The USDA certifiers can’t give farmers advice or references. They’re supposed to go out and take notes for the certification and not be a resource. It’s the opposite with the Renegades––we go around looking at different farms and certifying and renewing,and we’ll give farmers ideas on how to improve soil and get a better crop.”

But is it legal? “We can’t say we’re organic,” says Cooperider. “We don’t care about that because we’re only trying to sell in the county, so those who know Mendocino Renegades know it’s organic, even though the USDA has decided to hijack that word.” There is a section in the produce department at the Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op specifically for Mendocino Renegade
produce, and it is labeled as such. “None of our products says they’re organic,” Cooperider says. “Our products say ‘certified Mendocino Renegades.’”

The Renegades’ model is working so well that farms from other counties have approached them for certification. “We told them we’re happy to help them set up their own Renegade group and get them forms and whatever they need,” she says. “Obviously our program is working, and it’s a rewarding thing to work on. We always have new applicants—it’s growing.”

I wonder aloud if our nationalized organics program can de-federalize and follow the Renegades’ model county by county. “It can, and I think it will, because the USDA organic certification is moving more and more towards big industrial farms,” Cooperider says. “One of the sad things you would see in inspecting big farms was going into the house to look at the paperwork and noticing that the farmer didn’t eat organic, or they don’t have a personal vegetable garden. They’re only into growing organic for the money. You don’t find that with the Renegades. They walk the talk and do everything organic.”

Back at Hempel’s farm, my tour is coming to an end as I stop at the picnic table by the chicken coop to check out the day’s multi-colored harvest. A huge crate is filled with yellow zucchini and a large, fluted, cream-colored summer squash with ten finger-like ribs that come to points at the end—a Yugoslavian Finger fruit. There’s a crate of Armenian cucumbers. The chickens are happily pecking at those gopher-noshed tomatoes.

Although he uses the more cumbersome USDA certification system, Hempel is certainly walking the organic talk—this is the first year out of the last four that he’ll make a profit, though he’s lowered the prices on his tomatoes this season due to the economic downturn. As I leave, Hempel runs after me, calling “Look at this!” He is beaming as he displays his first ripe Pink Mortgage Lifter, fresh from the vine.

Over the past three years, Miller’s traversed the globe to find “cold spots,” areas with low incidences of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, while investigating traditional diets in those areas. Her book offers a fascinating travel journal combined with information about time-tested, indigenous diets, including recipes, from five regions across the world.

In Copper Canyon, nestled in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Miller discovered that the native Tarahumara Indians ward off diabetes with nopales (prickly pear cactus pads) which help regulate blood sugar; in Okinawa, Japan, a cold spot for breast and prostate cancers, she learned that mushrooms contain cancer-fighting substances. On the Greek island of Crete, she found that freshly foraged wild greens, fish, yogurt, olive oil, and a little wine are high in antioxidants and essential fatty acids, and that their anti-inflammatory properties prevent heart disease. Certain combinations of foods—like olive oil, lemon, and greens—eaten together have synergistic effects that make nutrients more bioavailable. She also visited Iceland and Africa, cold spots for depression and colon cancer.

Miller says that traditional diets always begin with seasonal, unprocessed whole foods, organic by default.
“People fare better on anything that’s not a processed, Western diet,” she says as she makes a quick survey of the stalls at Alemany. “Indigenous diets are really recipes for eating that are grounded in tradition. Cooks over centuries have refined these recipes for generations, using ingredients that grew near each other and tasted good but also kept people healthy.”

Even at this early hour, the market is bustling with shoppers and vendors meeting at stalls filled to the brim
with fresh greens, herbs, spotted eggs, and the beginnings of the season’s sweet strawberries. Engaging and bubbly, Miller tells me she’ll be shopping for a dinner party she’s hosting that evening. The feast draws upon the different diets she discusses in the book. On the menu are slow-cooked pork with mole sauce, potatoes, handmade tortillas, green salad, and those beautiful strawberries with freshly whipped cream for dessert.

We wander slowly through the market, chit-chatting about her favorite vendors. Soon we find a stall featuring nopales; Miller speaks to the vendor in fluent Spanish asking for the smaller, more tender pads. “The interesting thing about nopales is that they have a substance that is really close to Metformin, a drug that doctors use to lower blood sugar in patients with diabetes,” she explains. “Nopales are great for patients who need to gain better control of their blood sugar.”

The vendor demonstrates how to use a cheese grater to cut off the sharp spines. “I usually don’t use a cheese grater,” Miller, says, shaking her head. “I use a knife. This is a great trick! I wish I’d known this for my book.”

As we meander on, I ask about using food as medicine. “I feel that food has become this other religion that
people get crazy about,” Miller says cautiously. “At the end of the day, food is food. There are lovely ways to put food together that are healing and delicious, but one of the big risks I run as a physician who does this work is causing confusion. People think I’m proposing something like ‘medical food,’ and I’m not doing that—food is foremost for pleasure, but it so happens that I use its added benefits for healing.”

Diet has always been a topic of confusion and contradiction. From fat-free foods to the promise of weight
loss with bacon, diet plans are as faddish as pet rocks. In Miller’s practice, she sees patients whose weights yo-yo up and down on the latest hot diets. When she began to recommend traditional diets based on indigenous foods, those patients found success keeping weight off—though that quest soon became an adjunct to feeling more vital all around.

The traditional diets Miller uncovered on her travels share key components: Foods are always seasonal, fresh, and local; preparation techniques have been honed and passed down for centuries; food is shared communally and eaten for satiety, with observation paid to fasts and rituals; sugars and salts come from natural, unprocessed sources such as honey or sea vegetables; meat is used in small quantities, with fats more likely to come from nuts, seeds, and minimally processed oils such as olive or coconut; fermented foods are used as condiments, and spices such as cinnamon and cumin are likely to have healing properties
of their own.

Chronic disease rates skyrocketed when people migrated from rural areas to cities and began eating modern-day processed foods that gradually edged out traditional diets. It made sense to Miller that combinations of indigenous and unadulterated foods have health-promoting properties lacking in today’s refined foods. Whole foods provide the nutrients that prevent disease and lessen the effects of chronic illness.

So what separates Miller’s book from a fad diet book? “These foods and recipes make sense to people on an intuitive level,” Miller says. “[Readers] can manipulate the recipes to work with their food preferences.” And, she adds, “Everyone has a story about a grandmother or great-grandmother who used to cook, and those traditional recipes are passed from generation to generation.” Some of that information has found its way into Miller’s book, and “when people read it, they resonate with that wisdom,” she says.

