Mark Your Calendar For: September 10 -- Rain Barrel Sale, Falls Church Property YardSeptember 14 -- Bees and the Environment, Huntley Meadows Park September 16-18 -- Weekend in Wise County September 17 -- Four Mile Run Cleanup, Barcroft Park September 23 - Oct 2 -- Solar Decathalon, West Potomac Park DC September 24 -- Moving Planet Rally, Alexandria September 30 - Oct 1 -- State Chapter Annual Gathering, Prince William Forest Park October 1 -- Raingarden Workshop, Marymount University October 1-2 -- Solar Home Tour October 1-31 -- Local Foods/Local Chefs, Arlington Restaurants October 18 -- MVG Book Club, Silver Diner Arlington |
Mount Vernon Sierran -- Fall 2011
In this issue:
Clean Energy: Victory Close to Home!
Action by Alexandria residents, the city government, and the Sierra Club contributes to GenOn's decision to retire its coal-fired power plant in Old Town. Read more
Attack of the 18-Foot Inhaler
A statewide clean energy tour wrapped up in Northern Virginia on August 18, complete with some breathtaking props. Read more
The Courts and the Climate
With Congress and the White House slow to pursue meaningful climate change legislation, can we expect any aid from our third branch of government? Read more
Easy Greening: Recycling Throwdown!
Which local jurisdiction will be the first to recycle half of its waste? Oh, it's on, baby! Read more
Arlington's in Hot Water
If you're a homeowner in Arlington, you may be eligible to get an energy-saving solar water heater--at a sweet discount. Read more
Notes from the Chair: Going to DisneyWorld?
Retiring the GenOn power plant has been a MVG campaign for several years. Now that the plant's set to shut down, what's next for our local group? Read more
Call for Candidates
Got opinions about what the MVG should tackle in 2012? Better yet -- do you have time to help put those ideas in action? Consider campaigning for the Mount Vernon Group's Executive Committee! Read more
Local Foods, Local Chefs: Farm to Table Month in Arlington
by Jenny Abel
From October 1-31, several of your favorite Arlington eateries will be going local by offering dishes prepared with ingredients grown or raised on area farms.
Participating restaurants will offer a meal (appetizer, entrée, and dessert) made entirely from locally grown and raised ingredients (excluding oils, spices, condiments, flour, and sugar). In this context, locally grown is defined as within a 125 mile radius. The restaurants will also feature information about the farmers with whom they have partnered to obtain the ingredients.
2011 is the third year for Local Foods, Local Chefs, an initiative co-led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment and sponsored by Arlington County. Participating restaurants include Santa Fe Café and Domaso Trattoria in Rosslyn, Busboys and Poets in Shirlington, Willow and Sweetgreen in Ballston, and Eventide, Silver Diner, Restaurant 3, Pete’s Apizza, and Whole Foods in Clarendon. New restaurants and events are being added all the time, so go to www.arlingtonva.us keyword: local foods for more information and updates.
Eating locally produced foods supports area economies, helps to preserve the environment by reducing the distance food travels to reach our plates, and allows us to sample some of the tastiest and freshest foods that our region has to offer. So head to one of the participating restaurants in October to enjoy succulent fruits and vegetables, fresh local eggs and dairy products, and pasture-raised meats from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania farms.
The Mount Vernon Sierran is published quarterly by the Mount Vernon Group of the Sierra Club's Virginia Chapter. Content contained in the newsletter expresses the opinions of the authors and does not necessarily reflect any official Group position or campaign. Questions or comments? Email Mary Kadera, the newsletter editor, at Mount.Vernon.Group@sierraclub.org.
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