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How many elderly folk in the U.S. depend on Meals on Wheels each day? If you said somewhere between 1.3 and 1.4 million people you wouldn’t be far off the mark. That’s a lot of people who, without the help of Meals on Wheels, wouldn’t be eating a hot meal tonight. Even though my family and I eat modestly, it’s hard for me to imagine what it must be like not to have something warm to eat each night. It must be tough, particularly when you’re older. Unfortunately, things are becoming increasingly challenging for Meals on Wheels. Faced with a sharp upturn in demand for its services, coupled with a shortage in volunteer labor (as a result of record-high gas prices) their task seems almost overwhelming. The good news...

With just over one week until the start of the Organic World Congress in Modena, Italy, five finalists for the prestigious One World Award, which is sponsored by IFOAM, have been announced. The award aims to recognize people committed to permanently protecting and conserving the world we enjoy. The five finalists of the One World Award 2008 have all shown extraordinary commitment to protecting the viability of the planet for future generations. In doing so, they have demonstrated that the future of globalization is positive. The finalists are: Harald Schützeichel started the foundation for solar energy in Ethiopia in 2004 with the aim of supplying the rural population of Africa with energy. He is consistently trying “to help people...

Many schools are benefiting from the natural learning environment provided by the introduction of a school garden. In a joint project involving Growing Communities, Brisbane’s Northey Street City Farm and Health Promotion Queensland, many of Queensland’s local State schools are being encouraged to foster learning environments emphasizing gardening, healthy food choices and outdoor activity. Critical to the success of these projects is the involvement of as many community participants as possible. Each school aims to involve staff, students, P&C, as well as numerous other groups from the broader community. Children participating in school gardening projects enjoy hands on learning, physical activity, fresh air and clean food...

Mikey Azzara is the Outreach Coordinator for the North East Organic Farming Association of New Jersey. Mikey’s an inspirational young man who’s performing some really important work connecting New Jersey’s organic farmers with the local communities they serve. In his quest to learn more about how our food is grown, as well as the sustainable practices needed to support future generations, Mikey has studied extensively and has also travelled to Italy to learn from Italy’s much-respected organic farmers. Mikey’s rightly proud of his New Jersey roots and with his obvious leadership capacity and stated desire to bring organics to the youth generation, he’s someone we’re bound to hear a lot more of. Keep...

In most Western countries we treat the symptoms, rather than identifying and addressing the root causes, of disease. It’s no surprise that the leading cause of premature death in Western society is heart disease. Our never-ending quest for efficiency, convenience and uniformity is making us sick. We’re overweight, we’re stressed and we’re tired. In this video, four children let us know that they are aware of the problem and would like us to do something about it. They’re asking for better foods to be served in schools. It’s a simple yet important message they have to share. With so much of our children’s learning taking place in the school environment these days surely it makes sense to teach the benefits...