Miller dashes away to score a beautiful head of lettuce. “I always get so distracted by food,” she says, apologizing for disappearing mid-thought. “I’ll serve this with a citrus and avocado dressing. Sound good?”

We approach a stall brimming with red, purple, brown, and yellow-skinned potatoes. “You’re looking at a whole range of glycemic indecies here,” she says as she gestures toward the colorful array. The glycemic index refers to a food’s effect on blood sugar levels; eating low on the glycemic index can help prevent diabetes and weight gain. But while ingredients are the foundation, explains Miller, “Different ways of cooking foods can give you different benefits.” In this case, the brown russets are much more starchy and release more sugar, making them less desirable, and the reds and purples are more waxy, so they release sugars much more slowly. “If you cook them and cool them before eating, it lowers their glycemic index,” she says. Miller learned this in Iceland, where smaller, waxy spuds are traditionally used.

After Miller selects potatoes, I ask her if an indigenous diet means eating according to one’s ethnicity—if I’m Japanese, should I stick to seaweed-and-fish-based meals? “That’s really a bunch of BS when you look at genetics,” Miller replies. “You can optimize your health no matter who you are just by eating healthy foods. Statistically, what’s killing us is the bad food we eat, the exercise we don’t get—and stress. I recommend that people follow their taste buds. I think the diets in the book can work for all people.”

I ask about her staple recipes and favorite cookbooks. “Recipes are short little poems for me,” she replies. “I read them the way people read magazines. I’m Jewish, so I cook a lot from Claudia Rodin’s Jewish cookbook. She provides amazing traditional recipes. It’s a microcosm of global cooking.” She mentions Alice Waters’ work and San Francisco’s Zuni Café cookbook. “There are about ten to fourteen recipes I cook around, and I make a lot of slow-cooked recipes where I’ll put everything in a pot on a low simmer.”

After the market, we head over to La Palma, a mexicatessen in the Mission District, where Miller looks for finely ground masa to make handmade corn tortillas. She explains that traditional tortilla preparation calls for treating the corn with lime, which makes the tortillas more nutrient-rich, a tip she learned in Copper Canyon.

As we cruise the aisles, Miller points out the reddish-hued dried corn grain used to make pozole, a thick Mexican stew traditionally served for holiday feasts. She orders the masa flour along with a fresh, warm, corn tortilla for me to sample—a real treat. It far surpasses store-bought varieties that may contain hydrogenated fats or preservatives.

After La Palma, we wander down the street to Dynamo, a little independent coffee stand famous for its inventive donuts, such as candied orange blossom or Meyer lemon huckleberry. Miller orders a cappuccino along with a maple bacon donut, a treat before she heads off for her weekly dance class. “Everything in moderation,” she says. “Sweetness is one of the five tastes, and dessert is wonderful but should be just that—dessert—and not used as an energy snack.”

As we wait for her coffee, we discuss the connection between health and diet. “When you become a doctor and learn how to use fancy drugs, you start to realize that medicine has limitations, and it’s really like putting a Band-Aid on things,” she says. “The minute you want to work with what’s causing the illness, you have to look at what the person eats.” Miller explains how very natural it was to bring diet and food into her practice: “That’s the definition of integrative.”

Our urban foraging for Miller’s dinner party also epitomizes the ideas behind slow food: shopping locally, eating organic and seasonally, and cooking recipes steeped in tradition with friends and family. “Food is pleasure, and if people start to embrace that, they’ll start to eat better,” Miller says. “I was just in Europe eating the most amazing meals with friends last week, and I watched them eat. They don’t pig out, and we spent two hours at the dinner table. Eating mindfully is part of it.”

She takes a sip of cappuccino and a bite of donut and tells me, “As a culture we’ve taken food to extremes—we’re obsessed with it or completely disassociated with it. I think that’s really unhealthy.”

Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees
Nalini Nadkarni
University of California Press, 2008
$24.95 hardcover, $17.95 paper

These two books published in the same year by UC Press could hardly be more inspiring. As classroom texts, they could jumpstart the next generation of career treehuggers, in the arts as well as the sciences. Trees has the immediate appeal of fabulous photographs on every single page, though it is trying hard to be a botany textbook. The book’s cover says it all: on the front, vibrant photographs that make you want to sit and stare for hours; on the back, a labeled diagram titled “Plant Tissues in a Tree Trunk.”

The text contains annoying moments: In the introduction, the authors ask the reader to stand below any
tree and “think of how many leaves it has; what might be the total area of leaf surface, and how much light this intercepts.” No information follows—the entire exercise is left to the reader’s computational skills. How
much more compelling it is when Nalini Nadkarni, in Between Earth and Sky, explains exactly how she measured the windblown movements of tiny branchlets to arrive at the conclusion that a 100-foot-tall Douglas fir moves in the wind an equivalent of 186,400 miles a year.

Trees does provide a serviceable, if rarely riveting, introduction to the botany of trees, especially in its coverage of the major classification changes of the past decade. The guide to 99 “remarkable trees of the world” is a fascinating tour, and the occasional mind-blowing detail makes reading all the way through worthwhile. (One example: The Swollen Thorn Acacia grows little packets of nutrients at its leaflet tips whose only known function is as food gathered by a particular ant species for its larvae.) The “Trees and
the Human World” section is a bit obvious to any human already living in the world, and the concluding chapter on the planetary importance of trees to climate stability lost me with: “If the proposed climate warming occurs, sea levels will rise over the next decade as ice caps at the poles, along with ice flows such as glaciers, melt.” Last I heard, this “proposed” climate warming, complete with melting
ice caps and glaciers, was well under way.

So maybe reading Trees is not a transcendent experience, but I guarantee looking at the pages can be. In addition to majestic landscapes and startling details of leaf and flower, there are many gorgeous scanning electron microscope images. Even non-readers and pre-reading age children will enjoy this book.

Between Earth and Sky is the perfect companion to Trees, providing intellectual complexity, informational
detail, and global vision to match the coffee-table textbook’s eloquent visual engagement. Nadkarni is a
wonder. Her first book, an edition of one, written when the author was nine years old, was Be Among the Birds: My Guide to Climbing Trees.

This volume expands on Nadkarni’s tree-climbing experiences (she’s become a world-renowned canopy biologist), and covers an astonishing array of links between trees and humans, from our use of trees as food, shelter, and medicine all the way to the role of trees in art, literature, and spirituality.

