Marketplacehttp://www.good.is/Information on our consumer culture.Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:24:52 -0800CakePHPhourly1en-us <![CDATA[Hallelujah! It's a Re-issue Revival]]> http://www.good.is/post/hallelujah-its-a-re-issue-revival/ http://www.good.is/post/hallelujah-its-a-re-issue-revival/ A slew of re-issue labels are bringing forgotten vinyl to the web.


Vintage vinyl seduced me early. First it was scraps from the family turntable-my mother's Joni Mitchell, dad's Bob Seger. Then it was scratched 45s culled from various neighborhood yard sales. By the time I was 12, I was making what amounted to religious pilgrimages to the only decent record store within bike range-a closet-sized shop manned by a white-haired, sway-bellied, Middle-Earth-type who preferred grumbling to conversation. Occasionally, he would take notice of me and spout some deep wisdom from high atop Audiophile Mountain: "Pentagram is like Black Sabbath... only they mean it," or "David Bowie made a crapload of albums before Let's Dance, you know..."

I would spend hours there, sifting through stacks, staring at album covers, absolutely exhilarated, a thin film of grime forming on my fingers from the dusty cardboard. I would buy anything I had even remotely heard of; some Joni Mitchell record my mother didn't have, more battered 45s. I also started to base purchases solely on cover art, which lead to some spectacular revelations: a Raymond Pettibone illustration brought West Coast punk to my East Coast life, and my attraction to the spaceship/soulman on the front of Mothership Connection catapulted me directly into the acid-soaked vortex of Parliament/Funkadelic. It was a scavenger hunt, a treasure trail, a pirate's map to a remote and hidden island, and I felt like nothing less than a swashbuckler in that crappy little shop-embarking on a great adventure through musical territories unknown.

I've been a digger ever since, shuffling through garage sale milk crates and big city record stores on an infinite quest for the next new (old) thing. But now, as the mom and pop record shops sadly disappear, and as corporate monoliths like Virgin and Tower Records topple, that quest is hugely facilitated-for myself and every other audiophile on the planet-by the vast miracle of the internet.

Some insightful, primarily web-based record labels have found success in the rediscovering and re-issuing of lost vinyl classics, and in the process, they've resurrected some of the finest music ever forgotten. Forgoing major label methodology-mediocre "best of" anthologies and remastered big hits-these labels have instead done what true vinyl junkies have been doing for decades: They've sought out the unknowns, those songs and artists that somehow got caught and lost in the cracks.
Some insightful, primarily web-based record labels have resurrected some of the finest music ever forgotten.

Reissues labels explore a huge array of musical choices, from Afrobeat to jazz to experimental noise. The late, great guitarist John Fahey started Revenant Records in 1996 in order to reissue lost jazz classics. Now Again, in Los Angeles, offers everything from old school hip-hop unknowns to obscure 1970s funk ensembles. A curious listener can visit Sundazed for lost rock classics, Radioactive for rare new wave and punk, the United Kingdom's Ace label for some 1950s soul, or Italy's Akarma for a selection of 1960s pop.

Then there's New York's Anthology Recordings, which focuses on psych-rock, folk, and heavy metal gems, but doesn't limit itself to the guitar realm. "We try to cover as much ground as we can," explains Anthology founder Keith Ambrahamsson, "people love all kinds of music and there's plenty of overlooked stuff existing in any given genre."



Anthology's website also serves as a distribution outlet for a number of other like-minded labels, including the Seattle-based, Light In the Attic, which specializes in lost funk, folk, and reggae. The label has found recent success with work from 1970s funk/spunk sex goddess (and Miles Davis ex) Betty Davis, as well as the brooding, ethereal folk from doomed genius Karen Dalton. "Simply put, good music is good music," says Light in the Attic's Matt Sullivan. "There's a reason why these records still continue to find an audience thirty or forty years after their initial release."

And while many of these reissue labels stick to somewhat mainstream genres, there are others that prefer to mine the fringes. Chicago-based Locust, for instance, offers spoken-word albums from 1960s guru Allan Watts and Fluxist soundscapes from Gamelon Son of Lion. De Stilj Records, based in Minnesota, embraces more experimental rock and folk recordings.

"I find it super important that reissues democratize these rarities that have been elevated in status and price by the collector world," explains DeStilj founder Clint Simonson, "De Stilj releases are really arcane, which has, for me, come to mean that they're for serious listeners with well-traveled ears."
A band who scraped together milk money to press 200 copies of an album in 1965-then got married, found jobs, had kids, and retired-can now sell thousands of downloads and reunite for a sold-out tour.

What all these labels share, however, is the common digger obsession-to unearth that long-buried vein of pure gold. From time to time, they can grant a second chance to not only the music, but also to the musicians. A band who scraped together milk money to press 200 copies of an album in 1965-then got married, found jobs, had kids, and retired-can now sell thousands of downloads and reunite for a sold-out tour. Light In the Attic recently experienced an unprecedented response with the release of Cold Fact, a politically charged 1970 folk funk album from a Detroit artist known as Rodriguez. Thirty-eight years after its release, Rodriguez is playing club dates, doing interviews, and signing autographs in support of the record.

In the end, this revival is about granting new life to old work. It doesn't matter if it's a download, a CD, or an honest-to-God 180 gram vinyl LP. Nor does it matter whether you come across it on a website, in a dusty record shop, or on some old lady's front lawn. The thrill of digging remains.

