JOIN OUR FOODIE CORPS!
FOOD TRUCKS + FESTIVALS = FUN!
...and a lot of hard work

Be a part of the Food Truck Festivals of New England team!
If you are motivated and ready to work hard, we want you!
We’ll pay you $50 per festival + free food + assistance to and from the out-of-Greater Boston festivals! There are two shifts: 7am-1pm and 11am-5pm. We’re most interested in team members who can do all of our festivals.  

For more information, visit:
foodtruckfestivalsofne.com/volunteer 

 

2012 Festivals 

(Mostly Saturdays— Rain or Shine)
June 10+: The Boston Food Truck Festival at the UMass Boston Campus Center / Boston, MA
June 16: The Charlestown Food Truck Festival at Pier 4 / Charlestown, MA
(benefit for Courageous Sailing Program)
June 30:  The New Hampshire Food Truck Festival at Rockingham Park / Salem, NH
July 14: The Worcester Food Truck Festival at Elm Park / Worcester, MA
July 28: The Charles River Food Truck Festival at DCR’s Artesani Herter Park / Brighton, MA
August 25: The Cape Cod Food Truck Festival at Barnstable Fairgrounds / Falmouth, MA 
Sept. 8: The Lowell Food Truck Festival at the Tsongas Center / Lowell, MA
Sept. 22: The Suffolk Downs Food Truck Festival / East Boston, MA*
Sept. 29: The Shipyard Food Truck Festival at the Hingham Shipyard / Hingham, MA 
Oct. 6: The Framingham Food Truck Festival at Shoppers World / Framingham, MA 
Oct. 20: The Newport Food Truck Festival at the Newport Yachting Center / Newport, RI
+ Sunday event

 

Contact us at:
brittany@foodtruckfestivalsofne.com
or (617) 782-7117

www.foodtruckfestivalsofne.com
www.twitter.com/foodtruckfestne
www.facebook.com/foodtruckfestivalsofne

 

Meal and a Movie: The Hunger Season

Have a meal and a move on Thursday, September 30th to support one of Boston's BEST hunger prevention nonprofit organizations.

This event will be held at the Friday Night Supper Program from 6 to 8pm. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

We will be screening The Hunger Season. "Across the world a massive food crisis is unfolding. Climate Change, increasing consumption in China and India, the dash for Biofuels are causing hitherto unimagined food shortages and rocketing prices."

Please join me in support of FNSP at Meal and a Movie.

RSVP info (at) fridaynightsupper.org.

MeetUp:

http://www.bostonvolunteer.org/calendar/14710809/

Eat Better this Season!!!

"Imagine for a moment if we once again knew, strictly as a matter of course, these few unremarkable things: What it is we're eating. Where it came from. How it found its way to our table. And what, in a true accounting, it really cost," - Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma

Let's follow in the footsteps of our forefathers this season (minus the murderous killing spree) and get our food local. Come down to Suffolk Law School near the Boylston T stop this Tuesday to learn about local and sustainable eating in the Boston area.

We'll have FREE local snacks and a raffle for Apfel Eis Wine from Still River Winery in Central Mass.

Our distinguished speakers:

Alex Loud, Slow Food Boston
Matthew Kochka, ReVision Urban Farm
Jessica Banhazl, Green City Growers
Jamey Lionette, Lionette's Market

DETAILS:

RSVP To: boston (at) OYFP (dot) org by 4 p.m. Tuesday and get a free raffle ticket!!!
Date: Tuesday, November 17th
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Location: Suffolk Law School Faculty Dining Room, 4th FL Suite 495 120 Tremont Street Boston, MA, 02108-4977 617.573.8000
Who: OYFP Boston, Suffolk University's Sustainability Committee
Cost: Free

5th Annual Taste of Fort Point Channel - Free Food & Music

VOLUNTEERS are needed for the 5th Annual Taste of Fort Point Channel hosted by the Friends of Fort Point Channel on Thursday, September 17th from 12noon-1:30pm at the Children's Museum Wharf Park next to the Boston Children's Museum.

The 5th Annual Taste of Fort Point Channel is a dining event featuring 15 local Fort Point restaurants that will serve up samples of their signature dishes for the public during lunchtime! This event is FREE and will feature live music and a variety of cuisine!