Nadkarni is one of those people who can generate interest in any subject from the rolling momentum of her
own enthusiasm, so every page enthralls. The text veers unexpectedly from personal anecdote to scientific study to poetry with many unnamable places between. To Nadkarni, everything is fascinating, everything is related, and everything relates to trees. As she explains it at the start: “Although we are not of the same family, trees and humans are in a sense married into each other’s families, with all the challenges, responsibilities, and benefits that come from being so linked.”

In her chapter on spirituality and trees, Nadkarni gets right to the heart of the matter with a story that takes
place at an Olympia, Washington, synagogue where she was giving a talk on, yes, spirituality and trees. As she tells it: “One man sat in the very back row. He was elderly and blind, and everything he owned appeared to be resting damply in a shopping bag beside him. After the discussion, he stood up and directed his unseeing eyes upward. ‘When it is cold and raining, like tonight,’ he said, ‘and I stand under a tree, I stay dryer and warmer than when I am out in the open. Trees protect me.’ He paused. ‘Sort
of like God.’”

That’s bad news, because phthalates are everywhere, most commonly found in cosmetics, toys, plastics, and food packaging. Even worse, researchers have recently turned them up in a very unexpected place: prescription drugs. Could the drugs you’re taking to improve your health potentially worsen it?

Dr. Russ Hauser, professor of Environmental and Epidemiological Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, has been studying the effects of phthalates and other environmental chemicals on fertility and pregnancy for over a decade. He and his associates recently began to take a closer look at the ingredients in pharmaceutical drugs. Hauser and his team scour databases listing ingredients in medications to determine which medications may contain phthalates, then use data from prescription drug users’ urine samples to correlate their use of the suspected medications with urinary levels of phthalates. He mentions that there are hundreds of studies on phthalates in rats but only about a dozen or so studies that have explored health effects in humans.

Studies in lab animals show that exposure to phthalates causes infertility and a range of reproductive tract malformations, particularly in males. So far Hauser has tallied 47 meds approved by the FDA with ingredients—usually contained in a pill’s time-release coating—that could contain phthalates. Based on urinary analysis of prescription drug users, the most common medications Hauser’s team believes contain phthalates are Asacol, used for irritable bowel disease; Prilosec, taken for heartburn; and Respbid, a bronchodilator.

“We started these studies four years ago with a single medication, and we’ve now demonstrated that several meds have contributed to phthalate exposure,” says Hauser. During a 2003 study, one of Hauser’s test subjects showed levels of phthalates a thousand times greater than anyone else in study. The researchers concluded that the high phthalate levels resulted from the enteric time-release coating on the Asacol that he was taking for inflammatory bowel disease. The enteric coating is a barrier applied to drugs to control where it’s taken up in the digestive system. “Phthalates are present in time-release coatings because it’s part of the drug delivery system,” says Hauser. “The coating prevents the drug from being broken down in the stomach, so it will be delivered to the colon, the area of disease.”

Although the FDA does not currently regulate or test for phthalates, some officials and scientists are As of January 2009, California became the first state to ban products for children and babies that contain more than residual quantities of phthalates. In the same vein, the NRC is now urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reexamine the way it assesses phthalates’ toxicity to humans, and to prioritize cumulative risks rather than individual exposure. The European Union restricts the concentrations of several phthalates in children’s toys and has also banned phthalates from cosmetics.

Hauser mentions that he does not plan to notify the FDA of his findings, but he maintains that “Our role as researchers is to identify sources of exposure, whether it be from medications or other sources, and the FDA or EPA should use that information for risk assessment policy, policy setting, and potential regulation.”

Hauser and his group hope to assess over-the-counter drugs and nutritional supplements in the future, as well as generate a more complete list of which prescription drugs contain phthalates. Hauser wants to continue testing and research to draw more conclusive data about phthalates and cumulative risk exposure in humans. “We’d ultimately like to look at not only exposure but also potential outcomes: identify populations potentially exposed to phthalates
at high levels and look at potential health risks.”

A Community Guide to Environmental Health extends three decades of work by Berkeley’s Hesperian Foundation, publisher of Where There Is No Doctor: a Village Healthcare Handbook. To call Where There Is No Doctor a classic is understating the case–according to the World Health Organization it is the most widely used health manual in the world, now in print in at least 75 languages (the most recent being Karakalpak, the language of Uzbekistan).

The new guide follows the same heavily illustrated and simply stated format, starting with an explanation of environmental health: “If our food, water, and air are contaminated, they can make us sick. If we are not careful about how we use the air, water, and land, we can make ourselves and the world around us sick. By protecting our environment, we protect our health.”

The guide gives equal attention to the big picture and to important details (headings include “Corporate control is bad for our health” as well as “Diarrhea diseases”). Topics range from water supplies and sanitation to watershed protection and tree planting, through community food security and sustainable farming practices (with cautionary chapters called “The False Promise of Genetically Engineered Foods” and “Pesticides are Poison”). Toxic chemicals, health impacts of the mining and oil industries, and clean energy sources are also covered. Each topic includes an instructive true story and directions for a group activity aimed at increasing community awareness and involvement with the issue at hand. While much of the emphasis is on rural village life, urban communities are included when they fit the topic–for example, the story of the People’s Grocery of Oakland illustrates efforts toward food security.

Beyond its intended use as a public health resource for the poorest ninety percent of the world’s population, A Community Guide to Environmental Health offers lessons for the privileged rest of us. First, this book will remind you how unspeakably wealthy we are. Second, environmental health is about the effects of how we live, and in wealthy countries we can make choices that matter to everyone. Third, by showing what is necessary for healthy communities and a healthy environment, this book lets us see clearly what is unsustainable in our own practices–see the chapter on toilets, for example–and provides a starting point for creative reinvention. Let’s do it. I want that compost. –Gina Covina

No matter how much you’ve already heard about peak oil, climate change, and the bankruptcy of our institutions, read this book. Sharon Astyk’s very personal perspective not only offers a fresh analysis of our situation but provides energetic encouragement for hundreds of things we can do now to build sustainable communities and improve our odds on survival. Depletion and Abundance is an antidote to the immobilizing panic or retreat into denial that often follows our glimpses of the stark dark truth.

The book weaves Astyk’s astute critique of the industrialization of almost everything with stories of her family’s adventurous attempt to reduce their energy footprint by ninety percent. Substantive quotes from many authors deepen the intellectual overview, while perky sidebars offer practical tips (“Put up a clothesline!”). After reading Astyk’s take on technological “solutions,” I regretfully concur: “We absolutely must get over the notion that the process of preparing for the long emergency is the process of purchasing a totally different infrastructure.”

