Love this idea: A Minneapolis public relations firm, Haberman & Associates, is sponsoring an organic vegetable garden for employees. The company donated the land and fronted money and resources, while employees provide the labor. Three days a week after work, when most people are heading home for the night, nearly two-thirds of the company’s employees head to the garden to pull weeds, hoe the pumpkin patch and pick vegetables. They’re rewarded with  organic produce to take home home; leftovers are donated to local food banks. 

Haberman & Associates employees enjoy fresh vegetables from the company-sponsored organic garden. Photo Courtesy Haberman & Associates.

Haberman & Associates started the garden as a way to walk in the shoes of some of their clients in the sustainable agriculture and organic food industry, and now the firm hopes company-sponsored organic vegetable gardens will take root in other parts of the country. These gardens offer a low-cost benefit at a time when many businesses are cutting employee benefit packages, and they also enhance employee health by sending workers home with nutritious, organic food,  provide a way to relax after work and promote bonding between employees. 

The company-sponsored organic vegetable garden is similar to community supported agricultural programs, or CSAs. By involving businesses, they bring the importance of nutritious, organic food out of the home and into the workforce, making healthy eating a corporate matter as well as a personal one.

We all want to buy local and organic produce whenever possible, and that’s getting easier as many grocery stores now label their fruits and vegetables. But how do I know if I’m buying genetically modified produce? Keeping genetically modified organisms (GMOs) off my family’s dinner table just got a little easier—at Whole Foods, at least.

Shoppers pick up natural and organic food at Whole Foods in New York. Photo Courtesy Whole Foods.

Whole Foods Market recently announced it will submit its private-label (store brand) products to the Non-GMO Project’s Product Verification Program (PVP). The Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit organization made up of manufacturers, retailers, processors, distributors, farmers, seed breeders and consumers who advocate natural and organic products produced without genetic engineering. The group worked with the Global ID Group, an international non-GMO testing organization, to create the PVP. 

The voluntary program analyzes products by performing on-site audits and DNA testing of any ingredient known to be at high risk for genetic contamination. Products that meet the standards are entitled to carry the Non-GMO Project’s compliance seal. The first Whole Foods products verified by the Non-GMO Project are expected to hit stores before year’s end. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic standards require organic producers to comply with certain non-GMO requirements, but no standards exist for labeling GMOs in non-organic products. The majority of Whole Foods’ private label products are not USDA certified-organic,  meaning many products may contain GMOs. Products labeled as “natural” are often produced on large industrial farms using pesticides, chemical fertilizer, hormones and genetic engineering.

What do you think about Whole Foods’ pledge to verify its products as GMO-free? Tell me about it in the comment section.

No, I’m not on the remote Island of Bali, Indonesia, (although pronounced the same way) — I’m at the seventh annual Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (BALLE) in Denver, Colorado. The three-day conference is dedicated to inspiring small, local businesses to achieve their entrepreneur goals, which simultaneously builds sustainable and eco-friendly practices in the attendees’ communities.

Last night I heard software and networking developer June Holley and Tom Stearns, board president of the Center for an Agricultural Economy and founder of High Mowing Organic Seeds, speak about rural economic development strategies. Both speakers were fantastic, and delivered presentations that change your perspective on rural towns, economic strategies and the green movement.

Stearns has been an organic seed grower since he was 19 and transformed his passion for growing organic seeds and produce into a successful business, High Mowing Organic Seeds. In 2004 he joined the Center for an Agricultural Economy, based in Hardwick, Vermont (which has the most organic farms per capita in the world). Stearns and community members transformed this abandoned, desolate mining town into a thriving community of 3,000 residents.   

Stearns discussed the food system, its current broken state and how we can go about repairing it. He shared some interesting food for thought: Strawberries don’t grow year round in many communities, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the produce section of a grocery store. The food system is broken; just look at the spread of e. coli outbreaks and how far our food travels. To top this, Stearns said that 70 percent of people in the country will die from food related illnesses, such as diabetes and obesity. That's a lot to swallow.

As depressing as this appears, Stearns offers an easy solutions to repair the system: eat smarter, eat local and eat organic. He empowered the audience with the belief that we can create a healthy food system by knowing what a broken food system looks like. For the first time in history, we are consciously creating a food system that incorporates local businesses and communities.    

I’m off to my next session about educating the next generation of entrepreneurs. Stay tuned for the summary of living economy entrepreneurs and more session recaps to come. In the mean time, have you heard of BALLE? Are you a local living entrepreneur? How have you developed your local community and economy? Do you have a question for one of these community entrepreneurs? Email me (snelson[at]ogdenpubs.com) and I’ll let you know their response!

When the Obama family moved into the White House, many people gave suggestions on how to green the first family’s home. 

The Obamas listened. 

For the first time since Eleanor Roosevelt grew a Victory Garden during World War II, the White House will have a vegetable garden. Michelle Obama, along with 23 fifth graders from an elementary school in Washington, D.C., dug up the soil for the 1,100-square-foot organic garden last Friday. The entire Obama family, including the President, was expected to help pull weeds in preparation.  

Michelle Obama shows elementary school children how to dig dirt for the vegetable garden. Photo Courtesy  The White House/ Joyce N. Boghosian  

The organic garden is one way the White House is going green. The beds for the garden will be fertilized with White House compost as well as crab meat, lime and green sand. Ladybugs and praying mantises will help control bugs. The first family will plant cilantro , hot peppers, red romaine lettuce, spinach, collards, Thai basil and many other seeds for a total of 55 vegetable varieties. 

The kitchen staff at the White House will use the vegetables, herbs and berries to prepare meals for the first family, but Michelle Obama hopes the garden’s benefits will extend beyond that. She believes the children helping out will learn about healthier eating. 

Organic advocates around the country hope the Obamas’ garden will become a national symbol for eating healthier food and , more importantly, growing food locally and organically. Much of the nation’s produce is grown on industrial farms, requiring large amounts of oil to transport and chemicals to fertilize. If more people grew their own vegetables or participated in a community garden, we could cut back our dependence on these farms and live healthier lives.