A recent story reports that Australia's Foster's beer and scientists from the University of Queensland, are installing a Microbial Fuel Cell to generate energy from the brewery's waste water - with the help of some sugar-loving bacteria. The fuel cell is basically a battery powered by the consumption of water-soluble brewery waste (such as sugar, starch and alcohol) by bacteria. The 660 gallon unit produces around two kilowatts of power, about enough to power a home. And as an added bonus, clean water is also produced from the waste water! Researchers at Penn State are also working on producing hydrogen using MFC's. It is also possible to build your own fuel cell, though much smaller (think science fair), from materials easily located at your local hardware store and laboratory supplier.

Years ago while living in New York City, I would sometimes get up early to try and snag a Doughnut Man donut from Dean and Deluca in the village. But if the doughnut man's basement (kitchen) flooded or bicycle he used for deliverey broke down, I'd be out of luck. Now he has the Doughnut Plant on the Lower East Side where he makes these organic beauties. It was hard to choose from the excellent options. I'm a sucker for the pistachio, apricot, or fresh raspberry glaze when it is in season.

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On Myspace I discovered Peoples' vegan donuts out of Berkely, CA. I am really hankering to try Mighty O organic, vegan donuts in Seattle. And if you keep heading west you'll find Fritz's organic donuts in Australia. Time for an Onote donut tasting tour.

Organic vegetarian food meets haute cuisine at this Upper East Side gem. Candle 79 has a classic vegetarian menu complete with a glossary to define such things as agar agar to the different degrees of meat-free diets. The food sounds healthy and delicious. One dish, Aztec Salad: Bi-color quinoa, black beans, red onions & jicama topped with spiced pumpkin seeds and barbequed grilled tempeh served over mixed field greens with a toasted cumin vinaigrette, reminds me of something I enjoyed at Native Foods where they call it 'Ensalada Azteca'. Their mission says

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"We at the Candle Cafe are dedicated to your health through our commitment to excellent vegetarian cuisine. Our inspired creations are comprised of a seasonal array of organic ingredients. By supporting organic farming and avoiding animal products, we acknowledge the interconnectedness of environmental, spiritual and physical well-being. "

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If New York is out of range you can try cooking up some of Candle Cafe's delights yourself with their acclaimed cookbook with more than 150 enlightened recipes.

I find myself wishing I lived in San Francisco so that I could go to Tartine Bakery on Guerrero for a morning croissant and coffee. They use organic, fresh milled flours, local eggs, organic produce and espresso and you even get Straus milk for your coffee. Imagine Frangipane Croissants with brandy and almonds or Pain au Chocolat with Scharffen Berger Chocolate or organic Morning Buns with cinnamon and orange. They also serve sandwiches with house-made pickles and have a dazzling list of cakes and pastries. One review says "its someplace you should go to take care of your soul on a lazy sunny morning."

Dr. Bronner's soap has been an icon since the early 1960s lathering up generation after generation with a message of peace. Now Dr. Bronner's is going fair trade and more. They have bought a huge shipment of organic, fair trade olive oil from the Holy Land that will make its way into soap bottles this summer.

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"Dr. Bronner's essential vision and philosophy were born out of the fate of his family and the Holocaust, and are emphatic that we are all children of the same divine source: people must realize our transcendent unity against the relatively trivial differences that divide us, that we are "All-One!" or we will destroy ourselves. The olive tree originated in the Holy Land, where it has been a primary agricultural crop since biblical times. The olive branch signifies peace, and while we are not naive about the depth and scale of the problems and divisions in the Holy Land, our project represents in a small way a vision of coexistence based on economic opportunity and cooperation."

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With these olives from Israel and Palestine coming together in the purest of soaps our hopes of cleaning up the mess in the Middle East can be renewed.

They are trying to make it so all CA grown almonds must be pasteurized and/or irradiated. See link at: www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4775.cfm

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The only exemption to these new regulations will be organic "raw" almonds that will not be fumigated, but will undergo the steam-heat treatment, and small-scale growers who can sell truly raw almonds but only direct to the public from farm stands.

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[Editor's Note] : Thanks for the tip DKramer. This law reacts to a salmonella outbreak by enforcing 'pasteurization' : the worrying part is that irradiation is included in that definition of pasteurization, without any special labeling. Two things you can do : one, buy the exempted raw almonds described above. Two, follow the link above and appeal for a reopening of this law which was not correctly presented to the public for debate.

Emails are circling to sign a petition for the Healthy Farm Act:

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The Healthy Farm Act will support farmers striving to become active land stewards - to keep water cleaner and use less of it, to boost renewable energy use, and to provide better wildlife habitat on their land. If controlling pesticides helped bring back the eagle, think of what this bill could do for our health, our oceans and other imperiled wildlife!

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Not only does this bill strive to clean up our soil and waterways in hopes to improve dead zones but it also hopes to provide low income Americans the opportunity to use food vouchers at Farmer's markets. If you want to take action, sign the petition.

New labeling in the UK will show the carbon footprint of products: The label will show how many grams of carbon dioxide were emitted in the process of making the product and delivering it to store shelves. Carbon Trust manages this new system and, much like food nutrition labels, it promises to give consumers the power to make appropriate purchase decisions.

We worry about the environmental and economic impact of importing goods from far off lands, but now the Blue & Green Packet Company is refitting a two masted schooner to transport organic coffee to the US.

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"The point is to prove it can be done," said John Siman, one of the company's owners. "We can still trade commodities via sail." He said there's a growing demand for products that are organically produced and are imported in a way that has as little negative impact to the environment as possible.

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The company hopes to import goods such as chocolate, textiles, rice, and beans from Central America too. Now if we can just find a way to use wind power to get the coffee from the boat to the market.

Our raw chocolate recipe might benefit from substituting organic raw cacao butter for the coconut oil. That way the chocolates would keep their shape without freezing. But at €35.00 for 500 grams of cacao butter you may want to opt for the coconut oil after all. Either way raw chocolate decadence is easily yours. With a long shelf life, both cacao butter and coconut oil make nice skin moisturizers too that can quickly clear up your complexion and leave your skin feeling silky smooth.