So how do we prepare? “Much of my advice in this book can be summed up as ‘go home and stay there,’” Astyk says, adding that the average American moves every five years. Building cooperative communities, local economies, and especially localizing our food supplies figure large in Astyk’s priorities. “We cannot simultaneously call for an end to multinational monoliths and also pay them to do something as basic as feed us,” she says. Practical ideas abound for getting more involved with our food sources, whether we’re urban apartment dwellers or rural gardeners. Astyk makes growing and saving food sound noble and patriotic: “Food preservation and food production are keys to democracy.”

Astyk concludes by reminding us that “virtually all Americans command power and wealth unimaginable to most of the people in the world,” and that with power comes responsibility. She challenges us all to change our lives now. “Peak Oil and Climate Change are about justice, plain and simple. They are about fairness, morality, and integrity–we in the rich world have chosen to steal from the poor in our own country and other nations, and from our children and grandchildren, and we need to stop it right now.” It’s a rousing sermon from a Jewish mother who knows what’s good for us. And when the book is over, you know not only that’s she’s right, but that this new life before us holds the potential to be much more satisfying, even with its deprivations, than the old way ever could be. –Gina Covina

Public health and sociology professor Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics and Safe Food, is at it again, this time telling the tale of the largest recall to date in her latest book, Pet Food Politics. In early 2007, dogs and cats were sickened from food and later died, prompting officials to strip shelves of pet foods, an action that soon kicked off a string of recalls for other items such as toys, toothpaste, and candy.

Nestle traces the tainted pet food back to its source: melamine, added in China to pet foods to raise the protein content (and to powdered and fresh milk for the same reason, resulting in the recent deaths and sickening of infants, which has resulted in another enormous recall). Why do European and North American companies source protein for their foods from China? Nestle unveils dirty tales of animal and human food production, suggesting we always ask where our food comes from.

Although the book at times reads like an extended newspaper article, complete with charts, lists, and graphs, this is investigative journalism at its best. Contaminated pet foods are the early sign of risks associated with the escalating globalization of our food supply. Multinational processed food systems are having impacts on human health, and it took the deaths of almost 3,000 pets and a $24 million class action suit to put the issue on our plates. There has never been a better time to eat local. –Mary Vance

Hit by a Farm author Catherine Friend explores meat-eating from many angles: how much meat Americans eat (outlandishly much, 200 pounds per year or around thirty animals, depending upon species), the environmental and health impacts of grass-fed vs. grain-fed, the short, bad life of the vast majority of animals raised for food, the horrifying amount of meat that is wasted, and the uselessness of conscience-stricken eating. Friend does not believe in guilt, and she wants to continue eating meat. Here she offers a program of clear choices and gives you the information you need to make them.

Likening the American consumer to baby birds being fed processed food by Big Bucks Factory Farm, she points out that your buying choices signal your inattention and acceptance. She explains how externality works: Big Bucks won’t pay for your resultant diabetes or cancers, and the animals born to the factory farming system are the ones who pay the biggest price for cheap meat. She does not overwhelm the reader with horror stories or grim lectures, using stats instead to make her points.

Subtitled How to Keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald’s Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat, Friend gives you the tools to do just that. You’ll appreciate her humor and on-the-ground knowledge as she relates incidents at her farm, where she and her partner provide grass-fed lamb to eager consumers. If you’ve avoided reading this century’s versions of The Jungle, fearing nightmares, this is the book for you. It will help you understand the importance of your food choices to humans and animals alike. —Linnea Due

Gifting Teens With Green

By Rachel Aronowitz

For the last five years, I’ve worked as a librarian specializing in teen literature. Sadly, the rate at which publishers are putting out books aimed at teen audiences about vampires and magical prep school antics vastly outpaces their production of books about global warming, environmental activism, endangered species, or ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle. However, I’ve come across a few gems that don’t hit you over the head with their environmental theme while maintaining a strong enough teen or tween appeal to keep the kids reading. Here are some that got me excited enough to accost the teens that wander into the San Francisco Public Library.

Fiction

Flush
Carl Hiassen
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2005, $8.99

Carl Hiassen always makes me laugh out loud. I admire his believable and strong-willed young characters and I can’t stop hearing lines out of a Jimmy Buffett song when I enter his Florida Keys literary world. Flush is about a brother and sister who must solve a mystery to save their father while stopping the owner of a floating casino from dumping polluted water. I also highly recommend Hoot by the same author.

Teen, Inc.
Stefan Petrucha
Walker Books for Young Readers, 2007, $16.95

Fourteen-year-old Jaiden is one of the wittiest narrators to come along in a while, and is the first teen character that has to deal with the odd problems that come with being adopted not by parents, but by a large corporation. He lives in a high-rise office building, eats in the company cafeteria, and parenting decisions are made at board meetings using Power Point presentations. In this serious but often hilarious read, Jaiden must fight against his parent—NECorp—when he realizes that the company is knowingly contaminating the local water supply with mercury, and the father of the girl he likes is leading the protest against it. Follow Jaiden in this fast-paced and very original action adventure.

Graphic Novel

Thoreau’s Walden
John Porcellino
Hyperion Books, 2008, $16.99

I first became aware of Porcellino’s work through his excellent King-Cat Comics series. He is in top form with his first full-length graphic novel. His simple drawings are a perfect match to the timeless wisdom expressed in Thoreau’s writing. This is a great introduction to Thoreau’s ideas about simple living, environmentalism, and vegetarianism for teenagers who are disgusted by the words “classic literature.”

Non-Fiction

Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life
Linda and Tosh Sivertsen
Simon and Schuster, 2008, $10.99

This book occasionally tries too hard to be hip—and any teen can see right through an adult trying to be cool. However, it’s easy to look beyond this detriment because Generation Green gives a much needed overview of how easy it is for young people to widen their environmental consciousness. The mother and son writing team give concrete examples of how teenagers can save energy and think about their effect on the environment. Got a cell phone? Switch to a solar charger.

MySpace/OurPlanet: Change Is Possible
by the MySpace community with Jeca Taudte, foreword by Tom Anderson
HarperTeen, 2008, $12.99

MySpace is still a huge draw for the younger set and so is this new title with its hand-drawn cover and forward by everyone’s first Myspace “friend,” Tom. Tom reminds us that the environment is the biggest issue facing our generation so we should take it seriously, but that change is possible. Suggestions are culled from real Myspace users, which makes it read like something between a blog and a book, a combination that makes it fly off the shelf.

