The Latest Dirt

From the bean of Green Bean.

Photo courtesy of regular guest poster, Sweet Eventide.

The economic downturn has impacted many of us. Americans are spending less and saving more. Well, most of them are. The delightful blog, Small Notebook: Encouragement for a Simple Home, though recently published Three Great Ways to Spend More Money. The list was so right on that it had this frugal diva pulling out the ole eco-credit card.

I'll give you a hint as to what was on Small Notebook's list. Healthy food. Not everyone agrees, apparently, that we Americans should be spending more to eat better. Over at Food Politics, Marion Nestle notes that, despite the White House garden and farmers market, not all of Washington is behind alternative agriculture. Industrial agriculture is pushing back.

Still, some recognition for the new form of farming came in the way of a Nobel Prize for victory gardens . . . sort of. Red White & Grew highlights the recent award given to Elinor Ostrom who worked to show that people can share community resources a la yardsharing or community gardens.

And remember last week when I debated starting the Great American Apparel Diet? Well, the latest line of shoes from my favorite shoe company may have changed my mind. I've long loved Simple Shoes. They manufacture their shoes with recycled and organic materials. They package them as minimally as possible. Treehugger reports that, in addition to all those attributes, they now offer a line of shoes that will biodegrade - even in a landfill!

Now that's some good dirt!