SustainableCommunity
How to Construct a Green Curtain – Part 2
Jul 16th, 2010
Posts Tagged ‘food’
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In How to Construct a Green Curtain – Part 1, I talked about the logic behind making a green curtain to keep your house cool in summer naturally and the equipment needed to make your own. In this second part, we look at exactly how to set up your green curtain and provide some caveats and confessions. (more…)
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The weather in Tokyo seems to be getter hotter by the minute. Tsuyu (the rainy season) is set to finish shortly, and we’re preparing for the hot sunny days ahead. Unlike the energizing bright cool winter months, the summer sun paired with high humidity is wilting. Hoping to reduce our desire to run the air conditioner and inspired by a multitude of neighbors with lovely vines full of cool green leaves, we thought we’d grow a green curtain of our own!
Here is how we did it – from thought-process to equipment to construction – and, as usual, a few caveats. This “recipe” can easily be tweaked to suit any situation, but will hopefully be a good starting point for cooler summer days.
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Completely covered with kiwi vines, this carport is clearly the envy of the neighborhood. We spotted it while walking to a nearby park, and it took all we had to not settle in the shade for a nice fruity snack. (more…)
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I adore compost. It’s my personal cure-all for whatever ails in my garden. The bucket on the counter turns into all that my plants need to grow well to feed my household. Vegetable and fruit castoffs goto the bucket to the compost bin and then to the garden. Tea bags, yard waste, garden leavings, and kitchen scraps (minus any meat, dairy or fish, of course!) all go in and come out as plant-scrumptious humus. (The kind eaten indirectly rather than the other garlic-laden delight.) Mottainai, at its best! (more…)
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As a locavore always on the lookout for more tasty adventures, on a weekend excursion I ran across two groups selling wonderful, but very different kinds of vegetables. (Yasai Otaku apparently have an innate ability to find fresh vegetables within a 20 kilometer radius at all times.) While the domesticated variety are beloved here – eggplants, sweet potatoes, and squash to name but a few – there are a wilder sort - sansai – that capture the hearts and taste buds of the Japanese each spring. Finding both on this little excursion was quite the treat!
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Ever wondered what it would be like if there was no more sushi available to eat? The way we are consuming fish, the oceans will run out of fish sooner rather than later. As a result of overfishing, the consumers do not see the true costs of seafood. The supply of fish appears higher, the price therefore lower and consequently more fish are being consumed than actually available.
While I was back in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to meet Casson Trenor, a seafood sustainable expert, and author of Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Ocean One Bite at a Time.
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23-year-old graphic design student Kenichi Tanaka created this stunning infographic animation for his graduate thesis project. The project gives an overview of Japan by citing statistics and facts that make the country and its people seem “strange” (in the eyes of its creator). Despite beautifully rendered graphics, much of the information is dark and alarming. (more…)
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The "Enola" yellow bean variety that has been at the centre of a decade-long biopiracy case. Photo: Neil Palmer (CIAT). Creative Commons License. Please credit accordingly.
In a world’s first, a patent used for a popular cough medicine that had been granted for a South African plant was revoked. According to the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB), this is the first case where a patent has been successfully challenged by Africans.
Although you may never have heard of it, Biopiracy may be coming to your shores sometime soon. With the United Nations COP10 conference on biodiversity in Nagoya coming up in October this year, now is a good time to familiarize yourself with this increasingly heated topic of debate. (more…)
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A typical stand waiting for the seasons bounty.
