Articles by Sarah van Schagen

From Bo to ‘Boards

Bo, you do know diddly In honor of Global Love Day (serious!), we’re spreadin’ the love this week. And where better to start than with Bo Derek? The notorious “10” was just named U.S. special envoy on wildlife trafficking. Which we’re sure is unrelated to her wild times with Bush’s new chief of staff. Photo: […]

Under the Covers: Getcha grub on

Grub, as defined in the book of the same name by Anna Lappé and Bryant Terry:

grub* (grəb), n.

1. Grub is organic and sustainably raised whole and locally grown foods;
2. Grub is produced with fairness from seed to table;
3. Grub is good for our bodies, our communities, and our environment.

*Grub should be universal ... and it's delicious.

Last night, I went with a cadre of social Gristers to a book reading and signing by Lappé and Terry at the Elliott Bay bookstore. Their book, Grub: ideas for an urban organic kitchen, is half scary facts and figures about our food system and the chemicals therein, half earth- and people-healthy menu plans (complete with soundtrack suggestions and short poems and essays to compliment the meal), and 10 percent resource guide. (And apparently I suck at math.)

Much like the book, the reading was a good mix of factual bits and personal stories about the authors' relationship with food, spiced with bits of humor. Lappé, coauthor (along with her mother, Frances Moore Lappé) of Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet and cofounder of the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund, joked about a book she reads when she needs a laugh, Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastics. Terry, a chef and founding director of b-healthy!, chuckled about his past forays into fruitarianism and even breatharianism before realizing he was a "grubarian," adding that "to embrace grub, you don't have to give up anything -- except maybe a mouthful of pesticides." The real fun, however, began after the bookstore event.

From Hip-Hop to Hybrid

The Ghostface of Earth Day present Want to celebrate Earth Day, but don’t wanna roll wit dem punk-ass bitchez? Stop by NYC’s Green Apple Music and Arts Festival and catch a set by Ghostface Killah, who shared these words of wisdom about the importance of conscientious environmental stewardship: “I don’t know nothing about that.” Word, […]

From Bikes to Butte

Blessed are the two-wheelers What would Jesus drive? Please. Jesus would bike, bro! To vouchsafe this essential spiritual truth, New York City cyclists are gathering in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Earth Day to have their rides blessed and sprinkled with holy water, while they ring their bells and angels get their […]