MORE INFO

A great resource for re-issues is Forced Exposure, an online store that carries most of the releases from the labels listed below. Go to Rockadrome for a more specialized selection of heavy/psych rock releases.

Anthology Recordings: This all-digital reissue label (and distribution hub) has a massive selection of vintage sounds, among them the towering dirt rock of Sir Lord Baltimore, the groovy duets of Jade Stone and Luv and the poetic, and the John Peel-produced work of Bridget St. John.

Sundazed: Some hits from this country/rock/garage/punk/and more reissue label include releases from ex-Moby Grape resident genius Skip Spence, frothy pop from 1960s masters Millennium and the rare soul sounds of Bobby Patterson.

Subliminal Sounds: The place to dig for Swedish psych rock greats like Träd Gräs Och Stenar (Trees Grass and Stones) and the hard-rocking Scandinavian power trio The Baby Grandmothers.

De Stilj: Specializing in both contemporary artists and eclectic re-issues, De Stilj's roster is carefully curated by founder Clint Simonson. It also explores the weird and wonderful world of artist Ed Askew, the avant-garde pysch of Roots of Madness, and the wildly exploratory rock of Michael Yonkers.

Light in The Attic: Some stellar picks include the aforementioned Rodriguez, Dalton, and Davis, as well as the label's amazing series of reggae from a group of expat Jamaicans in Toronto.]]> A slew of re-issue labels are bringing forgotten vinyl to the web.


Vintage vinyl seduced me early. First it was scraps from the family turntable-my mother's Joni Mitchell, dad's Bob Seger. Then it was scratched 45s culled from various neighborhood yard sales. By the time I was 12, I was making what amounted to religious pilgrimages to the only decent record store within bike range-a closet-sized shop manned by a white-haired, sway-bellied, Middle-Earth-type who preferred grumbling to conversation. Occasionally, he would take notice of me and spout some deep wisdom from high atop Audiophile Mountain: "Pentagram is like Black Sabbath... only they mean it," or "David Bowie made a crapload of albums before Let's Dance, you know..."

I would spend hours there, sifting through stacks, staring at album covers, absolutely exhilarated, a thin film of grime forming on my fingers from the dusty cardboard. I would buy anything I had even remotely heard of; some Joni Mitchell record my mother didn't have, more battered 45s. I also started to base purchases solely on cover art, which lead to some spectacular revelations: a Raymond Pettibone illustration brought West Coast punk to my East Coast life, and my attraction to the spaceship/soulman on the front of Mothership Connection catapulted me directly into the acid-soaked vortex of Parliament/Funkadelic. It was a scavenger hunt, a treasure trail, a pirate's map to a remote and hidden island, and I felt like nothing less than a swashbuckler in that crappy little shop-embarking on a great adventure through musical territories unknown.

I've been a digger ever since, shuffling through garage sale milk crates and big city record stores on an infinite quest for the next new (old) thing. But now, as the mom and pop record shops sadly disappear, and as corporate monoliths like Virgin and Tower Records topple, that quest is hugely facilitated-for myself and every other audiophile on the planet-by the vast miracle of the internet.

Some insightful, primarily web-based record labels have found success in the rediscovering and re-issuing of lost vinyl classics, and in the process, they've resurrected some of the finest music ever forgotten. Forgoing major label methodology-mediocre "best of" anthologies and remastered big hits-these labels have instead done what true vinyl junkies have been doing for decades: They've sought out the unknowns, those songs and artists that somehow got caught and lost in the cracks.
Some insightful, primarily web-based record labels have resurrected some of the finest music ever forgotten.

Reissues labels explore a huge array of musical choices, from Afrobeat to jazz to experimental noise. The late, great guitarist John Fahey started Revenant Records in 1996 in order to reissue lost jazz classics. Now Again, in Los Angeles, offers everything from old school hip-hop unknowns to obscure 1970s funk ensembles. A curious listener can visit Sundazed for lost rock classics, Radioactive for rare new wave and punk, the United Kingdom's Ace label for some 1950s soul, or Italy's Akarma for a selection of 1960s pop.

Then there's New York's Anthology Recordings, which focuses on psych-rock, folk, and heavy metal gems, but doesn't limit itself to the guitar realm. "We try to cover as much ground as we can," explains Anthology founder Keith Ambrahamsson, "people love all kinds of music and there's plenty of overlooked stuff existing in any given genre."



Anthology's website also serves as a distribution outlet for a number of other like-minded labels, including the Seattle-based, Light In the Attic, which specializes in lost funk, folk, and reggae. The label has found recent success with work from 1970s funk/spunk sex goddess (and Miles Davis ex) Betty Davis, as well as the brooding, ethereal folk from doomed genius Karen Dalton. "Simply put, good music is good music," says Light in the Attic's Matt Sullivan. "There's a reason why these records still continue to find an audience thirty or forty years after their initial release."

And while many of these reissue labels stick to somewhat mainstream genres, there are others that prefer to mine the fringes. Chicago-based Locust, for instance, offers spoken-word albums from 1960s guru Allan Watts and Fluxist soundscapes from Gamelon Son of Lion. De Stilj Records, based in Minnesota, embraces more experimental rock and folk recordings.

