Mary Myrick

I’m not sure what’s going on the world of tomatoes right now, but it seems that I’ve been seeing “out of tomatoes” signs in more than one restaurant.  Well, I for one cannot go through a summer without tomatoes, so this situation just confirmed that I need to start my own garden.  It’s ironic that right after I made this decision, I happened to catch The Ellen Show and she was talking about the Home Farming movement.  I was intrigued and I did a bit of digging (no pun intended).

Indeed, there is a Home Farming movement and it’s being promoted by Kraft Foods.  I checked out the website and found much more than I honestly expected.  If you’re looking for an excuse NOT to do your own garden – don’t go here.

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Your food is tired.

By the time it gets to you, your food may have traveled as many as 1,500 miles. But the real concern isn’t the trauma inflicted on our food by all this travel, but the potential strain on the environment resulting from these transportation miles.

Historically, we cooked mostly what was available seasonally or could be preserved. Holiday favorites like pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes and pecan pie didn’t become favorites randomly—they became so because they could be easily obtained during the colder months. Now, global supply chains allow us virtually unlimited access to all kinds of food—year round.

Everyone likes options, but with every “food mile” translating into carbon emissions, choosing to incorporate more seasonally- and regionally-appropriate foods into our diet can benefit the environment.

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Green jobs are coming to Oklahoma!

A total of $150 million in grants have been awarded to provide green job training as part of the federal recovery act. In connection with this effort, Green Jobs Central Oklahoma (GJCO), a project of the It’s My Community Initiative (IMCI), received a 2-year, $4 million grant to equip Oklahomans for careers in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The grant will benefit impoverished sections of northeast Oklahoma City with a goal of placing 200 people in green jobs within two years.

Green Jobs Central Oklahoma provides recruitment and referral services, work-readiness and occupational skills training and more. Oklahoma Goodwill Industries (OGI) is responsible for the recycling training, apprenticeship and employment components of this effort.

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Don’t put on your straw hat just yet, but gardening is cool again. Today, our food travels an average of 1500 miles from farm to table—that distance has real ramifications on food cost, quality and the environment. With the recent economic downturn, a renewed interest in green living, and rising food prices, more young people are embracing gardening again.

But will these hipster gardeners have the same dedication to the task as their grandparents? And does a generation raised on fast food even have the know-how to successfully tend the earth? Like sewing or cooking, gardening is often a skill , or even an art, handed down from one generation to another. You can learn the same skills later in life, but it is considerably harder if you weren’t taught the basics of gardening as a child. Without the benefit of this early training, many young gardeners will find the experiment of gardening more challenging than initially expected.

But like any worthy objective, gardening brings at least as many rewards as it does challenges.

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With ulta-low emissions, crash avoidance and protection systems, and 95% recyclable content, the smart car is well, smart.

Short enough to allow for “nose-in” parking, the smart fortwo can fit just about anywhere. With a length of only 250 centimeters, two or three smart cars could fit in the same space as one normal car. If every vehicle sold in the United States was a smart car, it would free up 24,242 miles of roadway—slightly less than the circumference of the earth.

Starting at $11,990, the smart fortwo is also one of the most economical cars on the road today in the United States.

But the smart car’s proudest claim may be that is the most fuel efficient non-hybrid vehicle in the United States. With an estimated 41 MPG highway, the smart car is a great choice for those who want a more fuel efficient vehicle but who are not sold on the concept of a hybrid.

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