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Organic Day is now ad-free

Dear Organic Day readers,

I’ve really enjoyed receiving your many emails and comments. (I also apologize that I have not written back to many of you–I recently got engaged, took a new position as the first product manager at Navigenics, an early stage startup.)

After attending the BlogExpo (one of the largest blogging conferences of the year), I’ve decided to remove all advertising and not accept any form of sponsorship. This insures that none of my content will be influenced by anyway through sponsors to give you the most unbiased information. Of course, everything on this blog will remain free.

All the best,
Christine

November 10, 2007   2 Comments

Don’t miss the Green Festival in San Francisco

Don’t miss the best green environmentally friendly event of the year. Meet interesting people, check out a zillion cool green products, organic food, environmental speakers and more. It’s crowded, but if you are in San Francisco this weekend, make sure to attend. Sponsored by Global Exchange and Co-Op America, this is my favorite event of the year.

Show Hours
this Saturday – 10am – 8pm
this Sunday – 11am – 6pm

Address
San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center
635 8th St (at Brannan St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Go to http://www.greenfestivals.org/ for more details. Tickets are $15 for the day, $25 for the weekend. I hope to see you there!

November 10, 2007   2 Comments

Whole Foods reopens in Cupertino

So the highly anticipated reopening of the Whole Foods in Cupertino finally happened. I know my family who lives nearby, has been anticipating for months. The verdict?

It’s the largest Whole Foods on the West Coast. I was impressed by the sheer size and selection of produce, to toiletries to wine to olive oil and even clothing and gardening. It almost feels like a Target for the green, organic crowd being so big.

My favorite is their very large food to go selection. Choose from Indian, Chinese, Mexican, American, Japanese, pizza, and more. Plus an extra bistro on the other side of the store, and fresh Ciao Bella gelato.

This place is really great for the Cupertino area that lacks a place to meet like this. I’ve already gone back three times since the opening although I live 30 minutes away. Check it out! Whole Foods is located on 20955 Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino, near the corner of Stevens Creek and Stelling.

September 14, 2007   4 Comments

Pigeon Point, a nice escape between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz

As a farewell to a good friend who moved back to Amsterdam, a group of us stayed as a hostel in Pigeon Point Lighthouse, a beautiful spot just 10 miles south of Half Moon Bay. It was very easy to drive to on highway 1.

The hostel probably has one of the best views for the amount we paid. Inside, we shared a cozy kitchen and living room, with views of the lighthouse and ocean. We later hung out in the outdoor hot tub which was right next to the ocean.


The next day, we took a walk to the beach right next to the lighthouse and looked at the tidal pools. A friend found a crab, and we spotted several seals out of the water staring at us.
We ended the day with a hike up Wilbur’s point, where we saw a nice panorama of the lighthouse and ocean. Pigeon Point is definitely a find–I would go back!

September 11, 2007   2 Comments

Safe car seats for children


One of my colleagues, Rohit, pointed out a very good resource on choosing cars and car seats. It looks like there are a lot of toxic chemicals in cars . Especially for children or babies, toxins emitted from cars or car seats can be dangerous. Check out healthycar.org, a consumer guide to toxic cars created by a nonprofit environmental group, The Ecology Center. Interestingly enough, very few car seats make the final list as being safe from chemicals. You can download the full report for car seats here and the safety of vehicles in general here.

August 31, 2007   No Comments

Ceago del Lago, a beautiful organic winery on Clear Lake

My boyfriend and I took a weekend trip to Lake County, just north of Napa County. We stayed next to Clear Lake, in the town of Lakeport and made a trip to Ceago, a winery I had read about in Sunset Magazine. Clear Lake is the largest enclosed freshwater lake in California, with beautiful wildlife, and a haven for birds and fish.

Ceago was stunning. Beautiful Spanish villa architecture, a 200 acre plus winery, all organic, and a vegetable garden, with lots to choose from. This was created by Jim Fetzer, the son of the famous Fetzer wine brand. The best was the fact the winery is on the water, and you can boat in from the lake. Apparently even the Sierra Club promotes this place as sustainable and environmentally friendly, all pluses in my book!