The Friends of Fort Point Channel are expecting about 1500 people at the event!

Details:
Date: Thursday, September 17th
Time: 12noon-1:30pm
Location: Children's Museum Wharf Park next to the Boston Children's Museum, 300 Congress Street, Boston, Ma 02210
List of restaurants

They are looking for volunteers from 11:30 – 2:00 to help welcome people as they arrive and give them a map of the area. If you or your friends are interested, please contact events@friendsoffortpointchannel.org.

Friends of Fort Point Channel is a nonprofit organization committed to making the Fort Point Channel an exciting and welcoming destination for all of Boston’s residents, workforce and visitors.

My guilty concience: Vegetables

I have guilt.

Oh the guilt!!!

It's not about leaving OYFP (yes, after three years I'm resigning, and like Sarah Palin, I'm not sure what my future volunteering plans are).

It's about all the vegetables in my fridge.

Oh the vegetables!

Daikon turnips, kale, radishes, cabbage (two kinds), three bunches of cilantro, two bunches of parsley, ten cucumbers, garlic scrape, regular garlic, onions, tomatoes, and more. It's CSA time, and I have plenty of veggies again. The harvest has been bountiful despite the overly rainy and cloudy season, and my fridge is bursting at its seams. How quickly I forgot the pressure of the veggies in the fridge --- "eat me! cook me! I'm organic and natural and going to go bad unless you do something!"

I have extra pressure this year because my brother -- my own flesh and blood -- has grown these vegetables.

Don't get me wrong - these veggies are out of this world delicious. I want to eat them. But there are some unusual veggies in the mix, and there's only so many stirfry dishes a girl can stand. Or cabbage soup (yuck). I've been on the search for a Few Good Recipes, and I think I've found them.

My easy seasonal recommendations, which even those of you who don't belong to CSAs can use:

• Parsley: Pepita Parsley Pesto
• Cabbage: Curried Coleslaw (sub out half the mayo for greek yogurt)
• Cabbage: Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancake)
• Kale: Roasted Kale Chips
• Kale: Summer Pasta n' Kale a la JLK
  
• Cilantro: Chickpea Cilantro Dip (add red onion or substitute navy beans for chickpeas)
  
• Zucchini: Throw 'em on the grill, or in the oven with the kale
  
• Daikon radishes: Just eat them raw
• You can't go wrong with a Summer Veggie Curry
• Or use a farm-fresh egg and some of your summer greens on this fun pizza
  

Let me know what you think! My guests have been more than happy with the results...

Related Posts: PSA for CSAs; Not Wasting Food; Patio Gardens; Find Local Food Locally
Photos courtesy of Red Fire Farm. You can buy their veggies bi-weekly at the South Station Farmer's Market.

Ending Childhood Hunger - What you can do

Today, more than 12 million children in the United States do not know when their next meal will come. Unfortunately, this number continues to rise as these difficult economic times are leaving more and more people jobless, without homes, and unable to provide food for their families.

What can you, one person, do?

1. Sign-up to host a bake sale: http://www.GreatAmericanBakeSale.org/vgabs, and then actually host it. Easy as pie (literally)! Host it at work, on your sidewalk, at your church, etc. Get creative!

2. Buy the virtual Great American Bake Sale eBook:
http://StolenMomentsCooking.com/virtual-gabs

3. Post a ChipIn widget or banner on your blog:
http://www.GreatAmericanBakeSale.org/bloggers

Together we can work together to end childhood hunger.

Photo courtesy of Whipped Bakeshop in Philadelphia, PA.

PSA for CSA

Ah yes, that beautiful springtime Boston weather--when it's 90 degrees and sunny one day, yet 50 degrees and rainy the next. But it is at least spring, when April showers bring May farmers' markets (or I think that's the saying).

That's right, farmers' markets are right around the corner! And as we keep hearing about the salmonella scares in our food supply--sometimes ones that exist for years before the public finally learns about them, it's become increasingly apparent that knowing exactly where our food comes from is imperative to our well being. Worse, recent reports suggest that the H1N1 ("swine") flu may have derived from U.S. factory pig farms in the late 1990s; which if you have read Michael Pollan's, Omnivore's Dilemma, you know those are not fun places to be (see Chapter 11: The Animals).