"I find it super important that reissues democratize these rarities that have been elevated in status and price by the collector world," explains DeStilj founder Clint Simonson, "De Stilj releases are really arcane, which has, for me, come to mean that they're for serious listeners with well-traveled ears."
A band who scraped together milk money to press 200 copies of an album in 1965-then got married, found jobs, had kids, and retired-can now sell thousands of downloads and reunite for a sold-out tour.

What all these labels share, however, is the common digger obsession-to unearth that long-buried vein of pure gold. From time to time, they can grant a second chance to not only the music, but also to the musicians. A band who scraped together milk money to press 200 copies of an album in 1965-then got married, found jobs, had kids, and retired-can now sell thousands of downloads and reunite for a sold-out tour. Light In the Attic recently experienced an unprecedented response with the release of Cold Fact, a politically charged 1970 folk funk album from a Detroit artist known as Rodriguez. Thirty-eight years after its release, Rodriguez is playing club dates, doing interviews, and signing autographs in support of the record.

In the end, this revival is about granting new life to old work. It doesn't matter if it's a download, a CD, or an honest-to-God 180 gram vinyl LP. Nor does it matter whether you come across it on a website, in a dusty record shop, or on some old lady's front lawn. The thrill of digging remains.

MORE INFO

A great resource for re-issues is Forced Exposure, an online store that carries most of the releases from the labels listed below. Go to Rockadrome for a more specialized selection of heavy/psych rock releases.

Anthology Recordings: This all-digital reissue label (and distribution hub) has a massive selection of vintage sounds, among them the towering dirt rock of Sir Lord Baltimore, the groovy duets of Jade Stone and Luv and the poetic, and the John Peel-produced work of Bridget St. John.

Sundazed: Some hits from this country/rock/garage/punk/and more reissue label include releases from ex-Moby Grape resident genius Skip Spence, frothy pop from 1960s masters Millennium and the rare soul sounds of Bobby Patterson.

Subliminal Sounds: The place to dig for Swedish psych rock greats like Träd Gräs Och Stenar (Trees Grass and Stones) and the hard-rocking Scandinavian power trio The Baby Grandmothers.

De Stilj: Specializing in both contemporary artists and eclectic re-issues, De Stilj's roster is carefully curated by founder Clint Simonson. It also explores the weird and wonderful world of artist Ed Askew, the avant-garde pysch of Roots of Madness, and the wildly exploratory rock of Michael Yonkers.

Light in The Attic: Some stellar picks include the aforementioned Rodriguez, Dalton, and Davis, as well as the label's amazing series of reggae from a group of expat Jamaicans in Toronto.]]> Jessica Hundley Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:18:54 PST <![CDATA[The United States of Coffee]]> http://www.good.is/post/the-united-states-of-coffee/ http://www.good.is/post/the-united-states-of-coffee/


The country's top 10 small-batch coffee companies are brewing blends that do more than wake you up.


You might feel like you're living in a Starbucks-dominated world, but there are countless boutique roasters across the country that are devoted to being much more than just modes of caffeine delivery. These are the 10 best, and they're giving the black-gold industry a much-needed makeover.

1. Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Founded: 1999
Home base: Portland, Oregon
Having worked in the coffee business since his high-school days, founder Duane Sorenson is a rock star in the small roaster world. And with good reason: In 1997, he pioneered direct trade with farmers, making it possible to buy a couple of bags of hand-selected beans rather than a container crammed with 250 bags. Stumptown's dedication to the farmer doesn't stop there. Sorenson flies his growers to Seattle, Portland, and New York City to see where their beans are going and to meet the people who swear by the final product. Sorenson explains, "We're not just blowing smoke up people's ass with a brochure."
Critic's Pick: Honduras Finca El Puente-Las Amazonas. "This is the perfectly balanced coffee: fruity, rich, and earthy, with the sweetness of caramel, a velvety-mouth feel, and just a hint of citrus."

2. Barefoot Coffee Roasters
Founded: 2003
Home base: San Jose, California
Most coffee businesses aren't started by people who despise the drink. But Andy Newbom-who set up shop in a strip mall in what he calls "the middle of cultural nowhere"-didn't have his epiphany until he had the perfect sip of espresso years after the 1980s coffee-shop boom. That one specimen paved his pursuit of brewed goodness. "There's no magic-it's the hard work," Newbom notes.  For the employees of Barefoot, that means everything from pulling the perfect shot in their hippie-minded cafe to becoming gurus of their growing regions-a goal they're working to achieve by focusing on beans from three countries: El Salvador, Ethiopia, and Guatemala.


3. Counter Culture Coffee
Founded: 1995
Home base: Durham, North Carolina
Becoming a regular Counter Culture drinker is a little like enrolling in Coffee 101-with the opportunity to study abroad. "We have customers who speak about the farmers who grow their coffees like they are old friends," explains Peter Giuliano, the co-owner and director of coffee.  This feeling is a product of weekly cuppings (or tastings) and trips to the countries of origin with the company's team.  To make sure these obsessed patrons have the ideal experience with the roasts, Counter Culture only ships along the Eastern seaboard (from New York to northern Florida), minimizing the time it takes beans to go from roaster to cup.
Critic's Pick: Gaturiri Lot 4815. "A classic Kenyan coffee that's bright, citrusy, and honey-sweet, leaving no sharpness at all."