If you can’t make it to one of the farmer’s markets or your everyday garden is at an in-between stage, pull out one of the best local food finds yet and hop on a bike. It’s a handy little local farm map from the JA (Japan Agriculture) office that helps avoid some of that unnecessary packaging. (more…)
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In our expose on Japan’s Tasty Secrets – Itadakimasu! we introduced a myriad of regional food favorites in Japan. Well as it turns out, healthy Asian foods such as soy, tofu and sushi are popular not just in Japan but also around the world. But is it possible to have too much of a good thing? In fact, a recent article on mothering.com, Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food, says that soy foods have become America’s favorite health foods, but at what cost to people and the planet? (more…)
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I couple weeks ago when a vegetarian friend was visiting I tried to figure out where I should take her. I checked the vegetarian section on http://bento.com/, which is a great resource. We ended up going to Asanta Sana in the neighborhood, near Meguro and Ebisu station. (more…)
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Tokyo locavores will definitely remember the colorful and delicious local farmers market in Yoyogi and the superb spreads at the the United Nations University farmer’s market in Tokyo. Well, after visiting the UNU farmer’s market last month, we decided to head over to Ebisu to find a little ramen shop – Afuri – that served an enticing flavor of ramen from one of our favourite Asian healthy citrus fruits: yuzu. Entranced by this recently discovered flavor of Japan and the chance to find another good restaurant, it was impossible to resist the opportunity the beautiful day seemed to offer.
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Color your plate with seasonal veges.
Photo: Sarah Krull.Last week I attended the first Green Leaders Forum@British Council, what came to my mind during the discussion was … organic – what does it really mean? Certainly more than just no chemicals.
Sustainability and lifestyle are concepts that come to mind when I think about organic. When I lived in Boston, I was always surprised when I saw the healthy, supposedly eco-friendly yoga moms shopping at Whole Foods and coming out of the store with 15 plastic bags. That seems counterproductive. (more…)
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I went to a really interesting workshop at the British Council in Tokyo sponsored by some people I know are thinking deeply about sustainability and environmental issues. The panel discussion was a bit unusual but allowed people to cue in ideas and pet topics. A good mix of unusual people joined and I had fun.
This was the first of a new series of monthly learning and networking events, The Green Leaders Forum: The Future of Food @ British Council. (more…)
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GreenBusiness
Tokyo Vegetable Adventures: A Visit to the Farmers Market at UN University
Feb 12th, 2010
All you locavores out there may remember last year we visited the colorful and delicious local farmers market in Yoyogi. Well, recently we discovered the white awnings of the farmer’s market at the United Nations University in Tokyo, another treasure trove of local seasonal food. Over forty stalls offered vegetables, fruits, rice, breads and pastries, flowers, and some of the prettiest rock salt I’ve ever seen from varied parts of Japan. Part of a burgeoning farmers market movement known locally as Marche Japon to connect people with their food and its producers, this market between trendy Harajuku and super-bustling Shibuya, bristled with energy and enthusiasm.
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How many meals are needed to feed Tokyo every day? Where does all this food come from? Not an easy thing to answer, yet it happens everyday as if by magic. This fabulous 15 minute Ted talk by Carolyn Steel looks at how food has shaped cities from ancient times through to today. -
Last week we talked about WWOOF organic farming holidays outside Tokyo, but you don’t have to leave Tokyo to find some green. We spotted this latest Tokyo garden yesterday in Tachikawa. Just outside the post office and at the intersection of two busy streets in a very industrial feeling area, this little garden just makes me smile every time.
The line-up of old motorbikes is eye-catching in itself, but then the added greenery are a perfect touch. In the warmer season, these bikes are full of leaves and blooms. In the lower photo the jade plants tucked in the corner by the door are almost discernable. It’s a perfect example of the little gardens found just about everywhere here. I’m happy all over again just thinking about it.
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The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has released an interesting and very informative look at some of the problems surrounding food and being an island that relies on 60% of food from abroad. Who would have thought that 80% of the ingredients in something as Japanese as Tempura Soba are not from Japan? (more…)
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We’ve talked a lot about food at greenz.jp and about reducing waste associated with food, including ideas such as the okaeri plate and the “WASARA” Good Plate For Good Food, but there hasn’t been much discussion about wasted food itself. And yet, 19 million tonnes of food goes in the trash every year and 9 million tonnes of this hasn’t even expired before it hits the bin, while more than 650,000 people in Japan lack food security. Sad, wasteful and shameful statistics that Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) is trying to do something about. (more…)
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As a recent vacation approached we found ourselves at a loss for what to do. Too short for a meaningful trip home but too long for milling about Tokyo, we searched for ideas. Even though we’ve been here almost a year, there is still so much of Japan that we want to explore and experience. How to choose? Finally, we found an answer – WWOOF!
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