It’s about a 3 hour drive north of San Francisco, a good distance as a weekend trip. I found the area to be not as touristy as Napa or Sonoma, and still a “hidden” destination for Bay Area folks. There’s plenty to do with local wineries and farms, and Clear Lake State Park with a beach, camping on the water, and hikes.

August 27, 2007   No Comments

Safe non-toxic toys for kids

In the wake of the Mattel recall of toys due to high levels of lead from a Chinese manufacturer, it’s worth considering where to buy safe toys for children. According to Kidshealth, a leading nonprofit website on children’s health has some of these tips from its site:
  • Toys made of fabric should be labeled as flame resistant or flame retardant.
  • Stuffed toys should be washable.
  • Painted toys should be covered with lead-free paint.
  • Art materials should say nontoxic.
  • Crayons and paints should say ASTM D-4236 on the package, which means that they’ve been evaluated by the American Society for Testing and Materials

National Geographic’s Green Guide, suggests going to eco friendly retailers with nontoxic, sustainable toys such as:

August 23, 2007   2 Comments

A visit to Citrine, Safeway’s new organic international restaurant

So I finally made it to Citrine last weekend. Located in Redwood City, it’s Safeway’s venture into a new, fast, healthy friendly restaurant. Once I walked in, it felt like a cross between IKEA and Whole Foods. Even though you order at the counter, and it’s self service, the wait staff was very accommodating and asked us if we needed anything. The decor was bright, clean, modern and inviting.
Food is clearly international, with a focus on Safeway’s O Organics private food line, along with its beef and Italian private labels. What was confusing for me is that there is no mention of Safeway in the restaurant, but customers aren’t going to understand what the brand O Organics means unless they’ve shopped in Safeway. It might be better for Citrine to label things like “certified organic” or made with organic ingredients instead, because the branding is confusing.

The food came out quickly; my group tried the margherita pizza, the garlic lover’s pizza, the California date blue cheese salad, the Mediterranean hummus salad, Santa Fe chicken breast panini and the thai lemongrass. I think pricing is usually around $12/entree, with salads a little less expensive. My only gripe is that the vegetarian hot entrees are not worth it–stir fried veggies for $11 seemed unreasonably high. The veggie entrees lack a protein like tofu. Other than that, we really enjoyed the surprisingly fresh and tasty blue cheese salad, and the pizzas were well cooked. The wait staff came back to refill our drinks and offer us water. I would come back here again, but I really wish they could improve the hot entree selection of vegetarian food with more substantial options (like pad thai with tofu for example instead of just stir fried veggies).

August 8, 2007   3 Comments

Cool Consumer Reports Green Guide

The Consumer Reports started a green guide to products a couple years ago. I like them because they are a nonprofit with unbiased information and careful studies. Some of the products they review include:

  • Electronic products like air conditioners, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners
  • Cars like hybrids or those with lower mpg
  • Food like organic baby food, meat and water
  • And many more useful green tips

August 2, 2007   No Comments

Study shows organic tomatoes have twice the amount of flavanoids


According to the The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, organic tomatoes are twice as high in flavanoids as conventional tomatoes. Flavanoids are used as a deterrent against heart disease. In this study, organic and conventional tomatoes were compared over a ten year period. The organic tomatoes’ flavanoid levels increased over time. Scientists attribute the higher quality of organic foods to the healthier soil on organic farms. Go organic tomatoes!

July 27, 2007   1 Comment

Emerald Market in Redwood City

I’m not sure why, but my original post on Emerald Hills market in Redwood City / Emerald Hills ranked one of the most searched and viewed post on my blog (thanks to Google Analytics!). Because of the number of page views, I’ve added some pictures of the market, a wonderful and clean midsized store.
The deli is nicely laid out with an assortment of to go foods.
The produce selection is a mix of organic and local foods, with some conventional products. Surprisingly, the pricing is not as bad as you’d expect from a boutique store, and they have plenty of selection to choose from if you do not want to drive all the way to downtown Redwood City or San Carlos. Emerald Market is located on 3205 Oak Knoll Drive in Redwood City.