But thankfully, and increasingly, farmers' markets (as great as they are) are not the only means to finding local, fresh, and clean produce. Behold the concept of CSA (Community-supported Agriculture). Before the season begins (read: now), consumers sign up to receive a "share" of the produce that is grown. Often times this will mean a box of produce that you can pick up each week and bring home. As this season progresses, different items will comprise your share. For example, in my CSA, we're expecting lettuce and tomatoes in June among other things, and onions and potatoes in October.

I don't want to give a full defense for CSA here--it would take too long and become boring, but I do want to point out a couple highlights: 1) You know where your food is coming from; 2) Your food will be fresh and clean (albeit not of dirt); 3) You will support your local economy; 4) Quite possibly meet a few farmers; 5) Stop spending so much time (and money) in supermarkets. Of course, there's one small downside, but it seems minor to all the benefits in comparison.

So if you want to sign up, I suggest you move quickly as the growing season approaches. Stillman's Farm, Allendale Farm, and Silverbrook Farms are all options I've heard of several times--but just do a quick search and you'll be able to find many more.

And if you aren't quite sold on this whole local, sustainable thing, but want to learn more, BU is hosting quite a number of events and talks this Friday and Saturday. If you can't make that, I suggest at least picking up a copy of King Corn--it's well worth the hour and a half.

And lastly if all of this has been old news, let us know your favorite farmers' markets in the Boston area, and/or the CSA you belong to. And maybe more importantly, your strategy for dealing with that last bit of kale :)

Vegan Diets for your Pet?

I watched this story about feeding your cat or dog a vegan diet a couple of mornings ago. I am not quite sure what to think about it. Essentially you are turning a carnivorous animal into a herbivore.

I have a dog and I know if my dog had a choice between chicken or Broccoli I know she would choose chicken. I have tried to feed my dog more vegetables (lettuce, peas, spinach), but nope not happening. A point to consider dogs have evolved from wolfs, wolfs hunt meat. I have never heard of a wolf in the wild who doesn't eat meat.

Additionally, many of the ways we play with dogs nowadays mimic the dogs natural instinct to hunt. If I throw a squeaky toy the first thing my dog does when she grabs a hold of the squeaky toy is to shake it violently. This action of shaking the toy is exactly what dogs do when they get a hold of their prey. They shake their catch violently because this is how they know to kill their catch (by breaking their neck). The squeak of the toy also mimics a sound that dying vermin make. When dogs bring the ball back (or prey) they do so as an offer to their dominant master.

My point is that dogs, just like cats have a natural instinct to hunt other animals in order to hopefully eat them. Can a philosophical approach to life from a human perspective be then applied to an animal? Typically your pet has to eat whatever food you provide it, but is it ethical to deny a type of food because of your dietary beliefs?

What are your thoughts?

Related Posts: Don't Forget About Your Pet, Guide Horse? Not Wasting Food - Spaghetti Salad to the Rescue!

Picture Courtesy of: My dog, Chai.

Not Wasting Food - Spaghetti Salad to the Rescue!

It was a never-ending mantra at my house when I was growing up: "Finish what you have on your plate. Don't waste food!" If we were lucky, our Dad (who we called the garbage disposal) would eat our last few bites. As kids, we understood that we were lucky to have dinner on the table every night, and that every kid didn't have that.... but we didn't really get it. Even now, I don't really get it, because I've never been without food.

However, I can try to "get it" by not wasting the food that I'm fortunate enough to have. My friend Berkley made a New Year's Resolution to not waste food, and she has inspired me to try even harder not to let stuff get moldy (photo at left illustrating my failed attempts). Of course, this also fits in with the whole "recession" thing we've got going on. Not wasting food means not wasting money, and that's something we could all do a little better.

It's harder than you might think, especially if you live along and are trying to cook/eat for one person. Often times I have good intentions when I purchase food at the grocery store, but then have to work late, or a friend calls up, or I overestimate what one normal sized person actually consumes, or I get sick and can only eat chicken soup and bananas for a week or... you get the idea.

However, I have come up with a few tricks to prevent waste:

• "Just In Time" food purchases. Only buy food for the meals you are 100% you are going to prepare. This may mean more than 1 trip to the grocery store in a week, but it prevents waste. I'm still struggling to control what my boyfriend calls me "food buying urges." It just all looks so pretty on the shelf...
  
