Call to Arms: Jamie Oliver at the TED Conference

Recently I've been looking for a world to describe the people who make me go weak at the knees, from a sustainability standpoint. It's a special variety of non-sexual crush, one you develop on someone who truly impresses you with their passion and initiative. I was thinking about "Grush"—like Green Crush—but people didn't seem

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Mark Your Calendar: 8th Annual Social Venture Institute

Attention entrepreneurs and local business people: On February 26 and 27, the business world and the environmental world merge with The Sustainable Business Network’s (SBN) 8th annual Social Venture Institute. The conference, the only one of its kind on the East Coast, is dedicated to improving businesses with The Triple Bottom Line philosophy—a new way of doing business that encourages entrepreneurs

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Big Questions: Farm-Raised Atlantic Salmon, and Other Options

Wild for Salmon’s Steve and Jenn KurianIn a recent blog post, the New York Times‘ Mark Bittman discussed his love of wild Pacific salmon. While extolling the virtues of this mighty fish, he touched on some very disturbing issues surrounding farm-raised Atlantic salmon. He linked to Barry Estabrook’s blog, The Politics of the Plate, who in

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Green Streets: A Little Urban Gardening Inspiration

Grist.org has posted a slideshow of creative urban gardening solutions. It really doesn’t take very much to grow food, you just have to be inventive. Today, the temperature finally snuck above 40 degrees and the sun felt high in the sky—it’s the perfect time to begin looking ahead to spring, and seeking out some inspiration.

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Grid’s Guide to Philly’s Top CSAs: Dancing Hen Farm

Over the next few weeks, The Griddle will be dishing up info on some of the city’s notable CSAs. Sign up before the shares run out!
Dancing Hen Farm located in Stillwater, PA is a small, family owned operation run by husband and wife team Don Hess and Joan Miller. Committed to organic growing practices, the

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Bee Nice: Upcoming Apiary Events

Beekeeper Joel Eckel, photo credit: Pam RogowIn the words of Gob Bluth, "We'll see who brings in more honey."
The Wyck House in Germantown is offering an "Introduction to Beekeeping" class this Saturday, February 20 at 2:00 p.m. Wyck’s beekeeper, Joel Eckel will offer up the secrets to getting your hive started in time for spring.
Registration for the workshop is required. Email

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Fish Food: The New York Times Tackles Aquaponics

Today's New York Times has a very interesting story on aquaponics, an integrated indoor gardening system that uses fish as a means to feed plants, which in turn clean and aerate the fish's water.
The urban ag pioneer Willie Green at Growing Power in Milwaukeeuses these systems, and they have tremendous potential in areas where water is scarce. They

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Creamy Goodness: The Raw Milk Experiment

A couple weeks ago, Grid sent a contingent to the PASA Conference out in State College. Our trip was short and sweet (due to some sizable weather anxiety stemming from an incoming blizzard), but we did have the chance to talk to hosts of wonderful, passionate, ideologically engaged farmers, advocates and business people. I heard

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Trailblazers: $23 million in Stimulus Money for Bike/Walk Trails Announced

Big news! With help from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC), our region has secured $23 million in recovery money from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant Program. The multi-jurisdictional project—dubbed Generating Recovery by Enhancing Active Transportation in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

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Chill Out: RetroFIT PHILLY Launches Coolest Block Contest

How many “cool” puns can a group of elected officials and civic leaders make in one press conference? Well, a lot. But they can be forgiven for being enthusiastic about the Coolest Block Contest. Today at City Hall, the Energy Coordinating Agency (ECA), the City of Philadelphia and the Dow Chemical Company announced this city-wide

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