This afternoon the Center for Food Safety and the CornerStone Campaign announced the launch of the “Cool Foods Campaign.” This national initiative is designed to empower people and businesses to take a bite out of global warming by encouraging them to make more sustainable food choices. Principal speakers included Campaign co-founders Mary Morgan and Andrew Kimbrell, as well as Chefs Dan Barber and Peter Hoffman, and food advocate and writer Anna Lappé. The launch took place this afternoon at New York City’s Blue Hill.
At the event, Lappé also announced the launch of her Take a Bite Blog, a complimentary cool food chronicle, which details her journey to explore how food, farming, and your fork can help solve the climate crisis.
The Cool Foods Campaign aims to educate the public about the impact of food choices and agricultural practices on global warming, and empower people with resources needed to change that impact and reduce their “FoodPrint.” Among other recommendations, the Campaign promotes organic, local and whole foods which require far less fossil fuels for their production and transportation.
“Cool foods and good cuisine are natural partners,” says Peter Hoffman, chef and owner of Savoy & Back Forty Restaurants. “Chefs and restaurants nationwide should embrace the Cool Foods Campaign since it’s so closely aligned with our philosophy of presenting the best, freshest and most delicious ingredients to our customers.”
The Campaign encourages businesses, organizations and individuals to sign a Cool Foods pledge, indicating their commitment. Inaugural signers of the pledge include chefs Dan Barber and Peter Hoffman, along with certified organic Restaurant Nora, My Organic Market Co-op, and various members of the academic and religious communities. The pledge outlines easy steps that will help families, chefs, and businesses identify and choose: organic foods; fruits and vegetables over animal products; locally grown and produced food; and food with decreased processing and packaging.
“Organic and local foods reduce global warming emissions and also provide a better variety of textures, tastes, and aromas” says Dan Barber, executive chef & co-owner of Blue Hill. “These foods are both environmentally friendly and good for the planet and also allow for a truly better dining experience- a concept that we embrace at Blue Hill.”
Consumers and businesses that take the Cool Food pledge will receive information including fact sheets and an accessible shopper’s guide to share with their families and customers. The Campaign also provides consumers with an organic cotton shopping bag, and frequent updates on important food news and agricultural events relevant to addressing the global warming crisis.
“Everyone can fight global warming by changing their food choices,” said Mary Morgan co-founder of the CornerStone Campaign. “The Cool Foods Campaign provides critical resources that will enable the public to help the planet through a commitment to organic, local, and ‘cool’ food choices.”
Commenting on the Campaign and announcing her blog, bestselling author Anna Lappé stated, “The campaign and Take a Bite blog will help make it easy for people to make the commitment to cool foods and ‘cool’ farmers, which will have a massive and positive impact. Everyone, anyone, can make this choice, and not only does it taste better, it actually is better, for you, for your community and for the planet.”
The campaign is launching one day after a landmark report was issued by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) – a committee commissioned by the United Nations and World Bank. The committee’s report urgently calls for drastic changes to agricultural practices worldwide, including a need to increase local food consumption and the change over to farming practices that reduce global warming by minimizing energy consumption, pesticide use and pollution. According to the IAASTD press release, “The report will suggest that modern agriculture will have to change radically if the world is to avoid social breakdown and environmental collapse.”
Check out the new Cool Foods Campaign website athttp://www.coolfoodscampaign.org
The Center for Food Safety is a national, non-profit, membership organization founded in 1997 that works to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. The Center’s founders initiated the historic lawsuit, which culminated in last year’s Supreme Court environmental ruling (Massachusetts, et al. v. E.P.A.) which determined that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act when it refused to regulate global warming pollution emissions. The ruling is being hailed as one of the most important environmental cases in decades and one that will fundamentally alter the nation’s political discourse on global warming.
The CornerStone Campaign is a new, 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to addressing the pressing human health, environmental and social impacts associated with biotechnology and food production. On the web at http://www.cornerstonecampaign.org.
The Take a Bite Blog is a project of the Small Planet Institute, co-founded by author Anna Lappé. On the web at: www.takeabite.cc.
Contact: John Bianchi, Goodman Media, 212-576-2700; Andrew Kimbrell, Center for Food Safety 202-547-9359