• The freezer is your friend. Label and freeze leftovers after cooking, and before they go bad. Trust me, after the third night of lasagna you're going to want to take a break. A month later, though, the lasagna from the freezer will make a great weeknight dinner!
• Re-use! Or do what I call "re-purposing." Leftover rice can easily become fried rice. Bread on its way to becoming stale can become croutons, bread pudding, or stuffing. Or my new favorite: If you made too much spaghetti and meatballs and not enough tomato sauce,and happen to have a head of romaine lettuce and italian dressing in the fridge, make Spaghetti Salad (photo at right)!
  
• Host a Leftover Night. My mom also used to have what she termed "leftover night," where dinner would be bits and pieces of the previous night's meals. You could invite a close friend or two over to bring their leftovers, and all enjoy the potpourri of foods. Of course, they would have to be the close type of friends who wouldn't mind eating leftovers.
• Share at work. There's nothing people like better than free food, especially if it's homemade. Share the wealth, people!
  

And for those foods that have gone victim to the mold monster, or all my extra vegetable cuttings, I have my handy (but grumble-y) indoor compostor, which turns organic trash into nutrient-rich dirt.

Hopefully with a little more creativity, and a lot more self control, I'll reduce my wasted foods. What are your tips for reducing food waste? And what's the most creative (but still tasty) leftover creation you've made?

Related Posts: Composting in an apartment; Shopping Thriftily; Find local food locally; CSAs Rock
Photos courtesy of me and my kitchen. :-)

I Love Pasta

A few things I learned at our Intro to Pasta Making class at Dave’s Fresh Pasta:

• Pasta dough needs proper kneading and resting, just like bread dough.
• Sweet potato is tasty as a ravioli filling (though when isn’t it?).
• I would never have thought about lemon pasta, but it is delicious (as I’m sure it is served, as Dave suggests, with chicken or fish).
• Fresh pasta only takes a few minutes to cook and can be frozen until ready to use.
• Dave’s Fresh Pasta is amazing!

Intro to Pasta Making Class this Tuesday

If you’re like me, the closest you’ve come to making fresh pasta is boiling the tortellini you buy at the supermarket. Despite my experience in the kitchen, stuffed pasta has always seemed intimidating and something best left to the professionals, but this doesn’t have to be the case.

If you’re looking for a new culinary adventure or just to hang out with fellow foodies while supporting a good cause, join us this Tuesday, March 24th from 6:30-9:00pm at Dave’s Fresh Pasta in Davis Square for Intro to Pasta Making: A pasta creating class benefiting the Italian Home for Children. The Italian Home for Children is a residential and day treatment facility for emotionally disturbed children of all races, nationalities and religions.

Tickets are $50 and include a pasta making class with Dave himself, after which you can taste your fresh pasta creations paired with samples of Dave’s wines.

So come cook, eat, and drink with us and hurry, there are only two tickets left!

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston’s YSPN Program

On Friday April 3, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston will hold their first annual YSPN Spring Event hosted by Mayor Thomas M. Menino at Boston’s historic Parkman House.

The event, sponsored by WHDH-TV, will feature dinner, drinks and music. All proceeds will benefit Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston’s YSPN program and its continued efforts to develop stable, healthy relationships with the city’s most at-risk youth.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston’s YSPN Program
Date: Friday April 3, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Ticket price: $100
Location: The Parkman House, 33 Beacon Street
MBTA: Green Line, Park Street

Photos and information pulled from: http://www.bgcb.org

Food is key to culture

I spent this past weekend in Nashville, TN (congrats, Eric & Leah!), and while waiting for my boyfriend to finish tying his tie (first too short, then too long), I caught a little of Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations on the Travel Channel. For those of you unfamiliar with Chef Bourdain and his show, he travels all over the world sampling each regions' foods, whether it be cow intestines, deep fried chicken, or clam chowder. He tries it all.

It struck a chord with me as I prepare for my 12 day vacation in Honduras - really, the way to get to know a country is to eat its food. You can learn so much. After all, food is what we all have in common - we need to eat to survive.