July 17, 2007   2 Comments

Big Basin State Park: a California gem

I used to hike in Big Basin State Park back when I was a nature camp counselor for Cupertino Parks and Recreation while in high school. I hadn’t been back in years, and went during July 4th weekend to Big Basin’s camp headquarters, located only 20 miles south of Saratoga. It was an easy drive from highway 85, passing through downtown Saratoga, and various wineries and camps on the way to Big Basin.
Having gone to many of the parks all over the Bay Area, Big Basin is a standout. Easy to drive to, and with an enormous forest grove of ancient redwoods, a nice camp headquarters with ample parking, nice campsites along the creek, and even cabins available to rent, and miles of varied hikes from Skyline to the Sea to hiking up Buzzard’s Roost to see a 360 panorama of the park.

We were supposed to meet some friends to join them backpacking from headquarters to hike towards the ocean. Instead, we took a day hike and went up Buzzard’s Roost where we did a 5 mile loop. The path started near the campgrounds, and then later went up two different mountains. Most of the path was shady. We didn’t see many people and the views were beautiful. Once we reached the top, we had a panorama view of the park.

Back at headquarters, we noticed they had many camp programs for children and a nice fire camp pit. The rangers were super friendly. However, it seems like you have to reserve way in advance for a campsite. I’m definitely coming back.

July 15, 2007   No Comments

Whole Foods CEO gets caught using psuedonym on Yahoo Finance

Unbelievable. The New York Times has reported that the head of Whole Foods, John Mackey is being investigated by the FTC for creating a fictitious alias on Yahoo Finance, called Rahodeb. Under his alias the last seven years, he insulted the Wild Oats Market, a natural foods retailer that Whole Foods wants to acquire, and made other very strange comments. Check out what John Mackey wrote in Yahoo Finance. If this is true, there is potential that Whole Foods can get in a lot of trouble.

July 12, 2007   1 Comment

Whole Foods watch out

Whole Foods and Trader Joes shoppers rejoice! There are some new stores in the horizon that will soon provide more options for shoppers:
Tesco, one of the biggest markets worldwide, is coming to the US, first in the Los Angeles area. Tesco is opening convenient stores with healthy, already made fresh meals to go. They are trying to brand themselves as a cross between Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Having tried some of their food when I was in London, I was very impressed. Tesco is going for upscale, organic food, but at a price that is reasonable.

Another competitor, Safeway is entering the organic market with a new chain of restaurants called “Citrine Bistro”. It’s interesting that on the Citrine website, it doesn’t tell you that Safeway is behind the fast, healthy, world fusion food idea. This past weekend, I drove by its first location in downtown Redwood City, where I saw a brightly lit and inviting restaurant, modern and clean. I first heard about this through a coupon that was mailed to my home, $10 off Citrine. The menu includes organic ingrendients from Safeway’s organic products for entrees that are Asian, Italian, American and Mexican. I think this will be a threat to Whole Foods given their pricing.

July 9, 2007   1 Comment

Organic breakfast at Google

This morning, I had the pleasure of checking out one of the Google cafeterias in Building 45 with my friend, Charles, who works there. I was delighted to see such a huge selection of organic food. Before I entered the building, I saw fresh crates of organic fruits and vegetable from Greenleaf (an organic distributor in the Bay Area) entering the kitchen. In the cafeteria, I chose some oatmeal with fresh blueberries and raspberries, and farmed organic, scrambled eggs with Morningstar veggie sausage patties. There was a lot more food displayed than what I have listed, but I have to commend Google for trying to source local, organic foods in the kitchen and providing food for free to employees.

For second and third place when it comes to corporate cafeterias, I’d have to say Genentech and Pixar are very good. They also both source organic fruits and veggies, and I’ve seen Niman Ranch meat at Genentech.

July 6, 2007   No Comments