4. Intelligentsia
Founded: 1995
Home base: Chicago
To bring transparency to their product, the people of Intelligentsia not only give die-hards an earful about the birthplace of their beans, but they also provide growers with the tools to make those beans even better. As Geoff Watts, the head buyer, explains, "I spend eight months at origin for a reason (and not just because I like it there). Much of that time is spent training cuppers, working with local tasters, talking good strategy with farmers." Once the green beans make their way to the Fulton Street roaster, they are artfully baked in souped-up vintage machines. Watts adds, "If the coffee is the LP, then the roaster is the turntable that allows the music to articulate."
Critic's Pick: El Diablo Dark Roast. "The favorite of the dark-roast coffees, this remarkably balanced blend has solid chocolate and cherry flavors and a hint of smoke."

5. Higher Ground Roasters
Founded: 2002
Home base: Birmingham, Alabama
When Alex Varner, Glenn Smith, and Josh Kelly launched their company, they carved out a niche-100 percent organic and fair-trade-rooted in their combined experiences with coffee and environmental activism. They went for roasters with afterburners that reduce emissions and set up a program called "1% for the Planet," donating a portion of annual sales to environmental causes. And, despite their distance from coffee's Northwest hub (and its cosmopolitan offshoots), the brews had the Southern audience instantly hooked. "I get calls from very rural areas of Alabama about the new crop of Papua New Guinea coffee they knew to be arriving any day," says Varner.

6. Blue Bottle Coffee Company
Founded: 2002
Home base: Oakland, California
When Blue Bottle founder James Freeman got into coffee, he was working with pretty tiny batches. "I was roasting coffee at home on a perforated baking sheet. I would have to travel, and so instead of trusting the local coffee, I'd take some I'd roasted with me. I was geeking out a little bit," he says. Taking his hobby commercial didn't change the focus on the extra-small batch: Freeman's average roast now is a mere 21 pounds. The company's other edicts are using only pesticide-free beans and getting their goods in customers' hands as quickly as possible-not a tough task considering the herds of devotees.

7. Terroir Coffee Company
Founded: 2004
Home Base: Acton, Massachusetts
Terroir might be only four years old, but the man behind it, George Howell, has been shaking up the coffee business for thirty years. His other contributions to upping the cup of joe standards (and breaking free from what he calls the "inertia of satisfaction") include working with the United Nations to improve economic sustainability for farmers and masterminding Cup of Excellence, a series of competitions that awards the top beans in nine countries. His latest endeavor is all about single-origin roasts-"How can I blend colors if I don't know the primaries?" he asks-and is a welcome departure from the classic mixed-bag breakfast blends.
Critic's Pick: El Injerto. "This Guatemala pick screams freshness with its mix of spiciness, bright citrus, and light herbal aroma."

8. Zoka Coffee Roaster
Founded: 1996
Home Base: Seattle
You might think setting up shop in the Starbucks capital of the universe would be a death wish, but Zoka managed to prevail by offering up first-class beans and insane freshness-something the big guy couldn't deliver. All of the coffee the company sells spent its time with the flame just hours before. "It's like bread. If you go to your local bakery, you don't want to buy stale baguettes, leftover from weeks or months before," explains roaster Drew Billups. And, rather than try to win over the entire Space Needle city, the Zoka crew has focused on becoming the neighborhood hotspot. Naturally, word has spread.

9. Paradise Roasters
Founded: 2002
Home Base: Ramsey, Minnesota
The fact that coffee is a seasonal good may seem obvious, but most roasters don't treat it that way. Rather than stockpile bags of green coffee for a year-allowing the flavors to wither away-Paradise has a use-it-or-lose-it approach: "We buy small amounts of the superlative coffees that are only two to four months from harvest and sell them within two to three months," explains the head of everything bean-related, Miguel Meza, who started drinking coffee at 13 and later convinced his parents to launch the company. Part two of the freshness mandate is roasting to order and shipping the bags within 24 hours.
Critic's Pick: Sumatra Danau Toba. "A classic Sumatra, this coffee is pungent and earthy with that unique jungle aroma (but a well-balanced sweetness too)."

10. Gimme! Coffee
Founded: 1999
Home Base: Ithaca, New York
In our new world of sustainable everything, the Gimme! philosophy of "farm to cup" is an easy thing to swallow. Founder Kevin Cuddeback and his team pay equal attention to the sustainability of the land the beans come from as they do the artful brewing of a cappuccino. "We are just one link in a long supply chain." Cuddeback says. "If we are going to be the leading component advocating to optimize coffee quality, there are many people we need to get that message to." What's the incentive of putting the sprawling coffee process on the company's agenda? "I was my own best customer-I knew I'd be tasting the result," he says.

(Critic's Picks: Daniel Humphries is the founder of the consulting company Coffee Scholars and the cupping club New York Coffee Society. He played java sommelier and listed his five favorite small-batch brews.)]]>


The country's top 10 small-batch coffee companies are brewing blends that do more than wake you up.


You might feel like you're living in a Starbucks-dominated world, but there are countless boutique roasters across the country that are devoted to being much more than just modes of caffeine delivery. These are the 10 best, and they're giving the black-gold industry a much-needed makeover.

1. Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Founded: 1999
Home base: Portland, Oregon
Having worked in the coffee business since his high-school days, founder Duane Sorenson is a rock star in the small roaster world. And with good reason: In 1997, he pioneered direct trade with farmers, making it possible to buy a couple of bags of hand-selected beans rather than a container crammed with 250 bags. Stumptown's dedication to the farmer doesn't stop there. Sorenson flies his growers to Seattle, Portland, and New York City to see where their beans are going and to meet the people who swear by the final product. Sorenson explains, "We're not just blowing smoke up people's ass with a brochure."
Critic's Pick: Honduras Finca El Puente-Las Amazonas. "This is the perfectly balanced coffee: fruity, rich, and earthy, with the sweetness of caramel, a velvety-mouth feel, and just a hint of citrus."

2. Barefoot Coffee Roasters
Founded: 2003
Home base: San Jose, California
Most coffee businesses aren't started by people who despise the drink. But Andy Newbom-who set up shop in a strip mall in what he calls "the middle of cultural nowhere"-didn't have his epiphany until he had the perfect sip of espresso years after the 1980s coffee-shop boom. That one specimen paved his pursuit of brewed goodness. "There's no magic-it's the hard work," Newbom notes.  For the employees of Barefoot, that means everything from pulling the perfect shot in their hippie-minded cafe to becoming gurus of their growing regions-a goal they're working to achieve by focusing on beans from three countries: El Salvador, Ethiopia, and Guatemala.


3. Counter Culture Coffee
Founded: 1995
Home base: Durham, North Carolina
Becoming a regular Counter Culture drinker is a little like enrolling in Coffee 101-with the opportunity to study abroad. "We have customers who speak about the farmers who grow their coffees like they are old friends," explains Peter Giuliano, the co-owner and director of coffee.  This feeling is a product of weekly cuppings (or tastings) and trips to the countries of origin with the company's team.  To make sure these obsessed patrons have the ideal experience with the roasts, Counter Culture only ships along the Eastern seaboard (from New York to northern Florida), minimizing the time it takes beans to go from roaster to cup.
Critic's Pick: Gaturiri Lot 4815. "A classic Kenyan coffee that's bright, citrusy, and honey-sweet, leaving no sharpness at all."

4. Intelligentsia
Founded: 1995
Home base: Chicago
To bring transparency to their product, the people of Intelligentsia not only give die-hards an earful about the birthplace of their beans, but they also provide growers with the tools to make those beans even better. As Geoff Watts, the head buyer, explains, "I spend eight months at origin for a reason (and not just because I like it there). Much of that time is spent training cuppers, working with local tasters, talking good strategy with farmers." Once the green beans make their way to the Fulton Street roaster, they are artfully baked in souped-up vintage machines. Watts adds, "If the coffee is the LP, then the roaster is the turntable that allows the music to articulate."
Critic's Pick: El Diablo Dark Roast. "The favorite of the dark-roast coffees, this remarkably balanced blend has solid chocolate and cherry flavors and a hint of smoke."

5. Higher Ground Roasters
Founded: 2002
Home base: Birmingham, Alabama
When Alex Varner, Glenn Smith, and Josh Kelly launched their company, they carved out a niche-100 percent organic and fair-trade-rooted in their combined experiences with coffee and environmental activism. They went for roasters with afterburners that reduce emissions and set up a program called "1% for the Planet," donating a portion of annual sales to environmental causes. And, despite their distance from coffee's Northwest hub (and its cosmopolitan offshoots), the brews had the Southern audience instantly hooked. "I get calls from very rural areas of Alabama about the new crop of Papua New Guinea coffee they knew to be arriving any day," says Varner.

6. Blue Bottle Coffee Company
Founded: 2002
Home base: Oakland, California
When Blue Bottle founder James Freeman got into coffee, he was working with pretty tiny batches. "I was roasting coffee at home on a perforated baking sheet. I would have to travel, and so instead of trusting the local coffee, I'd take some I'd roasted with me. I was geeking out a little bit," he says. Taking his hobby commercial didn't change the focus on the extra-small batch: Freeman's average roast now is a mere 21 pounds. The company's other edicts are using only pesticide-free beans and getting their goods in customers' hands as quickly as possible-not a tough task considering the herds of devotees.

7. Terroir Coffee Company
Founded: 2004
Home Base: Acton, Massachusetts
Terroir might be only four years old, but the man behind it, George Howell, has been shaking up the coffee business for thirty years. His other contributions to upping the cup of joe standards (and breaking free from what he calls the "inertia of satisfaction") include working with the United Nations to improve economic sustainability for farmers and masterminding Cup of Excellence, a series of competitions that awards the top beans in nine countries. His latest endeavor is all about single-origin roasts-"How can I blend colors if I don't know the primaries?" he asks-and is a welcome departure from the classic mixed-bag breakfast blends.
Critic's Pick: El Injerto. "This Guatemala pick screams freshness with its mix of spiciness, bright citrus, and light herbal aroma."

8. Zoka Coffee Roaster
Founded: 1996
Home Base: Seattle
You might think setting up shop in the Starbucks capital of the universe would be a death wish, but Zoka managed to prevail by offering up first-class beans and insane freshness-something the big guy couldn't deliver. All of the coffee the company sells spent its time with the flame just hours before. "It's like bread. If you go to your local bakery, you don't want to buy stale baguettes, leftover from weeks or months before," explains roaster Drew Billups. And, rather than try to win over the entire Space Needle city, the Zoka crew has focused on becoming the neighborhood hotspot. Naturally, word has spread.

