Free Things Friday

Worthy Things to Do, Listen To, or View that Won’t Cost You a Dime


TGIF. I’m sure at least some of you will be online for part of today or the weekend ahead. I’ve been doing my share of surfing and bookmarking. Here is my current short list of bests. I’ve tried to include something for everyone.

• Sing a Song. Pass it On. In Out of Many We Are One artists Joanie Spear and Thomasina Levy articulate the need for Americans to find common ground in a difficult time. Listen to the song while you watch the video, then download an mp3 and the words and music, all for free. The artists write, “We hope you will take this song to your friends, your singing groups and choirs and sing it!”

• If you plan to buy an appliance at a Presidents’ Day sale, check out the ENERGY STAR site before you shop. You can also find current rebates at this site. Be good to the planet and to your wallet. An old post of mine might be helpful, too.

• Answer one of many calls to action. Here are just two. If you live in California, you might consider signing the petition for calling for one million green cars. If your municipality or any group with which you are affiliated is still buying bottled water, consider pledging to Think Outside the Bottle. For talking points, watch The Story of Bottled Water, one of the videos in the Story of Stuff project. Those who live in New Haven will have an opportunity to call for the end of the City’s purchase of bottled water at a public hearing on Tuesday night.

• Find out just how good your shampoo (or deodorant, and now even the chocolate you plan to buy for Valentine’s Day) really is for you, the people who make it, and the environment. You can search for ratings on all types of products at GoodGuide, also available as an app for your iPhone. More on GoodGuide in a future post.

• Watch The Warriors of Qiugang: A Chinese Village Fights Back, a documentary nominated for a 2011 Academy Award. Co-produced by Yale Environment 360, Warriors tells the story of villagers in China who fought to close the chemical plant that was ruining their way of life. The entire 39 minute film is available for viewing online.

• Go Ahead, Laugh! Portlandia, a new comedy series starring SNL’s Fred Armisen, pokes some good-natured fun at the Green life. The series is being shown Friday nights on IFC at 10:30. If you don’t get that channel, you can watch free clips here. Be sure to check out “Is It Local?”

• On Saturday, February 12, beginning at 10:30 AM, watch the TED^X Manhattan conversations on “Changing the Way We Eat.” Slow Food USA President Josh Viertel will be speaking at 2:45 PM EST.

• Download one of my favorite songs, Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” Now free on iTunes. Get it while you can.  

That's it for today. Valentine’s Day is coming. Please remember to share with a friend or loved one.

Meatless Monday: More on Mushrooms

Happy Monday everyone.

Yes, mushrooms are the topic once again. But please humor me while I tell you some things you may not know about fungi and why they make a perfect Meatless Monday post. 

First of all, mushrooms are not meat. But neither are they vegetables. In fact, fungi form their own kingdom. Members of the fungi kingdom (which includes edible mushrooms) and the animal kingdom (which includes us) are more closely related to each other than they are to plants! Since neither animals or fungi can make their own food as plants and algae can, they are known as heterotrophs. 

All heterotrophs are not the same. While we ingest (or sometimes “inhale”) our food, fungi absorb nutrients from outside their bodies. Since fungi can digest compounds from a wide range of sources — both living and dead — they play an important role in the ecosystem. Their ability to consume any carbon-containing substance has led mycologist Paul Stamets to experiment with cultivating oyster mushrooms as a means of remediating oil spills. In fact, Stamets has written a book, Mycelium Running, describing the many ways mushrooms can help save the world — from filtering pathogens to providing a source of nutrients and medicines.

A fungus discovered in Oregon is 1998 is the world’s largest living thing, many times larger than a blue whale and, except for small outcroppings of mushrooms at its surface, hidden from our view. [What we know as a “mushroom” is actually the fruiting body of the organism, which erupts from an underground system of branching, thread-like mycelia in response to an environmental stimulus like rain.] This pathogenic honey mushroom fungus, occupying nearly four square miles of soil, causes the conifer-killing Armillaria root disease. Its age is estimated to be 2,400 years, but it could be as ancient as 8,650. Reports are that the honey mushrooms are edible but not particularly tasty to everyone.

