Gratitude Gourmet (tm)

My last e-newsletter featured free organic gardening March classes. They are now full, however, April is still open at this writing.  More details and registration information can be found here.

Veg News is sponsoring an SF Vegan Drinks event on Thursday, February 26.  More information about the event is here. Image: VegNews

Green roofs have been popular in Europe since the 1970s, and government incentives helped spur that growth. Their popularity in the United States has grown in the past decade. The San Francisco Chronicle recently featured the Green Roof projects at the California Academy of Sciences, Glide Foundation, and East Oakland's E.C. Reems Academy, and the full article is here. Bay Localize also offers a free downloadable Use Your Roof Guide. (Image Courtesy of Glide)

Bon Appétit Management Company developed operational initiatives to minimize their carbon impact in addition to an educational campaign aimed at increasing awareness about the issues, including reducing the amount of beef they purchase by 25% by April 2009 and launching a campaign to inform their customers about the link between beef and cheese to climate change so they will be able to make conscious choices.  Bon Appetit has a Low Carbon Diet Calculator that is designed to allow you to compare the relative carbon impacts of your food choices. Check out http://www.eatlowcarbon.org
Bon Appetit is not a vegan company, but they are taking steps to reduce meat and cheese and educate their customers to do the same.  Many food companies have not reached this stage yet. Please continue encouraging food providers to reduce/eliminate animal products.

Introduction to Organic Garden Design, Garden Care, and Watering classes are offered free on these dates:  4/4, 4/11 and 4/18. For more information, please see the Garden For The Environment website for additional details.

Bring your community together to chart a course of action that: Creates jobs, boosts the economy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, enhances community life, and engages citizens in the solutions.
Join the National Conversation on Climate Action April 22.  Find or Host an Event.

Planting perennial vegetables are a great way to save time and money. Asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberries are some popular perennials.  See the article for more details. What is your favorite perennial vegetable?

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! Thank you for all you do to help make this world a better place. On Gratitude Gourmet, I've featured 3 amazing chocolate companies that provide delicious chocolate and help the world. Since Valentines Day is upon us, I've summarized the list here for easy reference: Farm Sanctuary Chocolate,  Grey2KUSA Greyhound Chocolate, and Jane Goodall Chocolate.

While at the International Gift Show in San Francisco last weekend, I met Robin at La Lavende Soaps. I stopped at her booth because it was packed with people unlike many of the other booths, and I had to learn more. These beautifully-scented soaps contain either olive, shea butter, or palm oil, or combinations of them. There are no animal products, and they re-use and recycle everything possible and cooperate with other businesses to reuse packing material.  Here's another bonus: a portion of every 100g soap purchased will be donated to an emergency fund for women battling breast cancer. 

We'd like to expand Gratitude Gourmet to provide more features and offerings for you, our readers.  Ideablob is offering a prize, and if Gratitude Gourmet wins, fun features will be added to the site. Please vote for Gratitude Gourmet on Ideablob.