9. Paradise Roasters
Founded: 2002
Home Base: Ramsey, Minnesota
The fact that coffee is a seasonal good may seem obvious, but most roasters don't treat it that way. Rather than stockpile bags of green coffee for a year-allowing the flavors to wither away-Paradise has a use-it-or-lose-it approach: "We buy small amounts of the superlative coffees that are only two to four months from harvest and sell them within two to three months," explains the head of everything bean-related, Miguel Meza, who started drinking coffee at 13 and later convinced his parents to launch the company. Part two of the freshness mandate is roasting to order and shipping the bags within 24 hours.
Critic's Pick: Sumatra Danau Toba. "A classic Sumatra, this coffee is pungent and earthy with that unique jungle aroma (but a well-balanced sweetness too)."

10. Gimme! Coffee
Founded: 1999
Home Base: Ithaca, New York
In our new world of sustainable everything, the Gimme! philosophy of "farm to cup" is an easy thing to swallow. Founder Kevin Cuddeback and his team pay equal attention to the sustainability of the land the beans come from as they do the artful brewing of a cappuccino. "We are just one link in a long supply chain." Cuddeback says. "If we are going to be the leading component advocating to optimize coffee quality, there are many people we need to get that message to." What's the incentive of putting the sprawling coffee process on the company's agenda? "I was my own best customer-I knew I'd be tasting the result," he says.

(Critic's Picks: Daniel Humphries is the founder of the consulting company Coffee Scholars and the cupping club New York Coffee Society. He played java sommelier and listed his five favorite small-batch brews.)]]> Erica Cerulo Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:53:51 PST <![CDATA[Chewing the Fat]]> http://www.good.is/post/chewing-the-fat/ http://www.good.is/post/chewing-the-fat/

In 2006, Chicago became the first city in the United States to ban foie gras. Last May, the ban was overturned. Still, foie-the fatty liver of geese and ducks traditionally enhanced by gavage, force-feeding the bird copious amounts of corn through a metal tube-is the center of a debate between animal-rights activists outraged at the practice's cruelty and the many chefs and gourmands who are miffed that their liver might be taken away. But now farmers are finding ways to fatten a liver in more bird-friendly ways.

GOOD accompanied the celebrated chef Dan Barber (who doesn't serve foie in either of his New York restaurants) to Spain to taste a new version of the dish. It's made by letting geese forage naturally and has been the talk of the foie gras world. But could the taste deliver? We pitted it against two domestic humane foies to find out. -LISA ABEND

At Pateria de Sousa in western Spain, Eduardo de Sousa raises geese for foie without gavage. His geese spend their lives uncaged and foraging freely for olives, figs, and acorns. De Sousa supplements the natural fattening process with corn in the winter, but doesn't force-feed them. Because his livers aren't as big as regular foie, many French producers don't think it's legitimate.

Barber: "It's really extraordinary. [De Sousa's] foie, it could be argued, is not ‘good' because it doesn't conform to our understanding of what we think is delicious foie gras. He's not just making us rethink how foie gras can be produced, he's making us rethink how foie gras should taste."

$120 for a jar of cooked goose liver; ibergour.com

Hudson Valley Foie Gras is the largest producer of duck foie gras in the United States, but it still works on a much smaller scale than many producers in France, and although it practices traditional gavage, the ducks aren't caged and are fed by hand.

Barber: "Duck foie isn't as silky as goose. But when I roasted or sautéed, it I noticed I didn't lose nearly so much fat.  Because of that, it puffs up like a soufflé, and becomes light as a cloud."

$71.50 for a whole fresh duck liver; hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com

Brock Farms uses a method developed in Hungary that employs a rubber tube for the gavage instead of a metal one, and forgoes the usual air blaster. "In the first year, we didn't kill a single goose. My birds don't run away from the feeder," says owner Tom Brock. From his farm in Southern California, he now produces the only goose foie made in the United States, supplying chefs like Thomas Keller of French Laundry, in the Napa Valley.

Barber:
By special order only; info[at]freshgoosefoiegras[dot]com

Where Things Stand


United States
In addition to the overturned Chicago ban, unsuccessful legislation has been introduced in New York, Philadelphia, Connecticut, and New Jersey. California recently passed a law that, in 2012, will ban all production and sale of foie gras produced through force-feeding.

Europe
France (the world's largest producer-some 18,000 tons in 2005-and consumer of foie gras) has declared the dish to be part of its "cultural and gastronomic patrimony." In 1998, the European Union came out against a ban; however, force-feeding is explicitly illegal in Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, and
several other countries.

Israel
Although the country was once the world's leading exporter of goose foie gras, it banned force-feeding in 2003.]]>

In 2006, Chicago became the first city in the United States to ban foie gras. Last May, the ban was overturned. Still, foie-the fatty liver of geese and ducks traditionally enhanced by gavage, force-feeding the bird copious amounts of corn through a metal tube-is the center of a debate between animal-rights activists outraged at the practice's cruelty and the many chefs and gourmands who are miffed that their liver might be taken away. But now farmers are finding ways to fatten a liver in more bird-friendly ways.

