The organic Consumer's Association is very concerned about Poisoning our Schools and Neighborhoods with Toxic Sludge.  This information is apparently quite alarming and if you want to know more, you can go to this link. 

It would be very alarming if in fact, what neighborhood gardeners think is rich organic compost is in fact toxic.  We need to protect our food.  We need to stay informed.

Here is what they are saying :

So-called "Biosolids" are actually Toxic Sewage Sludge

A critical mass of scientific studies indicate that municipal sewage sludge, including San Francisco's, routinely contains thousands of dangerous pathogens, toxic heavy metals, flame retardants, endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, pharmaceutical drugs and other hazardous chemicals coming from residential drains, storm water runoff, hospitals, and industrial plants.

The San Francisco Public Utilities' Commission (SFPUC) understands that schools, backyard gardeners and farmers would never knowingly accept hazardous sewage sludge to grow their veggies, flowers, and lawns, so they deliberately trick people into accepting it by misleadingly calling it "organic fertilizer."

Thursday, Match 4 from noon to 2PM you can go to the Steps of City Hall in San Francisco and find out what is going on.  Local Gardeners and Concerned Residents will be there to meet the Mayor.  he has always been a very open and cooperative figure and one would think, will get to the bottom of this controversial concern.

You can also sign a letter asking Mayor Newsom and the city of San Francisco to stop giving away toxic sewage sludge, under the guise of it being "organic fertilizer," to a growing number of backyard, neighborhood, and school gardeners, landscapers, consumers, farmers, students, and area residents.

Tell the Mayor to stop handing out poison to area residents.

 Hopefully you have seen that great video "The Story of Stuff"  by Annie Leonard.  You can see her at Books Inc. on Wednesday March 17, at 7PM

We have a problem with stuff. With just 5 percent of the world's population, we're consuming 30 percent of the world's resources and creating 30 percent of the world's waste. This alarming fact drove Annie Leonard to create the Internet film sensation The Story of Stuff, and now she's written a book of the same name, which digs deeper into the story of the stuff we use every day-where it comes from, how it is produced, distributed, and consumed, and where it goes when we throw it out. Leonard will be discussing her new book at Books Inc. in Berkeley on Wednesday, March 17th, in Berkeley.

My goal for this post was to give you a link to an excellent "With a Perspective" feature on KQED and NPR.  We hope you made your pledge to your local public radio station this year.  They are a vital part of our community education and offer so much valuable information for time challenged people.  Just listen to NPR whenever you are in your car and you'll be amazed at what you learn.

In searching, I came across this BLOG from QUEST, which is yet another great offering.  See what Amy Gotliffe says about  FOSTERING SUSTAINABLE BEHAVIOR.  

Social Enterprise
President Obama says he's looking for good ideas that work. When it comes to providing job opportunities to the hard-to-employ while generating revenue to non-profit organizations, Carla Javits says she can point to an excellent idea that works.

President Obama's State of the Union detailed the hardships of a hard economy and said that, "... for those who'd already known poverty, life has become that much harder." His package of prescriptions included incentives for small businesses to hire more workers, and for investors to provide them with capital. So far so good.

However, in Tampa the next day, the President failed to highlight the small business solution when he responded to a woman asking about job opportunities for her brother who had just left prison, referring instead to a small federal program that assists parolees when they return home. It's a fine program but too small to meet the need given the limits on domestic spending the President also proposed. He added that "if we can find a program that works, that breaks the cycle, it is a good investment for our country."

He won't have to search too hard to find what works. It's a special kind of small business referred to as a "social enterprise", run by nonprofits that earn income by delivering needed goods or services like landscaping or recycling, while also creating jobs for young people and adults on the bottom of most hiring lists due to histories of incarceration, homelessness, mental illness or substance abuse.

Studies show that people who get jobs in social enterprise are less likely to return to prison and jail or remain homeless. Taxpayer costs go down and the self-respect and income that comes with having a job go up.

In California, some groups do similar work. Think Conservation Corps, or Community Housing Partnership or St. Vincent DePaul of Alameda. With skyrocketing prison budgets contributing to California's overwhelming deficits, and little money in the public till for grants to nonprofits, now is the right time to replicate these proven models that achieve results and generate revenue to cover costs. Here's a small business sector that could benefit from the incentives that others get, while offering just what the President called for -- a great return on investment for our country that works and breaks the cycle.

March 10-11 we'll be taking Berkeley High students on our Green Collar Jobs Tour.  One of our stops is the tremendously successful and well respected Cypress Mandela Training Center and EcoOptions !  Stay tuned for more details

All of us at EBGT choose Gather Restaurant  as one of the best ever.  Soon we will offer a tour "From the Farm to the Food on your Fork"  because Gather exemplifies the quality and integrity of this concept.  Please visit their website to learn all you can about this unique restaurant located next to the David Brower Center, where we have our offices!

Sunday's Chronicle did a story on Gather so here's an excerpt.  You can read the whole article, it's worth it.  We've been to many events they have catered.  We highly advise you consider them for an unforgettable delectable treat for your company.

Berkeley's Gather has diverse dishes, PC flavor      by Michael Bauer

The young couple at the next table seemed to be getting along - talking, laughing, sharing insights and reveling in each other's company. Once in a while he'd fork a beet or a chunk of mushroom pate from her vegan charcuterie platter ($14), which she ordered with a glass of fruit juice. She never reciprocated by checking out his house-cured meats ($14) or his red wine.

Their diverse eating preferences were handled admirably at Gather, the new political statement - excuse me, restaurant - in Berkeley.