Becoming a site coordinator for the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice program was a natural progression for Lluvia Vela; she’s been firing up a stove since she was nine. The eighteen-year-old cooked for her parents’ reggae act, Tchiya Amet & the Lighthouse Band, as they rehearsed at her childhood home in Texas. “Growing up, my mom would make beans and rice and vegetables and tortillas every day since they were so busy,” remembers Vela. “I wanted some variety, so one day I went in the kitchen and started experimenting with what I called Texas Chili, and all the musicians loved it.” Now Vela creates on a professional scale: in November, she began studies at the Cordon Bleu, the prestigious culinary academy, in Los Angeles.

Vela’s parents traveled across the nation with their band, and young Vela accompanied them on tour, home-schooling as she went. She’s traveled from Florida to Oregon and at one time lived on an Indian reservation in Mendocino County. When she was sixteen, the family moved to Berkeley so that she could attend Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition & Culinary Arts, where she was the youngest in her class to graduate from the Natural Chef program. She says her specialty was international vegetarian cuisine.

Vela came to FFC in 2007 after a stint landscaping in gardens around Berkeley as part of Berkeley Youth Alternatives. She interned sorting produce for the FFC market stands and quickly moved into the site coordinator position; soon after that, she began performing cooking demos with FFC co-manager HuNia Bradley. “I remember one demo where we didn’t know what we were going to make. We brought in squash, salad dressing, olive oil, and oranges, and we sliced up the squash really thin like potato chips,” Vela says. “I made a sauce out of olive oil, orange juice, and Bragg’s and we served the chips with the sauce. I was worried the kids wouldn’t like it, but they went crazy for it!”
Vela’s current fave is a mushroom dish with fennel, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, orange juice, and basil. “I’ll add all kinds of twists to it, and it can be served on top of bread,” she says. “I made it for a friend who didn’t believe I was a chef, and he loved it.”

After graduation, Vela’s goal is to be a personal chef for a touring hip-hop artist. “I’m a music producer, so I know a lot of artists, and I’d like to go on tour with one,” she says. “I want to get my name out there and gain experience.” In the next breath, she says her goals change regularly, and that she’d also like to travel the world and be a guest chef in restaurants across the globe. Travel is the theme, not surprising, considering her childhood—and cooking. Expect to see Vela’s name in the future. –Mary Vance

Berkeley Farmers’ Markets First to Ban Plastics

Come 2009, plastics will be pulled from all three Berkeley Farmers’ Markets. The ban includes plastic bags, packaging for prepared foods, utensils, and to-go ware, says Ecology Center Market Manager Ben Feldman. “The overall goal is zero waste,” says Feldman. “This initial step is really a step in eventually preventing us from putting anything in the landfill.” Vendors will be asked to phase out plastic in favor of compostable bio-bags.

The Berkeley Farmers’ Markets received a grant from Alameda County Waste Management (StopWaste.org) that will allow the purchase of over 120,000 compostable bags to sell to vendors. The markets will subsidize the cost of the bags to provide an incentive and to ease the transition to the compostable bags, which run about fourteen cents per bag compared to two cents for plastic bags. The subsidized compostable bags will be priced to what the farmers pay now for plastics.
Vendors selling prepared foods will be required to use compostable packaging and utensils or reusable containers that can be returned with a deposit. Feldman notes that many vendors and farmers have already begun using compostable packaging and bags, and that the overall reaction to the ban has been very positive.

In conjunction, Ecology Center staffers will launch a customer education campaign about zero waste. Feldman notes, for instance, that customers can get multiple uses out of the compostable bags, using them to reline kitchen scrap buckets or small compost bins at home.
And of course, Feldman wants to encourage market customers to bring their own reusable bags. “While we consider the compostable bags to be better than plastic, they still require natural resources and energy to produce. They’re considered renewable resources, but they’re ultimately not the way to go.”

Feldman has a vision in mind: “Ideally, if we could move up the chain and not be producing the bio-bag material at all, and the compostable stuff stays on the farm, and our prepared food vendors are using reusable plates, we won’t be putting anything in the landfill,” says Feldman. “Once we get that far I’ll consider us a zero waste zone.”

The Berkeley Markets are the first in the Bay Area to ban plastics. The decision comes on the heels of November 2007 legislation to remove plastic shopping bags at grocery stores in San Francisco. Stores distribute over 180 million plastic bags each year, and these bags eventually find their way into landfills, waterways, and the ocean. –Mary Vance

Shopping Made Simple

Don’t stress—head to the Ecology Center for your eco-friendly holiday shopping. Stop by the Ecology Center Store at 2530 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am-6 pm, for reasonably priced gifts and stocking stuffers for everyone on your list. Store manager Alison Moreno has scoured trade shows for the best in green gifts.

Start by spreading holiday cheer with Tree Free Greetings’ earth-friendly cards, made from such sustainables as reclaimed sugar cane and post-consumer recycled paper printed with soy-based inks.
For the little ones, holiday-themed onesies made from soft organic cotton from Maggie’s Organics and Kee-Ka will make baby happy. For the kids, the store carries an array of educational toys from Plan Toys and Tree Block toys made from recycled wood. Check out the recycled wooden tree house, complete with furniture.

Dad will like the new hemp shirts from Santa Cruz-based Ecolution, or try a hemp wallet, bag, or backpack. Pamper Mom with Berkeley-based organic skin care from Grateful Body. For the bookworms, the store stocks titles on topics such as ecology, gardening, nutrition, children’s books, social justice, activism, and politics.

Set the mood with lead-free, ornamental 100 percent beeswax candles for Hanukkah or Christmas meals. Drink from blue goblets, frosted tumblers, and glasses made from recycled wine bottles and grace the table with handcrafted bamboo bowls and dishes made by Southeast Asian artisans.
Don’t forget stocking stuffers! Instead of candy, try delicious, organic BumbleBars in flavors like chocolate cherry and lemon. Citronella tea lights keep bugs away and Burt’s Bees organic lip care keeps those kissers soft. Maggie’s organic socks (can you stuff a stocking with socks?) will make your holidays sustainable and bright (green).

“When the couple has made choices in integrity with their values that honor the planet, it’s a green wedding. They’ve considered their impact with each choice they’ve made,” says wedding consultant Jessica Rios, of Love Events in Marin County. She stresses that green weddings can be as stylish as the traditional model, with a deeper sense of connection to the spirit of sustainability.

Green wedding and events planner Corina Beczner says, “Creating a wedding that is aligned with a couple’s personal values is new for people. Green weddings are less rigid—there’s a greater sense of freedom and connection to values.”

The trend took off in early 2007, after the New York Times ran a piece called “How Green Was My Wedding.” Many celebrities have gone public with their green nuptials, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is reportedly planning a green wedding.

What makes a wedding green? Beczner, founder of San Francisco-based Vibrant Events, says that green weddings go beyond the three R’s—reduce, reuse, recycle—by including organic, local, sustainable choices.

