9th May, 2011 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
I saw this article in ABJ today, which states that Austin beat out Portland to be the top renewable power seller among 850 utilities nationwide. Portland General Electric has about twice as many customers as Austin Energy, so that’s pretty impressive for Austin. It seems that most of the customers participating in the Austin Energy Central Texas GreenChoice program, which allows you to “buy” green/renewable energy rather than coal or natural gas, are commercial customers (customers like Whole Foods, Cisco, and Dell), making up 83% of the green energy sold.
Read more: Austin Energy top green power seller in U.S. | Austin Business Journal
16th February, 2011 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
The Statesman had this article today about a new partnership between Greenling ( a company that will deliver local and organic food to your door) and Whole Foods:
Starting today , Whole Foods customers can sign up for Greenling via electronic kiosks in the Austin and San Antonio stores.
Both companies say the partnership is a way to help strengthen the local food supply — a core mission they share.
For Whole Foods, the initiative is a way to support local growers, giving them another avenue to sell their goods, said Chris Romano , produce and floral coordinator for Whole Foods’ Southwest region.
Small farms that can’t supply enough to stock a Whole Foods store could sell that smaller amount to Greenling, Romano said.
“If we make the local food economy stronger, that benefits all of us as a community,” Romano said.
This is the first time Whole Foods has partnered with a local home delivery service, although it has other programs to help local food providers, such as a loan program.
It’s also a way for Whole Foods to tap into Greenling’s network of local farms. Although Greenling doesn’t exclusively stock local produce, it gets produce and other goods from about 40 to 50 local farms throughout the year.
Through the partnership, Greenling co-founder Mason Arnold said his company can now commit to purchasing certain quantities of goods and then sell the excess to Whole Foods.
So basically, it sounds like Greenling will still buy from the same farmers as it has been, but Greenling can now place larger orders from those farmers with the safety net of knowing that if they buy too much and can’t sell it all through their own business, Whole Foods will take the excess.
To learn more about Greenling, click here.
13th September, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
ABJ has this article today, which says that Whole Foods is “phasing out seafood considered over-fished or unsustainably-caught” and that:
The move is part of the Austin-based natural grocer’s efforts to better inform customers about fish and shellfish sources…. [T]he company has adopted an in-store, color-coded sustainability rating system for wild-caught seafood. Whole Foods has also committed to phasing out all red-rated species by Earth Day 2013, including swordfish, Atlantic cod, sole and tuna, among others.
Seafood color-coded green, or “best choice,” indicates the fish is part of an abundant population and is fished in an environmentally-friendly way. A yellow-coded offering means a “good alternative,” or having some concerns about population or fishing methods. The red, “avoid” category signals the species is suffering from overfishing, or that current fishing methods harm other marine life or habitats.
4th August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
The Statesman has this article today that says Whole Foods will be opening 2 new stores in the next 2 years in addition to the planned new store at the Domain. One will be at the Hill Country Galleria, on Texas 71 and RM 620, and the other will be at the Arbor Trails Shopping Center at South MoPac and William Cannon Drive. The article says:
The expansion comes as rivals, including Sprouts Farmers Market and Newflower Farmers Market , have come to town, promoting themselves as less-expensive alternatives to Whole Foods.
Sprouts has opened four Austin-area stores in the past year and has said it’s scouting for more locations.
One of Newflower’s two area stores is in the shopping center across Texas 71 from the Galleria.
Additionally, traditional grocers, including H-E-B and Randalls, have continued to expand their organic and natural foods offerings.
2nd August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
The Austin Business Journal had this article today about Caroline Freedman and Lauren McCullough, two Austinites who have started a new company that makes organic baby food, NuturMe. The article says:
The business launched this summer is the result of more than two years of trial and error. But the friends have now perfected the product described as a healthy alternative to traditional pureed baby food.
NuturMe dehydrated, organic entrees are prepared by adding warm water, breast milk or formula. McCullough, who’s worked in the culinary industry, said the foods retain more nutrients in dried form. The meal pouches packed neatly in white, recyclable boxes also take up less room in the pantry.
You can get the baby food at Central Market and Whole Foods in Austin.
photo credit
29th July, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments
KUT has a story today on electric charging stations for cars, which will become important in November when Chevrolet starts selling its all-electric vehicle, the Volt, in Austin (for $41k). The car will be able to go about 40 miles on one charge, but it also has a generator to run on gas if needed. Still, some people are worried that consumers will get “range anxiety,” or a feeling of nervousness about having enough charge to get to their destinations. As of now, there is only one public charging station in Austin at the Whole Foods on 6th and Lamar, but the City is planning to add 100 more stations in the next two years. Right now, it’d take about eight hours to fully charge a car at that station, but that will be cut to three hours in the future.
Many people are also worried that, if the Volt takes off, all this charging will drain the electric grid, but some say there is enough power in clean energy to meet the demand. For example, wind power from East Texas is highest at night, when most people are expected to be charging their vehicles. Additionally, Austin Energy is working on incentives to promote charging at non-peak times. It should be interesting to see if the public is ready to purchase an all-electric vehicle and if the city is ready to support the accompanying electricity demand.
