Sustainable Living

In this Feb. 22, 2009, file photo, bottles of Heinz organic tomato ketchup are on display inside Costco in Mountain View, Calif. The organic industry is gaining clout on Capitol Hill, prompted by rising consumer demand and its entry into traditional farm states. But that isn’t going over well with everyone in Congress. Tensions between conventional and organic agriculture boiled over this week during a late-night House Agriculture Committee debate on a sweeping farm bill that has for decades propped up traditional crops and largely ignored organics. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) May 17, 2013

Organic industry clout grows with consumer demand

The organic industry has exploded in the last decade, with $35 billion in sales and 10 percent growth just last year. There are more than 17,000 certified organic businesses in the country.

May 2, 2013

Slow Money touts investments in small food firms

“The promise of very high capital returns is not there, but very high social and environmental returns are there,” Tasch said.

This undated photo shows Erba stella sharing bed with lettuce in a garden in New Paltz, New York. Erba stella is very pleasant eating, with texture overshadowing the relatively mild flavor. The leaves grow in a low whorl just like those of plantain-the-weed, but are narrow and refreshingly crunchy; even the flower spikes retain that pleasant crunchiness. (AP Photo/Lee Reich) Apr 30, 2013

Erba stella is a plantain but not a weed

It makes for good eating, with texture overshadowing the relatively mild flavor.

This Sept. 3, 2012 photo provided by Eric Ciula shows shows tomatoes from his garden in Cottage Grove, Wis. April is a planning month for gardeners throughout the middle of the country, and many are trying to figure out what to do amid rapidly shifting weather conditions. (AP Photo/Eric Ciula) Apr 22, 2013

Gardeners make plans with no certainty in forecast

A cold spring and recent rain helped break the drought in parts of Wisconsin and to the east, but areas west remain dry.

Apr 18, 2013

Hotel soap to be purified and recycled

WESTON, W.Va. |  What do hotels do with bars of soap that guests leave behind? Stonewall Resort in Lewis County is having them recycled. Stonewall …

Oct 24, 2012

Recipe: Autumn chutney keeps the spice and cuts the sugar

AURORA – The first public cooking demonstrations at the new Anschutz Health and Wellness Center in Aurora took place Sept. 26 in the demo kitchen …

Soda industry: Vending machines will show calories Oct 9, 2012

Soda industry: Vending machines will show calories

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed a less-stringent amendment that would allow vending operators to post the information on a poster on the side of the machine

Calif. initiative will test consumers’ appetite for labelling GMO food Oct 7, 2012

Calif. initiative will test consumers’ appetite for labelling GMO food

Much of the corn, soybean, sugar beets and cotton cultivated in the United States today have been tweaked to resist pesticides or insects.

Erin Jolley of Cooking Matters, washes freshly picked cucumbers that were deliveredto the La Plata County Fairgrounds in Durango. Volunteers gathered donated produce over the weekend at the fairgrounds and will later be distributed to families in need. (AP Photo) Sep 19, 2012

Sustainable Supper: Is organic food just for the affluent, oblivious upper middle class?

AURORA – Roger Cohen, a British columnist for The New York Times, responded to a recent study questioning whether organic produce was “better” than the …

Five-year-old Izabell Lloyd of Clifton watches a hive of honeybees at work in Red Barn & Farms' produce stand in Grand Junction. In mid-June, the store installed an enclosed glass hive, beginning with 5,000 Italian bees to help pollinate their crops. (AP Photo) Sep 11, 2012

Sustainable Supper: To eat clean you must learn how to cook

When the kitchen buys the farm the organic zucchini is cheaper Sara and Lenny Martinelli own six restaurants and a catering business including the popular …