But I digress — back to edible mushrooms and their nutritional properties. Mushrooms are a low calorie, low sodium source of protein, dietary fiber, iron and other essential minerals, as well as a variety of other compounds purported to have medicinal properties — a wonder food, particularly for a vegan. A good source of some B vitamins, mushrooms do lack A, C, and D. While A and C are found in many fruits and vegetables, getting enough dietary D can pose a problem for vegans. 

Nutritional data for the oyster mushroom

But here’s one more interesting thing. Mushrooms are one of the few food sources in which ergosterol, the precursor to vitamin D, occurs naturally. Researchers have discovered that a small amount of vitamin D is synthesized in mushrooms by exposure to naturally occurring UV light, and that this conversion can be accelerated by exposing the mushrooms to 18-20 additional seconds of UV light during processing. In short, mushrooms are already a really good food, and some day may be an even better one. 

Not everyone can experience the thrill of harvesting mushrooms in the wild, as Michael Pollan described in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Yet in 2011 there is no reason to be mushroom deprived. While it is true that in the past mushrooms were only sold canned, now both fresh and dried varieties are readily available in most supermarkets and green grocers. According to a 2007 article in Scientific American, a large button mushroom farm can produce as many as one million pounds of mushrooms in a year. 

Mushrooms are a rather pricey source of protein, particularly when compared to beans. But they are versatile and you can use them sparingly, fresh or dried, to enhance a number of dishes, making them a perfect choice for Monday and every day.

The idea of growing edible fungi at home, has recently well, you might say, “mushroomed.” The New York Times has described “inoculation parties” for would-be backyard mushroom farmers, and countless others are growing them on their windowsills. Next week I’ll let you know what’s up with the mushroom kit I started.

I try to blog on food or food issues each Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Woodchuck Wednesday Redux: Special Groundhog Day Edition

If Woody the Woodchuck could exit his ice-encrusted burrow tomorrow, he'd be dead meat.* It's a good thing for Woody and for us that he's trapped inside. We don't need any woodchuck (Marmota monax, AKA groundhog) seeing his shadow this Groundhog Day. Here in New Haven, on the Connecticut coastline, we've received over three feet of snow in the last month, way more than normal. We are ready for Spring.

Which brings us back to Groundhog Day. Just how did the groundhog known as Phil in his burrow on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, PA become the official prognosticator of Spring’s return each February 2? According to the FAQs on the official Groundhog Day site, “The celebration of Groundhog Day began with the Germans, Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day [observed on February 2], which states ‘For as the sun shines on Candlemas day, so far will the snow swirl in May…’ The settlers found that groundhogs were plentiful and were the most intelligent and sensible animal to carry on the legend of Candlemas Day.” According to the established tradition, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

The site further proclaims that the Phil making his prediction tomorrow is the same Phil who popped his head out on the very first Groundhog Day in 1887! He gets his longevity by taking one sip of a special punch at the Groundhog Picnic each summer. [And if he is like Woody in New Haven he also eats a diet rich in organic vegetables pilfered from area gardens.] Phil’s predictions are made to the Groundhog Club president in Groundhogese, and then translated by the president for the world.

Results from a study described in a 2005 issue of the National Geographic indicate that Phil’s days as a weather predictor may be numbered. According to those Italian and American atmospheric scientists, “Winter as we know it likely will disappear in the Northeast.” The year mentioned? 2105! It’s hard to believe on a day like today.  

Back to February 2, 2011. You can view “Punx Phil”’s prediction live at approximately 7:25 am EST, friend him on Facebook, or follow his tweets. You can send a celebratory Groundhog Day eCard or even earn a Foursquare PA Groundhog Day badge that can be unlocked ONLY on February 2, 2011. 

My plans to celebrate the day? I’m going to watch one of my 10 favorite movies — Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, with my best friend.

Have a good one! And all you survivors of the very recent “monster” storm which rolled across the country — Watch out for those icy patches!

*See my original Woodchuck Wednesday post.