How do you rate it? Australia’s green building rating tools EcoGeneration — May/June 2011 A number of rating schemes have been developed in Australia to assess the energy consumption and environmental impact of commercial and residential buildings. Sustainable Built Environment’s Chris Begert looks at three of the better known rating tools: Green Star, NABERS and [...]
Thermal Energy rating
Posted May 24th, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
Apricots and The First Sign of Summer
Posted May 24th, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
I planted a new tree in my backyard last summer. It was actually a rescue – one of my neighbors put an apricot tree in a pot, it had grown too big and they had nowhere to plant it in their yard. I placed it in a sunny spot in between a magnolia and a [...]
Memorable Memorial Day Recipes
Posted May 23rd, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
Memorial Day for most of us now marks the official start of the warm weather season. People still refer to it as Decoration Day in some parts of the U.S., the original name when the holiday was formalized just after the Civil War as a patriotic day to honor those fallen in battle. In the [...]
Grill Sausage for Memorial Day
Posted May 23rd, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
Hamburgers, chicken, fish —I love it all. But this Memorial Day, I plan to please my German forefathers and break the mold of the same-old-same-old. It’s time to fire up the grill for some juicy, all-natural sausages. Savory, spicy, sweet and succulent, I love to celebrate sausage in all its diversity! Back in the old [...]
Tea Bread with Whole Trade Mangoes
Posted May 22nd, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
We are so excited that Whole Trade® Guarantee Francique mangoes are in stores companywide! Make sure you get them while you can – the plump and juicy Francique variety is unique to Haiti and available only during a short season each spring. If you watched this video, you got to see Haitian mangoes being harvested [...]
Perfectly Healthy Picnics
Posted May 22nd, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
Some of my favorite summertime memories are those of escaping our warm house, packing up the kids and a large basket of food, and heading off to the park for an evening of live music, delicious bites and (hopefully) a cool breeze. While the adults lounge on blankets, chatting and head bopping, the children happily [...]
Equitable Pay Through Whole Trade Mangoes
Posted May 21st, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
Whole Foods Market is the sole buyer of organic and Fair Trade Certified mangoes from small Haitian growers, sometimes buying from a family with just one tree. The Whole Trade® Guarantee ensures growers receive equitable pay — a key point since this mango crop is a major source of income for many of these farmers. [...]
Snacks Fit for a Summer Cooler
Posted May 21st, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
I don’t mean to rub it in…but I grew up in Hawai’i. At least one day out of the Memorial Day weekend—and many other weekends during the summer—was usually spent hanging out at Hapuna Beach. Hapuna was a two-and-a-half hour drive from our small town. We’d leave really early to try and get there before [...]
Step by Step Improving Animal Welfare
Posted May 20th, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
We’ve been blogging about the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards Program for several months now. We are very pleased that around 1400 farms and ranches that supply our stores with pork, chicken and beef have been Step-rated! And one of the great things about Global Animal Partnership’s Step rating system is that it encourages producers [...]
Best Grilling Tips
Posted May 20th, 2011 by Admin. Comment (0).
At its essence, grilling is pretty simple—make a fire, cook food over it. Perhaps that’s why those grill-gone-wrong experiences can be so humbling. Alas, we’ve all had those grilling mishaps with burned burgers, charred chicken and incinerated veggies. But this summer is going to be different! Here is a quick refresher on grilling tips and [...]