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advice

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    Test-tube flesh, coming soon to a hot dog near you

    In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night. —– Dear Lou, I hear that PETA has come out in favor of the development of test-tube meat. What’s up with that? I […]

    Lou Bendrick Culture

  • Long forgotten, chestnuts are coming back with a vengeance, and make a delicious holiday pudding

      Nuts about chestnuts.   I first learned about chestnuts from “The Christmas Song” (most likely, the Chipmunks’ version), not from tasting one. That happened much later. A couple of years ago, a farmer brought locally grown chestnuts to the back door of the restaurant where I worked. My coworkers and I were excited to […]

    April McGreger Culture

  • Umbra on turning down the heat

    Dear Umbra, Many of my friends are environmentally minded and do lots of things to try to have a smaller carbon footprint. Yet when I tell people I turn my heat down when I leave the house even for an hour or two, and that I turn it down to 50 at night, they say, […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • A taste test of seven ‘natural’ frozen dinners

      I have fond memories of microwaveable TV dinners from when I was a child: mac ‘n’ cheese, chicken nuggets, unidentifiable green lumps, mushy brown things. The wonder surrounding them was probably due to the fact that we weren’t usually allowed to eat them. Mama Shep is a great cook, and since we grew up […]

    Kate Sheppard Culture

  • Umbra on greening the office

    Dear Umbra, The Powers That Be at my job have decided to start a Green Initiative. The project got put on the desk of the office manager, who doesn’t know where to start. I signed up to be a part of the committee, and I was wondering if you had any advice about how to […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • How to green your office holiday party

      Who brought the lampshade?   They say it’s a “no-frills holiday season” this year — with the economy hitting the skids, many companies are putting the brakes on lavish holiday-party spending, and some are nixing their parties altogether. But just because you have to cancel the fireworks show doesn’t mean you can’t have a […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • Reclaiming the beauty of Thanksgiving

    Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. — Cicero   In a couple of days, we’ll celebrate our best, most important holiday. While celebrations of the harvest have existed for as long as civilization (for indeed it was agriculture that necessitated both), this particular holiday is uniquely […]

    Kurt Michael Friese Culture

  • Umbra on rainforest-protection gifts

    Dear Umbra, This year for Christmas, I want to buy hectares of rainforest for some of my in-laws instead of the usual gift items that may end up in someone’s closet and forgotten, if not regifted. How do organizations that protect rainforests in this way operate, and how do I know a high percentage of […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • The dirt on biodynamic and ‘authentic’ wines

    In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night.   Dear Checkout Line, What the hell is biodynamic wine and does it taste any better than regular wine? JeffColorado Dear Colorado Jeff, […]

    Lou Bendrick Food