GOOD accompanied the celebrated chef Dan Barber (who doesn't serve foie in either of his New York restaurants) to Spain to taste a new version of the dish. It's made by letting geese forage naturally and has been the talk of the foie gras world. But could the taste deliver? We pitted it against two domestic humane foies to find out. -LISA ABEND

At Pateria de Sousa in western Spain, Eduardo de Sousa raises geese for foie without gavage. His geese spend their lives uncaged and foraging freely for olives, figs, and acorns. De Sousa supplements the natural fattening process with corn in the winter, but doesn't force-feed them. Because his livers aren't as big as regular foie, many French producers don't think it's legitimate.

Barber: "It's really extraordinary. [De Sousa's] foie, it could be argued, is not ‘good' because it doesn't conform to our understanding of what we think is delicious foie gras. He's not just making us rethink how foie gras can be produced, he's making us rethink how foie gras should taste."

$120 for a jar of cooked goose liver; ibergour.com

Hudson Valley Foie Gras is the largest producer of duck foie gras in the United States, but it still works on a much smaller scale than many producers in France, and although it practices traditional gavage, the ducks aren't caged and are fed by hand.

Barber: "Duck foie isn't as silky as goose. But when I roasted or sautéed, it I noticed I didn't lose nearly so much fat.  Because of that, it puffs up like a soufflé, and becomes light as a cloud."

$71.50 for a whole fresh duck liver; hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com

Brock Farms uses a method developed in Hungary that employs a rubber tube for the gavage instead of a metal one, and forgoes the usual air blaster. "In the first year, we didn't kill a single goose. My birds don't run away from the feeder," says owner Tom Brock. From his farm in Southern California, he now produces the only goose foie made in the United States, supplying chefs like Thomas Keller of French Laundry, in the Napa Valley.

Barber:
By special order only; info[at]freshgoosefoiegras[dot]com

Where Things Stand


United States
In addition to the overturned Chicago ban, unsuccessful legislation has been introduced in New York, Philadelphia, Connecticut, and New Jersey. California recently passed a law that, in 2012, will ban all production and sale of foie gras produced through force-feeding.

Europe
France (the world's largest producer-some 18,000 tons in 2005-and consumer of foie gras) has declared the dish to be part of its "cultural and gastronomic patrimony." In 1998, the European Union came out against a ban; however, force-feeding is explicitly illegal in Germany, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, and
several other countries.

Israel
Although the country was once the world's leading exporter of goose foie gras, it banned force-feeding in 2003.]]> GOOD Tue, 9 Dec 2008 23:27:39 PST <![CDATA[These Could Be Yours]]> http://www.good.is/post/these-could-be-yours/ http://www.good.is/post/these-could-be-yours/



Cyber Clean keyboard cleaner
hygienic gooey

The average computer keyboard is home to more germs than a toilet seat, but that doesn't seem to stop most people from blithely typing away. Over time, QWERTY slabs get covered in crumbs, dust, bits of skin, hair, and otherwise unmentionable human detritus-and they're nigh impossible to clean. Until now. This gooey cleanser will take your keys from abysmal to amazing. Your fingers-and anyone you plan on touching-will thank you.

$24, expertverdict.com



Sort of Coal
energy-saver

For some time now, Old King Coal has been in dire need of an image makeover. Sort of Coal, a natural purifier, is at least a push in the right direction. Founwd to have far more carbon content than its dirty cousin, the use of  white charcoal is a centuries-old Japanese technique proven to absorb humidity and odor without dust or residue. Leave a stick overnight in some water and taste the difference in the morning. Put a log in the open air and breathe fresh without manufactured perfumes. Behold, the purifying power of coal.

from $14, sortofcoal.com



Index Chopping Board
quick fix

Chefs on cooking shows always talk about how you should have one cutting board for meat and one for produce, but who has room for more than one cutting board when your kitchen doesn't double as a TV studio? The Index Chopping Board has solved the problem by storing several cutting boards in a nifty container, and it labels them so you never contaminate your tomatoes with your fish. Never!

$85, momastore.org



The Human-Powered Home
powerbook

All those hours on your home treadmill could have been generating electricity for yourself. Free electricity. In her new book, The Human-Powered Home, Tamara Dean shows you ways to get yourself off the grid by using your own energy to supply power. No longer will your kilowatt hours be spent in vain.

$30, newsociety.com



Klash shoes
heart and sole

Are these the only shoes that matter? Probably not. But they are the only shoes we know of that help fund Iraqi heart surgery (to the tune of about 50 percent of each sale). The shoes themselves are made in Iraqi Kurdistan, using a traditional technique, and are both comfortable and stylish (in that Kurdish shoe sort of way).

$100, buyshoessavelives.com



Pingg
rsvp

It's annoying enough to receive an Evite for a party you have no intention of attending, but does it have to add such ugly clutter to your inbox and browser? Not anymore. Pingg adds more than a dash of class to electronic announcements and RSVPs. It boasts a large selection of surprisingly attractive card choices, and enables you to snail-mail a paper version of your invite to your Luddite friends. The directionally challenged can be sent directions via text message an hour before your event.

free (there are costs for print invites), pingg.com



Lower East Side Girls Club Ballot Box
sweet nothings

Election year politics can leave a sour taste in your mouth-like defeat mixed with hints of lies and compromise. However, the Lower East Side Girls Club is selling politically shaped sugar cookies to raise money for its after school programs. "Ballot boxes" sold at their Sweet Things bakeshop include three star-shaped cookies and either sweet frosted donkeys, elephants, or a bipartisan box with both. At least someone will benefit from your political stress-eating.