Weddings begin with engagements, and most often diamond rings, but you won’t find blood diamonds at a green wedding. Because of the destruction associated with diamond harvesting, couples are choosing alternatives to diamonds for their engagement. Options include synthetic jewels, family heirlooms, or other stones.

The couple can set the tone early with tree-free or recycled invitations. Beczner says a new trend in invites eliminates paper altogether: e-clips, short “save the date” or invitation videos. The couple may set up a Web site where they post details about their wedding, and where guests can respond so that they don’t have to mail in RSVP cards. The couple might list organizations to which guests can make donations in lieu of gifts.

Travel is the most environmentally unfriendly aspect of any wedding. When it comes to location, organic gardens, farms, or green buildings are popular choices for the ceremony, close to the reception site so that guests can walk. The guests can purchase carbon offsets if they fly, or the couple may choose a wedding site closer to home with the ceremony and reception sites in close proximity to one another to encourage walking or biking between locations.

Expect to find seasonal, organic food served on china or compostable materials; the goal is to stay away from disposables. The food can come with organic or local wine and beer if alcohol is served. On tables you might find vintage lace, beeswax candles, and locally grown flowers that are donated or given away afterwards. Some couples opt for potted plants, herbs, or edible arrangements. “One bride I worked with didn’t want flowers that would die,” says Rios. “She had arrangements of red, yellow, and green hot peppers.”

The bride’s dress may be made from organic fibers—bamboo, hemp, or silk—or could be vintage, borrowed, or used, and the wedding party might wear dresses or suits they already own or could wear again. All these green details add up favorably. Says Beczner, “Any wedding generates forty tons of carbon, but green weddings offset the carbons, the equivalent of taking seven cars off the road for a year.”

All this greening must be expensive, right? “If you want your wedding to look like a conventional bridal magazine wedding, it can cost you fifteen to twenty percent more because organics are more expensive,” says Beczner. “Then there is cost associated with carbon offsets and other details. If you want it to look over-the-top and you want to green it, it’ll cost more.”

The average cost of a wedding in San Francisco is already $60,000. Ouch. But a green wedding can demonstrate that bigger is not necessarily better. “There’s this idea that more stuff, more food, fancier dresses, more show, bigger favors, and more gifts will make a great event,” says Beczner. “But you lose focus on the magic behind the wedding—that you’re in love and you’ve invited people to witness that, and that’s the real takeaway. Less becomes more.”

Depending on the couple’s budget and location, a green wedding needn’t be pricier, especially if they incorporate that “less is more” philosophy. “As the market shifts, everything becomes more affordable,” says Rios. “We have many amazing luxuries in California that you may not be able to get in Iowa or Kansas. But my personal opinion is we will all move in a greener direction. Rather than a trend, it will become a consideration.”

For Berkeley’s Elizabeth Zimmer, going green for her wedding had little to do with trends—it was simply the way it had to be. “It’s just the kind of people we are,” says Zimmer. She and her husband Todd were married in a small town in North Carolina in March. Invitations were printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks, and RSVPs were sent via e-mail and phone rather than snail mail. The couple set up a Web site detailing lodging, directions, and travel suggestions.

The food was vegetarian, made within ten miles of the event site. The wedding party wore their own clothes. Guests walked to the reception, and many stayed with neighbors to avoid using hotels. The flowers, well & they may or may not have been sustainably grown. “I asked the florist if he could get organic, locally sourced flowers and he said he would have trouble with that; the resources weren’t available,” says Zimmer. “I doubt if those perfect roses we had were local and organic!”

Zimmer says she doesn’t think that planning her green wedding was more difficult than planning a traditional one, but Beczner says that more research is involved. “How you celebrate while connecting to being responsible really is hard for people to do in events because they happen so quickly. There are tons of materials and energy that go into this event that’s over in an instant,” she says. “When you plan a green wedding, it may take more time to find the right sustainable product or service that will fit the theme or budget.”

When Rios plans weddings, she starts with an in-depth consultation to uncover the couple’s vision and what aspects they would like to integrate into the ceremony. “The greening is interesting to me, but what’s more interesting is the interpersonal relationship,” says Rios. “I enjoy the process of getting a deeper, spiritual awareness of what they’re about as a couple: how they want to be together, how they want to make decisions. I find that choosing to respect the planet makes people happier because the planet is a reflection of us.”

Relatives may worry that the couple is trying to push their ideals on the guests. Rios says that’s not so. “Some couples may want to make it an educational experience, but it’s also a celebration and a great opportunity to share your values with people. You’re making an effort to support markets that are life affirming rather than depleting. It’s a misconception that people who have green weddings will shove it down your throat.”

Northern Californians toss around terms like “sustainability” and “organic” with regularity, but some folks may have a harder time accepting—or even understanding— green wedding ideals. Says Beczner, “Families might be resistant because in their minds, it’s a hippie wedding. And it’s hard since the parents play a big role or may be paying for a wedding. But they’re pleasantly surprised after.” This was the case for Zimmer, whose mother was “completely resistant to having the bridesmaids in different dresses,” Zimmer says. “She was trying to convince me so many times that it wasn’t what I wanted. On the wedding day, she looked at the bridal party and said it was beautiful.”

Rios says generational resistances often dissipate. “The parents see their children making choices that honor themselves. They might think it’s weird, but they get the sense that you’re making choices that are healthy. Anybody who loves you will support you even if they don’t understand it, so in the end, I don’t find there’s a conflict.”

Chances are, you may not even know you’re attending a green wedding. Couples may merely encourage their guests to make sustainable choices in travel or lodging, or they may choose to display a plaque at the ceremony. “Some couples want to educate friends and family, and some don’t,” said Beczner. “All the couples I’ve worked with have put up a plaque that shows all the green things we’ve done. I’ll create the plaque, which says how much carbon we’ve offset along with a list about what’s incorporated and why that matters.”

In the end, after the last piece of cake is eaten, the last dance is over, and the remaining food and flowers are donated, the couple may choose to embark on a green honeymoon—again, purchasing carbon offsets if they travel or vacation off the grid. The Zimmers went to Europe but stayed in friends’ apartments to avoid using hotels.

Whether it’s one big detail or several tiny ones, it’s easy to think green on your wedding day. “Weddings are the biggest and best example that we have in our culture of a gathering where we celebrate love, and part of what makes green weddings rewarding is that there’s a depth of personal experience there,” says Rios. “People leave a good wedding feeling in love with life: they’re happy, and it’s a really amazing experience.”