My co-worker went to India for a wedding a few years ago, and only ate rice and naan for fear of getting sick. I went to India shortly after her, and my favorite part of the trip was trying different foods. I'll never forget sitting in the roadstop restaurant (essentially fast food) with all the hub-bub around my mom and me, and not knowing how to properly eat the meal served to us on a banana leaf.

All the waiters and bus boys stared at us, and finally one kind woman who spoke English explained how to eat the thali properly. (You have to mix the rice with each of the five sauces in a different order and pick it up with your right hand to eat - see the photo of my Mom to the left.) We learned that food in India is more than just nourishment - it's tradition going back hundreds of years.

Food can also bridge cultural gaps. On this same trip to India, my mother and I invited our taxi driver Nathan to have lunch with us. He was so touched by this that he invited my mom and I back to his home at the end of the day tour to have tea and meet his family. They lived in a one room cement dwelling with a common bathroom, and all slept on mats on the floor. We shared more than just tea - we talked about our families, how Nathan wanted to expand his taxi business, and Indian culture in general. We learned so much more than we would have without the visit, and it's just because we broke bread (or naan in this case) together.

My favorite time spent in my semesters abroad in Spain and Nicaragua were sitting with my host mothers/sisters while they prepared meals. The casual conversation we shared taught me what it was really like to live in each place, not just visit it. And that's part of the reason we travel, yes? Not just to see new sights or recline on a beach, but to understand what it's like to live somewhere else, or be someone else.

In these tough economic times, it might be hard to take an international trip. However, that shouldn't stop you from trying new cultures. Chinatown is just a few subway stops away. The North End too. I'm sure you have friends whose families still hold onto their "ethnic" heritages, or maybe you can make a new friend - my office frequently has visiting staff members from abroad.

The point is, food is more than just nourishment - it's a way to learn about something outside of yourself. Perhaps if all of our world leaders broke bread together, we'd all get along just a little bit better.

Nathan, his wife, and his youngest son, who is making a goofy face at the flash.

Related Posts: India Vogue: The haves and the have nots; 10,000 reasons to buy; Food Banks and Food Pantries in Massachusetts; Patio gardens & City growing; Find local food locally; Fruit in the city
Photos are from my trip to India.

OYFP Works.

People volunteer for many reasons, sometimes it is to make connections, or to give back, or to learn new skills, or sometimes its just to meet new people.

I volunteer because I'm selfish.

I give my time, talents and treasures because I want better, a better community and a better neighbor.

I'm concerned with my own welfare and just as a rising tide lifts all boats, lending a hammer or an hand leads to a better community.

Its not always easy to volunteer, all too often its hard work. This is one thing we're trying to change with the Spirit of Service event on March 5.

Tonight, I'm walking the walk, I'm pitching in at Friday Night Suppers. I'll let you know how it goes.

About the picture: Built in 1897 on Boston Common, the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial depicts Colonel Shaw on horseback leading the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, the first all-volunteer black regiment in the Union army organized in a Northern state. The story of the 54th Massachusetts was made into the 1989 feature film, Glory, starring Morgan Freedman, Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick. From: discoverblackheritage.com

An Interview with a Real Live Winner

Tuesday night's Networking Night with BostonCares and OYFP was quite a success, despite the everlasting gosh danged snow. We raised a significant sum of money (well, at least I think it was significant, I haven't yet seen the totals), thanks in large part to the Brownstone bar's and all our attendees' generosity.

Two of those attendees were rewarded handsomely for their generosity, winning the raffle price of the evening. I sat down with one to get her thoughts on the big win.

Hi Raffle Winner #2, what's your name?
Berkley, like the street except without the extra "e"

And what did you win in the raffle?
I won a free loaf of Panera bread each month for 2009!

Have you ever won a prize like that before?
Not exactly...I won a hefty gift certificate to a cool restaurant at an OYFP event a few years ago, but never a food of the month prize that keeps on giving!

What is the coolest thing you have ever won?
in 1995 I won 'front row' tickets to the River Rave concert at what was then known as 'Great Woods'...turned out they were 26th row, but still pretty awesome.

But not as cool as a loaf a bread a month and knowing that your money all went to Friday Night Suppers, right?
Of course not.

How are you planning on consuming your raffle prize?
Between a snack last night, toast for breakfast, and a hunk with soup for lunch today I am doing my best to eat the loaf I went home with! I am on a new mission to throw away ZERO food in 2009 (one day at a time) so any bread that I don't eat before it gets stale I will turn into breadcrumbs. I already have a mental list of all the Panera bread varieties I want to try.

