Last weekend I went to the DC Green Festival, a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America. Hundreds of speakers and exhibitors convened at the DC Convention Center to educate thousands of people on the latest trends in the green movement. Attendees who stopped by our KIWI booth walked away with a KIWI Magazine amongst other goodies PLUS had a chance to sign up for our contests. Don’t worry. In case you missed this event, you can still participate.

Here’s the deal:

KiwiCrusaders: KIWI acknowledges excellence in school meals. Enter to win a prize of $3,500 for your school. http://www.kiwimagonline.com/kiwicrusaders/index.php

Next Great Young Chef Contest: Kids ages 4-17 are invited to create a recipe with our secret ingredient – Florida Crystals Organic and Natural Sugars. Parents, please upload a video of the chef in progress. http://www.kiwimagonline.com/contests/NextGreatYoungChef/

Great School Beaches Getaway: Teachers who sign up to receive enews on our new website, MyHealthySchool.com, will be entered to win a vacation package to a Beaches Resort location in Turks & Caicos or Jamaica. http://www.myhealthyschool.com/contests/Beaches/

Next stop on my Green Festival tour is San Francisco this Friday November 15th – Sunday November 17th. Please make sure to stop and say hello and tell your friends…

Stephanie Singer

I have to admit something. In addition to having a theme song for
every new adventure, I tend to decide on a project, embark on it
zealously and then move on.

I was writing an article on school gardens for Kiwi Magazine (Sept
issue) and decided the best way to get motivated was to finally find a
spot in my yard and create a vegetable garden. I had in mind that I
wanted to spearhead an effort to create a garden at my daughter’s
preschool and decided this was my audition to see if I could really
make it happen.

I had created a compost pile which was being turned into fertilizer
gold by thousands of hard-working worms. Unfortunately, that was on
the opposite side of the property from the perfect garden spot.

I read about lasagna gardening and decided that was the best route for
my garden since the soil was not rich and was also very rocky. I
carefully tapped a series of posts to mark my territory but ended up
making the garden way too big for my first attempt. It’s currently 8′
x 20′. I carefully laid newspapers on the ground and covered them
with about 5 inches of fresh compost which took me at least 10 trips
from the compost pile. Sweating profusely, I filled every inch of my
too-big garden with worm-filled compost.

I decided to plant tomato plants instead of starting with seeds
because I wanted immediate gratification. But, I did plant seeds for
cucumber, beans, watermelon and pumpkin and they’re all doing quite
well. This summer seems to be the perfect conditions for a vegetable
garden and the site I chose seems to be working out well.

I am only telling all of you this because I often just wing it. I
started throwing table scraps into a pile of leaves in a place where
my dogs couldn’t access and *poof* I have a very productive compost
pile. I toss in shredded newspaper and hay, turn it every so often,
but largely ignore it. The worms do all of the work.

I also largely ignore my garden. I just make sure it’s not too dry
and that the tomato plants are tied to stakes and leave it alone. I
don’t weed, trim, groom or talk to it. And it is growing like mad.

Some plants are faring better than others, but the lesson I learned is
to just give it a go and you’ll be so surprised. And, if it doesn’t
work the first time, step back, rethink it and try again.

The best part of all of this experimentation is that my daughter wants
to be outside most of the day to corral worms, water the garden and
check on her plants. I get great exercise from digging the compost
and then taking it for a ride in the wheel barrow. And, we all can’t
wait to taste the fresh vegetables that we grew without pesticides or
products.

(the Emerald City of Seattle, not the Emerald City of Oz)

A HUGE thank you to all those who visited us at the First Annual Seattle Green Festival! It was a great weekend, and now that I’ve finally adjusted back to east coast time, I thought I’d share the experience with you.

If you have never been to a Green Festival, you must get to one! They are fantastic! I was a little unsure of what I had gotten myself into by volunteering to work this event, but once the show began, I loved every second of it! It was great to meet so many loyal Kiwi readers and chat about upcoming projects and to introduce our magazine and our philosophy to those who were unfamiliar with us. When I got a chance to escape from my booth for a few minutes, I was in awe as I walked down aisle after aisle of fascinating “green” and “eco” stuff. The food samples were tasty and the people were friendly and eager to answer any questions I had about their products and company. There were so many great companies there, but a few stuck out in my mind as my favorites.

My absolute favorite was Mr. ElliePooh. If you haven’t guessed from its name, this company makes stuff out of elephant poo! My first thought was “ew, gross,” but when I learned more about the company, I loved the idea (and bought lots of paper and notebooks to prove it)!

You can read Mr. ElliePooh’s entire story on their website, but basically, by making various paper products from elephant poo, this company is allowing people and elephants to live in harmony in Sri Lanka. Cool, huh? I’m all for saving elephants, especially if it’s as easy as buying some really nifty paper!

Kathy’s Climate Kits also stood out in my mind as being really different. Recipients of the Climate Kit are provided with helpful tips and tools to lessen their impact on the climate and environment. What a great way to introduce your friends and family to the eco-friendly lifestyle!

