Last week I drew your attention to a story about supermarkets selling their green credentials. One of the things I mentioned was how your local grocer was likely to be hugely more energy-efficient than the supermarket, and someone very kindly drew my attention to curiously-cased theSHOPPERSbible.com.
theSHOPPERSbible was set up by a businessman who goes by the delightful name of David Croissant. His favourite local shop (we're not told what it sold but I like to think it was a boulangerie) shut down after competition from the larger stores nearby proved too much for it. As a result, he decided to fund and promote the creation of theSHOPPERSbible, which acts as a kind of portal for independent retailers. Shoppers can use the site to search for local shops for local people in their local area, and use the site to contact the retailers directly if they have any questions.
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Thanks to David Attenborough, the BBC, and a 40-strong camera crew, I have seen lions hunting elephants, migrating Mongolian gazelle and, last night, a parasitic fungi that feeds on its insect host before bursting out of its body, Alien-style.
If you didn't catch episode eight of the wonderful Planet Earth - and, frankly, you should be ashamed of yourself - you get a second chance on Saturday night (25 November, 7pm, BBC 2).
And if that isn't enough, a five-disc DVD box set, featuring the entire series (plus extras) is released on November 27. Planet Earth is a spectacular achievement; five years in production, over 2000 days in the field and across 200 locations.
Put it on your Christmas list; you deserve it.
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Venture Foods has added two new organic, fairtrade and vegan confectionery bars to their range, bringing the total up to six.
My favourite's the 'Swiss Dark Chocolate Bar with Mint Crisps', a dark chocolate (65% cocoa solids) bar containing crispy mint crystals. It's a perfect guilt-free after-dinner alternative to the likes of Nestlé's Matchmakers or the Cadbury Schweppes-owned Green & Black's range. This bar tastes so good, it didn't even occur to me that it was specially formulated to make it suitable for vegans.
I tend to shy away from white 'chocolate' but the Premium Organic White Bar is similarly tasty. It's not at all obvious that Venture Foods use rice milk as a dairy alternative and it's a great choice for vegans who prefer white chocolate. (Back-of-the-pack obsessives can see the ingredients list here.)
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Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House
by Kelly Lerner and Carol Venolia, published by Lark Books, £11.77
Starting with a non-organic product of any kind and trying to make it green is always difficult, and a house is one of the most difficult (as well as most common). Result: this book was received with great enthusiasm. Contains lots of useful definitions for the novice would-be hippyshopper and a mix of obvious (yes, we know cooking with lids on the pots makes you use less heating energy) and non-obvious (putting the bathtub by a window really does make the bathroom look larger). Unfortunately, too much seems contingent on large design decisions (information on where to put windows implies one intends to move them) where more emphasis on small changes with good bang-for-the-buck impact would've been appreciated. However, it is called Remodeling - not, say, Tweaking. On the whole it's a slightly strange mix of specialized information (tables of the various virtues of different flooring, wall finishes, etc) and overly simplified (indictions to 'pick energy efficient windows'). Nonetheless, if you are undertaking a renovation of any kind it's worth at least a look, and at only £11.77, most likely worth buying. 3/5. [GT]
Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House
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Simply Green: Parties
by Danny Seo, published by HarperCollins, £7.25
I enjoyed Danny Seo's Simply Green: Giving quite a bit, so when I received a review copy of Simply Green: Parties, it was with enormous relief. Here, I figured, was something that could be invaluable in planning this wedding thing in a practical way. While it doesn't specifically address weddings, it does cover baby showers (no darling, that's not an oblique way of telling you anything), housewarmings and general summer parties. Seo gives plenty of interesting little tips on how to improve the green factor of any social event at a minimal (if any) cost. Also engagingly written; every time I sat to flip through it I found myself absorbed by the accessible, sensible style. Although I agree with his decision to showcase six types of parties to wrap his tips around, at the same time I would have appreciated more general advice on structuring a green event. 4/5. [GT]
Related stories: Review: Simply Green: Giving | More Green Weddings posts
Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings
by Margaux Sky, published by Rutledge Hill Press, £11.79
When I started looking for sandwich books over a year ago - trying to find quick, easy, healthy recipes for that midday meal I'm otherwise so prone to skip - there was Paulette Mitchell's Vegetarian Sandwiches and that's about it. Now there's an explosion of panini books wherever you look. One particular sandwich book stands out though, and that's Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings by Margaux Sky, since it starts at the beginning of the sandwich - the bread - and walks you forward through sauces to fillings and sides. Like many glossy food books it has its share of recipes that seem too complicated for an average person to put together in the timeframe I'd like - the Turkey and Wild Rice Sandwich Loaf looks great but involves having a batch of raw bread dough available, 45 minutes baking, 30 minutes cooling, plus the prep, for example - but there are enough on-the-fly productions to make this book worthwhile. See the Garden Patch with Creamy Candied Carrot Sauce (best assembled on Maple Merlot Bread) or Chicken Salad in Minty Yogurt Sauce on Brown Harvest Bread. Lunch as a meal is so often overlooked by cookbookery that it's lovely to see it get the royal treatment here, and the pictures alone tempt you to go above and beyond the usual Weetabix-and-toast that some of us at Shiny get up to after the second week of working from home. 3.5/5. [GT]
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Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything You Need to Know About Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
by Cathy Thomas, published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd, £13.19
Melissa's Great Book of Produce has a grandiose name and is well deserved. Written by Cathy Thomas of the Orange County Register, it is rife with luscious but very representative photographs of each fruit or vegetable, ranging from asian pears to yu choy sum. Each entry has instructions on how to find a high quality, ripe instance of the fruit or vegetable, how to store it, prep, nutritional information, use, serving suggestions. Many include recipes. Having a decadently food-porn vibe and being totally useful, this is a very worthwhile purchase for any vegan, vegetarian, or, well, human being interested in high quality food. [GT]
Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything You Need to Know About Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
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