The Chevrolet Volt
photo credit
12th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 3 Comments
Check out the new edition of Paul Robbin’s Austin Environmental Directory 2010 – it has everything you would ever want to know about any environmental issue affecting Austin, and is extremely thorough. Want to know about where in Austin to recycle hard-to-recycle items? Or what restaurants are vegetarian friendly in Austin? Interested in joining a volunteer group? Or want to know what rebates are available in Austin for environmentally friendly purchases? Or a list of all the parks and farmer’s markets in Austin with maps included? It has all of this and much more, so check out the online edition or pick one up at Whole Foods, Magnolia Cafe, or Book People.
And here’s a Statesman article about the author and new directory.
photo credit
1st July, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments
Have you ever found yourself standing in Whole Foods trying to figure out what shampoo to buy? Or ever wondered what the labels meant when soaps are labeled as organic but they don’t have that reassuring USDA Organic sticker? That’s because, as of now, the USDA doesn’t regulate organic personal care products the way it does food. Whole Foods is planning to help out in that area by requiring all personal care items in their store, such as shampoo and soap, to meet the same federal USDA organic requirements that are imposed on food. This means that a product labeled “organic” must be made from at least 95% organic ingredients and products labeled as “made with organic ingredients” must have at least 70% organic ingredients. This is very helpful to the consumer, because, like me, I’m sure many people have felt like companies can be deceitful in the way they advertise natural products. The requirements will start next June, and many are saying that this will lead a change in the organic personal care product market. Check out the Statesman article for more info.
photo credit
17th June, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
I had two new experiences last night at dinner:
1) We ate our first green bell pepper from the garden. It seemed tastier than the ones at the store but I may be making that up. It looks a little yellow in the picture but that’s just the lighting – it was perfectly green.
2) We ate a vegan pizza from Whole Foods that my husband accidentally bought (he thought it was just vegetarian). I did not enjoy it at all and ended up scraping off all of the fake cheese, but my husband thought it was pretty good.
live it, learn it!
29th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
The EPA issued a report that states that Whole Foods is the third largest purchaser of renewable energy in the U.S. The company buys 817.4 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually from Austin Energy, enough solar and wind energy to power all of its needs. Check out Austin Business Journal for the whole article.
13th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
The Statesman has this article, which states that “Whole Foods Market Inc. officials unveiled the company’s first electric vehicle charging station Monday at the flagship store in downtown Austin”
The article goes on to note that “Austin City Council Member Chris Riley said he thinks it’s the first time a private retailer in Austin has made a charging station available to the public. Eventually, there will be charging stations for city-owned cars at the Mueller development in East Austin. Although electric vehicles aren’t in widespread use, automakers such as Nissan and Chevrolet plan to roll out fully electric vehicles this year. Electric scooters and similar vehicles already are available. Austin Energy officials predicted Monday that there could be 190,000 electric vehicles in Austin in 10 years.”
The Whole Foods station is currently free, but eventually will carry a fee.
13th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
Yesterday I wrote about the cooking class I took last week at Whole Foods. As promised, here is the recipe for Pav Bhaji:
- 1lb russet potatoes, peeled and cute into 1 inch cubes
- 2 carrots, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 large yellow onion, minced
- 10 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 14 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger root
- 2 tablespoons pav bhaji masala (a blend of spices you can get at an Indian food store – I skipped this part when I tried the recipe at home because I didn’t have it – I just used about 1 1/2 tablespoon of curry and 1/2 extra tablespoon of paprika)
- 1/4 teaspoon tumeric
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Boil potatoes, carrots and peas. Drain and mash. Set aside.
Heat butter in large pan on medium-high till foamy. Add oil.
Add onions, garlic, and ginger, and sauté for 10 minutes. Add spices and salt. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for 5-10 more minutes on high heat. Add veggies and 1 cup of water, and after mixing well, cook on low heat till you have a thick consistency.
Our instructor, Shefaly Ravula, served the meal with butter bread. It was delicious!
you can see the Pav Bhaji here in the back
12th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
Last week I went to a hands-on cooking class at Whole Foods. I had a gift card to take a class, and figured I might as well try and pick a class with a vegetarian menu since most vegetarian dishes I end up making are usually pasta-related. I picked a class called “Mumbai Street Food” with Shefaly Ravula (here’s a twitter page I found for her). The menu included Pav Bhaji (buttery vegetable curry), Bhel Puri (crispy snack mix with garlic-chili sauce, cilantro-mint chutney, and tamarind-date chutney), Pakoras (vegetable fritters) and Masala Chai.
Of the sauces/chutneys, I only got to try making the cilantro-mint one with my partner, but it was pretty easy to make. The Pav Bhaji and Bhel Puri were really delicious and I was excited to learn how to make Masala Chai since I love tea. We didn’t actually get to make the pakoras, which were just battered and fried veggies, but we got to see how they were made and since I’m afraid of catching my house on fire while frying, I had no interest in learning how to make those anyway so I was fine with just watching the instructor make them. The class was a really great experience and the Pav Bhaji is something I can see myself making on a somewhat regular basis, it was so easy and tasty – in fact, I made it last night for dinner. (Check back tomorrow for Recipe Tuesday for the details on how to make it!) So if, like me, you are wanting to find some interesting veggie menus, taking a cooking class is one way to get ideas – it’s a little pricey but could make a nice date night or night out with friends, since you get to eat what you’ve made once it’s over (and take home any leftovers).
the classroom
blurry pic of Pav Bhaji cooking
Pav Bhaji and Bhel Puri