That is a really great resolution. Not only will you save money by not throwing food away, but you'll also help our dear Mother Earth since resources won't be wasted just to go into a dump.
Yep. That's the idea.

What brought you to the BostonCares/OYFP Networking event tonight?
You, Casey :) also the promise of meeting new people and drinking a few beers to help a good cause.

Had you heard of Friday Night Supper previously?
I had not, but I want our group of friends to plan a night to volunteer (let's talk later).

Have you been to other OYFP or BostonCares events previously?
I have been to other OYFP events both social gatherings and volunteer events, but not BostonCares. Now I'm on their mailing list too, so I will probably attend more.

What are your thoughts on volunteering?
I really enjoy volunteering. In high school I was really active in that realm through my church, but I have found it difficult in adulthood to find opportunities that don't require full time commitment but allow you to feel like you are being helpful. I have recently inquired about volunteering at the Healthworks Foundation gym, hopefully they'll be able to use me once a week or so after work.

Anything else you would like to share with us?
I think most of us, especially if you are reading this blog, want to do more to 'help'. But sometimes it's hard to actually get involved. I think you should organize your friends, call up a homeless shelter and all go cook and serve dinner. It's an easy occasional commitment and you can really be helpful. There are obviously MANY other ways, but something like that is a good way to involved without a ton of commitment.

Thanks for your time, Berkley! (And I'll see you Sunday for our potluck.)

Related Posts: Happy Hour Benefit for Friday Night Supper; Find local food locally; CSAs Rock; Volunteering: Sara's Experience; Helping with a mullet; Helping a little old lady
Photo of Berkley courtesy of me, because I have known Berkley for almost 9 years. The photo of Friday Night Supper people came from the Friday Night Supper non-profit website.

January is Super Hunger Month

If any of you know me, you know I love to eat. I love all sorts of food. Whether it is a dinner I cooked or a delicious dish created from one of my favorite restaurants, I LOVE food.

Unfortunately there are some people who can not afford the high price of food these days and I wish I could do more for them so that they can have healthy food that will give them the nourishment our body requires.

That is why I am super excited that this weekend I can do both. This Saturday and Sunday, join other Bostonians for the Super Hunger Brunch. It will be an exclusive brunch to help end hunger for either $25, $35 or $50. It may seem a bit expensive for brunch but ALL proceeds go to benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank.

In this tough economy it is important to consider that most food pantries have fewer resources and a reduced staff which equals less service to those who need it most! So do good by eating good at your favorite restaurants this Saturday and Sunday. For a list of participating restaurants, click here.

Oh and don't forget to bring a friend!

Related Posts: Food Banks and Food Pantries in Massachusetts, Food prices are rising - Here's how to keep your dough, Super Hunger Month 2008

Picture Courtesy of: http://www.sheratonanchoragehotel.com/hotel/brunch.htm. Okay so it probably won't be like this spread. But it does get you in the mood right?

Food Banks and Food Pantries in Massachusetts

With all this talk about people's funds being limited and needing to seek assistance from food banks, I thought it would be useful to provide a list of all the food pantries in the Boston area, or Massachusetts overall.

But I couldn't find one.

At least not a comprehensive one. I could find the big ones - like the Greater Boston Food Bank, and a few smaller local joints, but no comprehensive list. A search on Google Local brought back lots of food pantries and food banks... as well as some Stop & Shops, Citizens Banks, and a few restaurants.

Not helpful.

Not to mention, many food banks and emergency food providers don't even have websites.

With allllllll of that in mind, I bring to you the great, the wonderful, the quite useful Food Bank and Food Pantry Map of Massachusetts. I compiled all of the information based on the Google Local search. You can zoom in on your local area to find the closest food bank to you, where you can bring donations or if you need it, get some help.

If you know of a food bank or pantry that is not listed there, just drop me a line at boston at oyfp dot org and I'll add you on.

Happy Food Banking!

