Green Day Expo

Some images and stories from Green Day- Larchmont-Mamaroneck’s first Sustainability Expo.

   

 

Vendors (from chicken farmers to dry cleaners), volunteers, speakers and hundreds of members of the community filled the halls of Hommocks with great ideas for helping our planet and living cleaner lives.

Here is a "slide-show" by Loop staffers. Below, a story by Susie Arth.

 

 

 

 

 

You can install solar panels on your home; you can purchase energy-efficient appliances for your kitchen; you can ride your bike to work. But there’s another way to promote both planetary and personal health that is a much easier task to swallow.

"You vote with your fork three times a day," Chris Roberts said. "Vote with your heart."

Roberts was one of two co-leaders from Slow Food Westchester who addressed a small group of people Saturday morning at the Larchmont -Mamaroneck Sustainability Expo at Hommocks Middle School.

Slow Food Westchester is one of about 200 chapters that make up Slow Food USA, an organization that is dedicated to food that is good, clean and fair. The Westchester chapter has about 100 dues-paying members and about 500 people on its email list, Roberts said. The movement, though, is worldwide with origins in Italy. It currently has chapters in nearly 30 countries. "Our food system is broken and it needs to change," co-leader Susan Rubin said.

According to Rubin, more fossil fuel is spent on our food system than anything else, including our cars and our heating systems. The food on our plates, she said, travels an average of 1,500 miles. In addition, industrial agriculture and big farming take a big toll on our environment and our animals. "It’s not good," Roberts said. "Not good for the cows, not good for the planet, and it’s not good for you and me."

Their No. 1 action step for Westchester residents is to get out of the supermarket and into the Farmers Markets. Their No. 2 step? Grow food of your own. "Everyone has a green thumb," Roberts said. Whether it’s planting a tomato plant in your dorm room or starting a backyard garden, everyone can contribute. "We need a more resilient food system that’s more diverse and more local," Rubin said. "We need to get back into growing food."

editrix: I kinda liked the goat hooves (cruelty-free) music making bracelets at the Groove table…

 

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