She went on to order the hearty cannellini bean soup with fava leaves ($7) and he zeroed in on the Lucky Dog Ranch burger ($12.50) stacked with Sierra Nevada cheddar cheese and aioli. Both seemed happy; the relationship continued to blossom through the meal.

In the Bay Area, most restaurants accommodate vegetarians, but few embrace them like Gather. It's in the David Brower Center, which houses a collection of environmental and social-action nonprofits. In many regards the restaurant is so politically correct it feels like a vegetarian restaurant in sheep's clothing.

The center is a nice fit for this 148-seat restaurant owned by Ari Derfel and Eric Fenster of Back to Earth Organic Catering. To head the kitchen, they brought in Sean Baker, whose resume includes four-plus years at Millennium, the innovative San Francisco vegan restaurant. At Gather he's judiciously added meat to the mix while still offering a solid lineup of vegan foods. Just about every item on the menu is initialed with a V for vegan, GF for gluten free or L for locavore.

In the small-plates category, six of the 11 items are vegan or can easily accommodate vegans, ranging from fried mushrooms ($11) cloaked in a batter that tastes almost like chicharrones, served with pickled sunchokes and a citrus aioli, to a baby escarole salad ($9) with Meyer lemon and tahini dressing with bread crumbs and toasted nori.

If you ask, and often even if you don't, you'll learn where your food comes from. The restaurant's bible is a ring binder that details the history of most ingredients in the kitchen.    The top of the menu, in fact, kicks off with Gather's credo: "We support local food producers and source all of our ingredients carefully, with an unwavering commitment to choosing only foods that are cultivated safely, justly and sustainably. We love to talk food. Please ask to see our Source Book."

That's not window dressing. Derfel will come over and talk nonstop. On one visit he was having dinner with a friend in the restaurant, but engaged the adjacent tables to talk about the sustainable philosophy. I'm sure he'd also be glad to join you in the bar, which carries only organic liquors.

This type of enthusiasm is contagious, and the passion shows on the plate. Baker, despite cooking without meat for several years, has the carnivore items down pat, especially the long-cooked braises. He nestles chunks of slow-cooked pork ($17) into freshly milled polenta, supported on a pad of beautifully braised and seasoned chard and a sprinkling of toasted bread crumbs. There's also generally a fish dish, such as seared cod ($19) on a bed of Jerusalem artichokes, baby artichokes, mushrooms and green garlic puree.

Baker uses his Millennium tricks on such things as the heirloom bean ragout ($12) where root vegetables are made into "butter," the beans are mixed with Brussels sprouts and scallions, and the whole assortment is topped with grilled bread. It's good, but best for sharing. After five or six bites I wanted to move on to something else.

The kitchen does a better job with vegan charcuterie ($14) than the house-cured meats ($14). The prosciutto looked anemic and the coppa left big pools of grease, but the collection of vegetables was a delight. The nightly changing selection can include Purple Haze carrots sliced over cashew "ricotta" with tarragon lemon puree; roasted baby beets with horseradish almond puree; carnival squash glistening in melted leek "butter"; whole roasted sunchoke; a salad of parsnips, grapefruit, mint and currants; and a bruschetta of porcini pecan pate with grilled red onions. Each item - there are always at least five - is complex and inviting, making the plate a great thing to share.

The sustainable philosophy plays out in the decor of the loft-style restaurant. Two dozen mesh fish baskets with filament bulbs hang from a ceiling cluttered with ducts and pipes. Banquettes on the perimeter and overlooking Oxford Street are covered in recycled leather belts. Sandblasted wine bottles stand in for shades for pendant lights hanging over the thick wood tables.

Pothos vines, which I haven't seen much since the 1960s, sprout from wood boxes above a canopy over the open kitchen and are just beginning to grow down to form a fringe in front.

It all creates an aura that's a little strident, earthy-crunchy and PC chic. It feels as if the Age of Aquarius has finally come to food.

Gather Restaurant        2200 Oxford St. (at Allston Way),     Berkeley

Through the efforts of The ReUse Deconstructon Company, a division of www.TheReusePeople.org and those of TRP-Certified Deconstruction Contractors, over 260,000 tons of reusable materials have been diverted from our landfills.

We were lucky to have the President, Ted Reiff, speak to Berkeley High's School of Social Justice & Ecology on our Re-Thinking Waste Tour.  Ted was throwing out amazing facts, many of which were hard to comprehend, but very encouraging to learn.  In just one year, with over 150 projects, each of those (averaging 2000 sq. ft.) can yield up to 30 tons of municipal solid waste.   

Because they are a non-profit, it encourages people to donate their materials when they demolish a home.  You may be surprised to know that they can salvage up to 80% of the contents!  There are some very nice products there and priced at about 10 cents on the dollar.  What a bargain during these challenging economic times! 

The ReUse People are at 9235 San Leandro Street in Oakland, they share the property with Habitat for Humanity's ReUse Store.  We visited them as well and learned that they even have brand new and high end donated building materials, most sold at half of retail.  The Society of St. Vincent DePaul of Alameda County operates that facility and also has a project on how to go green. 

Just one of the many things we at www.EBGT.org  do for the community is to make you more aware of the resources that are right here at your green fingertips!  Tough times need practical solutions. 

Read about the Velvet Crowbar and how they are making a difference! 

Contrary to popular belief, economic turndowns can produce significant benefits. From a business standpoint (and nonprofit organizations like TRP are businesses), recessions accomplish at least two things. First, leaders are forced to focus on core competencies and eliminate less important activities. Second, recessions tend to get rid of the incompetent, dishonest or marginal operators who clutter up the landscape with unrealistic offers that distort and often negate the efforts of solid, customer-focused organizations.