Also worth noting is the group Women’s Voices for the Earth, which was promoting its new campaign, the Green Cleaning Party. When you order a Green Cleaning Party Kit from the group’s website, you’ll receive everything you need to host a get-together where you and your guests can concoct your own safe and effective cleaning supplies from ingredients you already have in your home. I’m thinking this is probably more fun than the typical handbag or candle demonstration, because you actually get to dirty your hands and make stuff!

There were many more exciting happenings at the Green Festival, but I don’t want to give away any surprises! Check out the upcoming Green Festival in Chicago in May, and then in November in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

See you next year, Seattle!

-Jena Parise, Marketing Coordinator for KIWI Magazine

One edamommy attempts to cut meat out of her life.

I read an article in the New York Times about vegansexuals. That’s a new one. So, pity the poor singletons today who not only have to worry about finding true love, but now they have to make sure they are culinary-compatible. I met my husband when I was 37 and he was 49 and I am soooooo happy that I never had to worry about smelling like meat or worrying that my yogurt addiction was detrimental to my relationship. The article was alarming. Does your date eat some meat, no meat, no eggs, some dairy? Holy cow! Time to get a dog. They don’t care. They lick you when you come home all sweaty from the gym, think the mailman looks scrumptious and think you are agorgeous, intelligent, witty genius.

One quick Google and I see there are many lifestyle-based internet dating sites; I’m talking food orientation. The home page of one of the sites has a couple kissing next to a buffet of vegetable crudités (uh-oh – I spy ranch dressing:. “You’re not a vegan! You lied to me! You probably eat hot wings in your closet. You, you cheatin’ vegan!”)Well, I am shouting it from the mountaintops: I am a vegan (sort of) and I am in love with a bone-afied meat-eater! There. I said it. -“Edamommy” Mary Talalay is a writer for KIWI Magazine

My name is Keri Marshall and I am a licensed Naturopathic Doctor in private practice in Dover, NH, and mother of two. I have a general family practice that encompasses all aspects of natural medicine including clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy and lifestyle counseling. I enjoy organic gardening, cooking, snowboarding, camping, biking and surfing. Currently one of the big projects I am working on in my community is an effort to improve the public school hot lunch program. Recently, our school board unanimously approved removal of all trans fats from foods being served, no artificial sweeteners, and at least 50% of grains served will be whole grains.

With the information I provide, I hope to help you understand a few simple concepts, one of which is that childhood nutrition begins as early as conception. How we eat throughout pregnancy as well as how we introduce food to an infant will greatly impact lifelong nutrition and eating habits. I also hope to provide beneficial information with regard to decoding nutrition labels and de-mystifying contradictory information that we hear about in the media and what it means in our day-to-day life.

In general, children who consume Standard American Diet (SAD) meet the RDA basic guidelines for nutrition. Unfortunately, it appears that we have set the bar too low and the guidelines set by the government are fostering an epidemic of obesity and poor health. I look forward to creating a forum to discuss ways to raise the bar with regards to our children’s nutrition and explore ways to improve our own personal nutrition and lifestyle habits as parents.

–Dr. Keri Marshall MS, ND is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in holistic pediatrics and women’s medicine.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

On January 21, 2008 we acknowledge and celebrate the late great Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King is recognized as being one of the main leaders of the American civil rights movement. Originally a Baptist minister, his interest in the growing epidemic of violence towards black Americans led him to become a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and helped found the Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. All of his efforts led to the highly publicized 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. In 1964, Dr. King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violence means.

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Luther King Day was established as a national holiday in the United States in 1986.

To get involved in this important celebration, introduce your children to Dr. King through books featured in the Kiwi Bookworms Club such as Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Additionally, there’s great resources on the web including FamilyEducation.com and or the Holiday Zone which even has the complete text of Dr. Kings famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Also, there are many local activities that can be found online. For example, as a part of Philadelphia’s annual “Dr. King: A Day of Service” proceedings, I’ll participate in several commemorative events. As alumni of Penn State Abington I will be on campus helping to organize students who will volunteer at several organizations throughout the Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia county areas, including The Attic and the William Way Community Center.

Also at Penn State Abington, is a one-man play written and performed by Michael Fosberg, called “Incognito.” The play addresses diversity and stereotyping and is scheduled on January 21 from noon to 1pm in room 108-109 Lares Building.

Later this evening I’ll attend the African American Museum in Philadelphia (701 Arch Street), where their Day of Service Tribute to Dr. King’s life and work will include music, dancing, a laser show, a community service project to aid the homeless and more. These activities are scheduled to run from 11am-5pm, for more information call (215) 574-0380, or visit www.aampmuseum.org.

I hope that you will take the time to honor this great man who has helped make our country a better place to live for all of us.

–Shaneka Holliday Dawsonia, Special Events and Promotions Coordinator, KIWI Magazine