Resources: Food Bank and Food Pantry Map of Massachusetts
Related Posts: Food is key to culture; Food for Thought; Partying for Good; Helping with a mullet; Helping a little old lady

Stay Healthy During the Holidays

So this post isn't exactly about volunteering, or doing good for others... but it is about doing good for yourself. 'Tis the season for weight gain. We're talking the annual "freshman 15" from all the booze, fruitcake, and rich foods you'll be eating this season, combined with the occasional pizza or Indian food takeout. It's not good for your figure, nor for your heart.

No worries, I'm not one to play Grinch of Holiday Yumminess. However, there are a few things I'm going to do this season that I thought you might want to do too:

1. Before going out to eat (or maybe at the table on my iPhone), I'm going to check out this handy dandy Eating Out Guide from the American Heart Association. It doesn't just tell you "order the chicken fillet instead of the burger," it includes "ethnic" foods, which are my favorites! You can still eat Indian food, but do so in a more healthy way.

2. Eggnog fan? Try a glass of half eggnog, half 1% milk, splash of whatever alcohol it is you put in eggnog. And make it a small glass while you're at it.

3. Try a little bit (like a bite) of all the desserts, and then stop. No really. Stop.

4. Go for a walk at lunch. Not only will this get your heart pumping, but the sunlight and vitamin D will help stave off seasonal affective disorder (read: winter makes me sad).

5. Go to the gym with a friend. Ok maybe some of you doobies out there actually go to the gym the required number of times per week, but I'm not one of them. I don't even belong to one right now. Too boring. But add a friend? I'm hoping for magic, or at the very least, discipline.

Any tips for staying healthy through the holidays? Please share.

Related Posts: Eating Locally; Tapas for Toys; A gift to remember; Conscious Giving; 'Tis the season to change the present; DesignGive - Creativity is a gift; 10,000 Reasons to Buy
Image courtesy of the NY Times.

Feeling Thankful - Spread it Around

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. You get to eat a lot and think about why you're thankful. I'm willing to bet we all have something to be thankful for even during these hard economic times.

Some of the things I'm happy about this year:

- I have a good paying job that I like

- I have OYFP!

- I get to have two Thanksgiving dinners, one with my family and one with my boyfriend's family --- mmmmm pie!

If you want to help other people keep some full bellies or perhaps have an empty belly yourself, consider donating to or visiting the following local food banks and food pantries:

- Red Cross Food Pantry, 1033 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge

- Greater Boston Food Bank, 99 Atkinson Rd, Boston

- Boston Medical Center Food Pantry, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Boston

Or check out Boston.com's list of pantries and shelters who could use a little assistance this season, and really, all year long.

Happy Turkey Day!

Some of the family and friends I'm grateful for (I'm on the far left)

Related Posts: Election day food drive; Tapas for Toys at Tapeo; Find Local Food Locally

Food Drive in Boston on Election Day

Calling one, calling all, next Tuesday, Nov. 4 is your opportunity to help those in need! Yes, you do this by voting for whichever candidate you feel will help the poor and middle class more.... but when you vote, bring in canned food donations or monetary donations for the mayor's Food and Fuel drive.

As I'm sure you've heard, people are struggling this year. A lot. Working families sometimes have to choose between putting food on the table, or keeping their homes warm. If you even have an extra $5 with which to buy some non-perishable items to bring with you when you vote, please do. Please. And if you have an extra $5 but no time to go shopping, there will be volunteers on site handing out envelopes you can use to mail in monetary donations.

If your employer was kind enough to give you the day off on voting day, perhaps you'd like to help the mayor coordinate the food drive at each of the hundreds of poll places. They need people from 7:00 to 9:00 am, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm and 4:00 to 8:00 pm. Contact Allison Rogers at 617.635.3251 or email her at allison.rogers@cityofboston.gov by close of business today (October 31) if you'd like to sign up. Simply tell her where you live, your phone number, your email, and your shift preference.

You really can make a difference with your one vote.

Imagine if you had enough canned food to make this sculpture?

Related Posts: Casting About: Your Massachusetts State Ballot; Presidential Election and Free Speech; 2008 Vote: Whys and Hows of the Electoral College; Are you making your decision based on looks?; Passive Electioneering; Presidential Election, Registering to Vote, and the Ballot Questions; Absentee Voting; Google wants you to vote
Photo of food on shelf courtesy of Ruminatrix. Photo of the bowl of soup made out of soup cans courtesy of Eric_Liu76.