Event: Moving Planet Worldwide Rally, Sept. 25th

This Saturday is Moving Planet's worldwide day of action, calling for urgently needed climate change solutions & immediate responses from governments. Already, 168 countries (out of 195) are participating, making this a truly global event for our planet & our future.

There 2 events in Nassau County, 2 events in Suffolk County, 1 major event in Manhattan, and 1 major even in Brooklyn. For a complete list of events, see Moving Planet's event finder page.

To highlight Nassau County's events, there will be a demonstration in Elmont and at Jones Beach. On Sunday, the day after the worldwide day of action, Crossroads Farm at Grossmann's in Malverne will be hosting a potluck dinner & farm tour with tribute to 350.org & Moving Planet.

As is the case with demonstrations, numbers matter most! Showing up for as little as 15 minutes can help these events become successful rallies & send a strong message to our government to lead fossil-fuel-free energy initiatives [see: the recent Tar Sands Action protests in Washington, D.C., Tar Sands Action's October 7th follow-up, the 2010 documentary Gasland]. There is plenty of momentum for clean, renewable energy - now it's just a matter of showing up.

Tar Sands Action Protest: Over 1,250 people traveled to Washington, D.C. earlier this month, risking arrest to peacefully protest the Keystone XL pipeline. President Obama will be deciding this fall whether or not to approve the 1,900 mile pipeline, stretching from Canada to Texas to bring tar sands (a low-quality, unrefined fossil fuel) to the US's Gulf Coast. 

Featured as the first speaker in this video is Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and the Moving Planet events, including this Saturday's worldwide demonstrations.

Gasland Trailer: a 2010 documentary about hydrofracking or "fracking," a process used to extract oil & natural gas by injecting highly-pressurized water and chemicals into the ground. Fracking is often advocated by politicians as a "solution" to the energy crisis.

Event: The Long Island Fair, Sept. 22nd - 25th

This Thursday through Sunday, the Old Bethpage Village Restoration will host the Long Island Fair, a 166-year-old tradition began by the Queens County Agricultural Society in 1842. This is the 41st fair at the Old Bethapge Village Restoration grounds; the fair was held in Mineola from 1866-1950's, at Roosevelt Raceway from the late 1950's through 1970, and at Old Bethpage Village Restoration since 1970. The Old Bethpage Village Restoration is a great location to provoke images of the past and inspire the agricultural tradition today.

Images from www.lifair.org/history.htm

The Long Island Fair features children's games & shows, a corn husking contest, bluegrass bands, and of course, delicious food! There are also traditional showcases for vegetables, fruits, crafts, hobbies, and baked goods from Long Island. New this year are the Think Green Awards, classes for teens and adults in needlework, cooking, and hobbies, and a wine department for adults. For more details, visit the Long Island Fair's webpage and Long Island Fair's History. 

New Local Link: 3 Brothers Pizza Cafe, Rockville Centre

A new vendor has been added to the Local Links (on the right of this page) -- 3 Brothers Pizza Cafe in Rockville Centre. Their restaurant was recently featured in a Rockville Centre Patch.com article by Judy Griffin, certified holistic health coach at NourishingSolutions4Life.com, for their extensive and delicious vegan menu.

To view the article, click here.

To view 3 Brothers Pizza Cafe's website, click here or on their link in the Local Links menu.

Local Links lists farmers markets, restaurants, and health food stores in Nassau County by town. Do you know of a great Nassau vendor not listed? Email Locally Long Island at locallyli@gmail.com to include it!

NY Locavore Challenge - Breakfast, Day One

Today's the first day of NOFA-NY's NY Locavore Challenge! It's not even 10:00am, and I'm realizing just how challenging this month is going to be if I don't set some ground rules for myself. I've always wanted to see just how locally I could source my food, and the Challenge is the perfect opportunity to push me into a full-blown locavore. So, here goes nothing!

Melissa's NY Locavore Challenge:

• When I must go out to eat, I will choose only local restaurants & franchises - this means going to La Bottega instead of Olive Garden, Brew 7 instead of Starbucks, Speakeasy instead of Applebee's, etc. 

• I will try my best to replace the products I would buy from chain stores with locally-produced goods. So, I'll be having Papa Pasquale's ravioli from the Long Beach farmer's market instead of Trader Joe's.

• I will incorporate a locally-grown, organic fruit or vegetable into at least one meal a day. Ideally, I'd like to have at least one meal a day of entirely local food.

• I will try canning tomatoes, cooking fresh tomato sauce and foraging.

Breakfast this morning is already a challenge! I'm out of organically-fed, pasture-raised chicken eggs from Garden of Eve - I'll have to pick up more at Crossroads Farm at Grossmann's in Malverne today. Instead, I'll have Polka Dot Pound Cake's Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, a delicious, albeit sugary, start to my day. I also brewed a pot of coffee for myself - a sticky locavore subject, since the beans are grown outside the US - but I will only be buying from Gentle Brew from now on. These 4 young friends source Arabica beans from fair-trade growers, and roast & grind them right here in Hicksville, NY. I never "got" quality, fresh coffee until I tried their Columbia Sierra Nevada blend, and I'm never going back!

I'm sure lunch on Day 1 will be equally interesting...I'm wishing I stocked up on local goods before the month began! But this is why it's called a Challenge, right? And I'm looking forward to seeing just how local I can go...