Landscape architect, child psychotherapist, and local treasure, Karl Linn had completed half of this retrospective survey of forty years of his literally groundbreaking work in community building when he died in 2005 at the age of 81. Like so many of his projects, this one continued without him, brought to fruition two years after his death by the publishing arm of an organization he co-founded in 1981 (Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility).

West Berkeley residents can hardly avoid familiarity with Linn’s projects—three community garden commons, the EcoHouse, and the Ohlone Greenway Natural and Cultural History Exhibit—all clustered between Northside and Peralta off Hopkins Street. Chapters on each provide colorful pictorial histories, while Linn’s straightforward narrative makes the often difficult and always complex development process seem like a breeze.

Linn, who trained as a psychoanalyst in Switzerland, always kept his eye on the prize, undistracted by obstacles and mindful that visions can take many years to fully manifest. This shows particularly in the account of the EcoHouse, begun by Linn in 2001 and taken over by the Ecology Center after his death. Though Linn oversaw the initial repairs, green renovations, and permaculture garden plantings, much of his original vision for the educational nature of the project remains a tantalizing potential.

Linn’s projects, carried out in his own neighborhood, could be seen as something of a retirement activity—if that term can possibly be used to describe the always-in-motion Linn and his constant networking with neighbors and nonprofits. At least the scale was smaller and more intimate than his earlier projects (Linn helped found a kibbutz, the national Neighborhood Renewal Corps, and the Urban Habitat Program, among many other activities). The book’s other chapters hint at Linn’s earlier life as a landscape architect/peace and justice activist/visionary social planner, though only by inference. The focus remains on projects—from the first inner-city neighborhood commons Linn orchestrated in Philadelphia in 1960, to temporary commons for events and conferences. The description of projects and attention to detail makes the book a practical resource as well as an inspiration.

Linn’s genius lay in engineering introductions of people and projects, in transmitting enthusiasm coupled with the urge to action, and in setting events in motion that took on lives of their own. This book, with a foreword by ecophilosopher Joanna Macy and an afterword by environmental justice leader Carl Anthony, continues that expansive legacy. There could be no more fitting memorial.

—Gina Covina

Best known for two works of nonfiction, The Geography of Nowhere and The Long Emergency, this is Kunstler’s tenth novel, the fictional cousin of Emergency.World Made by Hand takes place a couple decades in the future, in a USA without fossil fuels, electricity, or a functioning government. In a small town in upstate New York, survivors of recurrent waves of flu grow vegetables, scavenge through the landfill, fish the rivers, breed horses as fast as they can, and fill in the blanks of power. As the novel opens, a religious group buys the local high school and settles in, and much of the story concerns the longtime residents’ efforts to make peace with the outsiders. Well they should: their own lives are bounded on one side by a landlord who lives like a laird with serfs he houses and feeds, on the other by ne’er-do-wells who’ve taken over the landfill. Safety nets are nonexistent, and every group in town tries to recruit our hero, a quietly competent leader. Remaining free—and everyone in Union Grove realizes how lucky he or she is to be out of the war zone of most of the nation—proves harder as alliances and power shift. A try at magical realism goes nowhere, but the rest of this novel, replete with unforgettable scenes such as a fraught trip to Albany, is hard to resist. Take a look at the future—and plant your garden.

—Linnea Due

At first glance this may seem an obscure oddity—and okay, it is a practical resource for shamanic weather-working, by all standards an esoteric subject. But Moss (with Corbin) starts with the truth that weather affects us all, and the belief that creating a conscious relationship with the forces of weather is an essential part of restoring balance in the world. As she says in the introduction: “This book is not about how to control the weather; it is about changing ourselves&The greatest and most important change we can make is to begin to accept a broader worldview: one that is supportive of an intentional relationship with Nature, a partnership that fosters the reality of an alive and vital Earth.” Suddenly it’s a book for a general readership.

Moss presents her ideas as she and Corbin experienced them, allowing readers to move gradually with the authors from the materialist viewpoint that is our dominant cultural norm into the far more interesting realm of sentient weather spirits with whom we humans can communicate. Fascinating examples abound, full of awe, transformative power, and surprising gentleness and humor. A particular tornado, for instance, has this to say: “You humans work well together in crisis, well in chaos, so go and work well together—here is your crisis.”

I started reading Weather Shamanism thinking of the possibilities for moderating the extremes associated with global warming. There are plenty of stories included of rerouted hurricanes, rain during drought, and pockets of well-timed sunshine surrounded by storm. But as I read further, I came to appreciate the authors’ experience: “As we grew into our relationships with the forces and spirits of weather, David and I were surprised to experience a diminishing desire to try to change anything.” More often, Moss and Corbin realized the forces of weather acted to heal and balance the living earth, even in cases that seemed destructive. Their shamanic work became a matter of aligning with the weather forces, and then requesting adjustments—a rain shower here, a gentling of the wind there—to suit their communities’ needs while remaining true to the weather’s own intent. I came away from the book with a profoundly deepened trust in the weather, and that alone is plenty to recommend Weather Shamanism for these meteorologically challenging times.

—Gina Covina

If you want step-by-step suggestions for creating graywater systems, this is your guide. From two bathtubs in a backyard to Arcata Marsh, from aquaculture to art, Reusing the Resource covers the territory with photos and explanatory text. The book contains over forty examples of creative uses of recycling wastewater. The publisher, nonprofit Ecowaters, depends upon the sales of its books and plans to continue its global water-saving mission. As money comes in, the books are translated and distributed to communities around the globe. The process must have been rushed in the final go-round as typos and formatting glitches mar the text of this otherwise well designed and photographed book. That doesn’t overshadow its inspiring message; readers worldwide will say, “I can do this.” If enough of us follow these simple instructions, water won’t become the next oil—and if it does, you’ve just put a derrick in your backyard. —Linnea Due

Equal parts touching and horrifying, Farm Sanctuary is an inspiring and sometimes harrowing read. Gene Baur, president and cofounder of Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s first farm animal rescue, protection, and rehabilitation facility, delivers his story in a welcoming style that makes the occasionally gruesome account easier to bear.

These details from the frontlines need to be heard. Baur takes us through his organization’s beginnings: he and a few other activist renegades visited stockyards, factory farms, and feedlots, talking to workers about the deplorable conditions surrounding animals used for food, and performing guerrilla rescue operations. Their goal was to change the industrial farming model, to end the suffering—and, at times, torture—that animals are forced to endure on the road to slaughter.

Writers from Upton Sinclair to Eric Schlosser have aimed to educate via shock value, but Baur’s intent is to prevent cruelty and improve factory-farming conditions by encouraging activism—and responsible dining. Why would you want a diseased animal on your plate?

Tales of victory and justice in the form of new legislation and policies inspire hope, and the profiles Baur includes of rescued animals now happily grazing at one of Farm Sanctuary’s two locations are a delight. The book includes an appendix listing various advocacy organizations. Consider this book a helpmate as you campaign for the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act on the ballot this November. —Mary Vance

Leave it to Virginia farmer Joel Salatin to self-publish what amounts to 24 rants on subjects such as organic certification, conservation easements, farmers’ market managers, and most frequently and devastatingly, the USDA. Salatin portrays the federal agency as peopled by evil or misguided bureaucrats required to enforce absurdities. You will never eat another egg from factory farms—and it won’t be because you’re upset by the treatment of hens, though that’s reason enough. You may also change your mind about other regulations you’ve never considered deeply, and you’ll know on the deepest level just who our government serves—and it isn’t you. Salatin writes in an intimate, chatty way, as if you’re sitting across the table. Reading this Christian libertarian, you’ll find yourself cheering one moment and groaning the next. The best thing about Salatin is that his logic carries him to conclusions most of us prefer not to ponder, and whether we agree with his reasoning or not, the discussions are vital. Folks, Salatin would say, time to open our eyes; things have come to such a pass that we no longer have the luxury of remaining ignorant. —Linnea Due

“I’ve become more aware of the need to educate people about where herbs are coming from,” says Joshua Muscat, herbalist and owner of the San Francisco Botanical Medicine Clinic, where he consults with clients suffering from arthritis, flu, urinary tract infections, and much else. “Often you’ll be shipping plants across the country when we have something just as good, if not better, here in Northern California. A good example is echinacea. We don’t have it in California, but we have tons of rudbeckia, an herb that does just as well for stimulating immune function.”

Muscat has been practicing Western herbal medicine for over thirteen years, using plants grown in California, many of which he harvests himself, a practice known as wildcrafting. He chose Western herbal medicine because he “couldn’t justify starting a practice where I would be shipping herbs across the world to help people with their health when I had plants available right here.”

He tallies up the inordinate use of resources involved in shipping herbs: “When you buy a bottle of Chinese medicine that came from China, those herbs are harvested and processed and then packaged into individual plastic bottles, then into boxes with cellophane wrappers, and then into larger boxes that are put into crates and sent to a distribution warehouse where they’re unpackaged and repackaged again several times before they get on the boat or plane. Consider all the fuel that’s used in getting them to this part of the world, and a person buys these little bottles that contain maybe a week or two of medicine. It’s like having the air that we breathe packaged in five inhale-by-portion disposable containers.”

With more people —approximately one in five—turning to holistic modalities, herbs now appear on chain grocery store and pharmacy shelves. Supplement companies are capitalizing on the public’s desire for natural alternatives, providing sub-par products at consumer-friendly prices. Many of these herbs are transported across the world before they find their way into your shopping cart. They may contain contaminants or something not stated on the label. For example, Pfizer, manufacturers of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, recently conducted its own study of over 3,000 herbal male supplements and found that nearly seventy percent contained the active synthesized ingredient found in Viagra.

In the Bay Area, Chinese and Ayurvedic herbal medicine practices dominate. How are these herbs processed? “When people talk about herbs coming from China and India, we immediately think of chemicals and metals,” Muscat says. “Chemical use is pretty widespread in China, and organics are not common. But the truth is, it’s not a huge issue—people aren’t getting sick left and right from using these herbs. For the most part, Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs are not much worse in terms of contamination than the produce at your supermarket.”

That’s not good enough for the FDA. Recently the federal agency mandated quality control testing of foods and pharmaceutical products, including herbs, under the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirement, part of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Manufacturers and processors must pay for the tests, which are extremely expensive, thus favoring larger, multinational corporations over small, independent practitioners. “The FDA ultimately seeks to make it illegal for herbalists to practice medicine,” says Muscat. “The GMP requires a set of tests you must conduct on your medicines to ensure they’re not contaminated. It would cost my small pharmacy over $100,000 per year to do that kind of testing.”

The FDA also wants to tighten regulations on what consumers can purchase, prohibiting all but a few supplements which will only be permitted in very small doses. The European Union has already adopted these guidelines, known as the Codex Alimentarius.

Can herbs be dangerous? “I’m not saying people have never been hurt by herbs,” says Muscat, “but I think the confirmed cases of harm by herbs are few and far between compared to harm from over-the-counter or prescription medications. It’s such a miniscule number compared to drug side effects.” The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in 2007 that an estimated 106,000 hospitalized patients die each year from drugs that are properly prescribed and administered, while more than two million suffer serious side effects.

Muscat encourages those seeking herbal medicine to investigate how, where, and by whom the medicine was produced. “The medicine I give people, from the time it’s taken out of the ground to the time it’s given to the person, is under my careful attention,” he says. “That means the area it’s coming from has been treated well; no chemicals have been applied, the plants are healthy and are harvested or dried properly, processed correctly, and given out for the right reasons.” He suggests buying directly from people who do the harvesting and preparation rather than purchasing herbs from a store.

To make that easier, Muscat plans to launch a garden database so people can register their gardens and what they are growing. “The idea is that most people could take care of their health care needs locally,” he says. “We have the gardens and the wildlands; there is little reason why we shouldn’t use what we have. If you don’t have access to something, you can check the database and see who does.”

In an era of rising medical costs and a breakdown of health care, Muscat has his own vision. “I plan to keep on helping sick people,” he says, adding that no one is turned away from his clinic for lack of funds. He keeps consultation fees low—$25 for the initial visit, plus the cost of herbs. Clients can perform work in exchange for treatment, but if they are unable to work, Muscat will give his medicine and counsel free of charge. “The idea that a sick person would be turned away because they don’t have money is disgusting,” he says. “I feel that I have a responsibility to make this medicine available. Part of what it’s taught me is that people in health care expect too much in terms of compensation.”

Beyond his clinic, Muscat is focusing on education; he plans to conduct practitioner training to complement the database he is launching. “We need more people who can skillfully recommend herbs for simple things such as cold, flu, and urinary tract infections,” he says.

What’s the best way to find information about using herbs in your area? Muscat recommends the use of local networks, such as herb exchanges. The Sonoma County herb exchange is a membership association dedicated to sustainable and ecologically friendly growing practices; its Web site (www.sonomaherbs.com) includes an extensive resource guide, links, a forum, and a newsletter. When it comes to living a sustainable and healthful life, knowledge is power—and it’s possible that if the FDA has its way, going local may soon be our only choice.