$15/box ($20 for bipartisan), girlsclub.org]]>



Cyber Clean keyboard cleaner
hygienic gooey

The average computer keyboard is home to more germs than a toilet seat, but that doesn't seem to stop most people from blithely typing away. Over time, QWERTY slabs get covered in crumbs, dust, bits of skin, hair, and otherwise unmentionable human detritus-and they're nigh impossible to clean. Until now. This gooey cleanser will take your keys from abysmal to amazing. Your fingers-and anyone you plan on touching-will thank you.

$24, expertverdict.com



Sort of Coal
energy-saver

For some time now, Old King Coal has been in dire need of an image makeover. Sort of Coal, a natural purifier, is at least a push in the right direction. Founwd to have far more carbon content than its dirty cousin, the use of  white charcoal is a centuries-old Japanese technique proven to absorb humidity and odor without dust or residue. Leave a stick overnight in some water and taste the difference in the morning. Put a log in the open air and breathe fresh without manufactured perfumes. Behold, the purifying power of coal.

from $14, sortofcoal.com



Index Chopping Board
quick fix

Chefs on cooking shows always talk about how you should have one cutting board for meat and one for produce, but who has room for more than one cutting board when your kitchen doesn't double as a TV studio? The Index Chopping Board has solved the problem by storing several cutting boards in a nifty container, and it labels them so you never contaminate your tomatoes with your fish. Never!

$85, momastore.org



The Human-Powered Home
powerbook

All those hours on your home treadmill could have been generating electricity for yourself. Free electricity. In her new book, The Human-Powered Home, Tamara Dean shows you ways to get yourself off the grid by using your own energy to supply power. No longer will your kilowatt hours be spent in vain.

$30, newsociety.com



Klash shoes
heart and sole

Are these the only shoes that matter? Probably not. But they are the only shoes we know of that help fund Iraqi heart surgery (to the tune of about 50 percent of each sale). The shoes themselves are made in Iraqi Kurdistan, using a traditional technique, and are both comfortable and stylish (in that Kurdish shoe sort of way).

$100, buyshoessavelives.com



Pingg
rsvp

It's annoying enough to receive an Evite for a party you have no intention of attending, but does it have to add such ugly clutter to your inbox and browser? Not anymore. Pingg adds more than a dash of class to electronic announcements and RSVPs. It boasts a large selection of surprisingly attractive card choices, and enables you to snail-mail a paper version of your invite to your Luddite friends. The directionally challenged can be sent directions via text message an hour before your event.

free (there are costs for print invites), pingg.com



Lower East Side Girls Club Ballot Box
sweet nothings

Election year politics can leave a sour taste in your mouth-like defeat mixed with hints of lies and compromise. However, the Lower East Side Girls Club is selling politically shaped sugar cookies to raise money for its after school programs. "Ballot boxes" sold at their Sweet Things bakeshop include three star-shaped cookies and either sweet frosted donkeys, elephants, or a bipartisan box with both. At least someone will benefit from your political stress-eating.

$15/box ($20 for bipartisan), girlsclub.org]]> GOOD Mon, 8 Dec 2008 22:03:43 PST <![CDATA[This is Noémie]]> http://www.good.is/post/this-is-noemie/ http://www.good.is/post/this-is-noemie/

NAME    Noémie Lafrance
AGE    34
LOCATION    Brooklyn, New York
OCCUPATION    Artistic director and founder of Sens

WHAT SHE MAKES Site-specific performances

WHAT SHE'S MADE Choreography of the video of Feist's "1234" and "Agora," an interactive performance piece in Brooklyn's empty McCarren Park Pool

WHAT SHE'S MAKING A solo show next year to be performed in a secret location and a collaborative program celebrating Frank Gehry buildings around the world

And Those Are Her Things




1. Construction tools: "I have one favorite tool: It's a circuit tester. You can touch any live wire and see that it's alive. It's really demanding to do construction, but it helps me relax."



2. Gaffer's tape: "Gaffer's tape is a very important part of life-for everything."



3. Little plastic animals: Used in preparation for her secret December show.



4. Compost bowl: "I grew up composting near a maple-syrup farm. When this is full, it goes into a bucket outside."



5. Iron circles: "I use these for hot things, as coasters sometimes."



6. "Melt program": "It's made of beeswax. The performers in the piece sit covered in beeswax and lanolin under a hot light for half an hour."]]>

NAME    Noémie Lafrance
AGE    34
LOCATION    Brooklyn, New York
OCCUPATION    Artistic director and founder of Sens

WHAT SHE MAKES Site-specific performances

WHAT SHE'S MADE Choreography of the video of Feist's "1234" and "Agora," an interactive performance piece in Brooklyn's empty McCarren Park Pool

WHAT SHE'S MAKING A solo show next year to be performed in a secret location and a collaborative program celebrating Frank Gehry buildings around the world

And Those Are Her Things




1. Construction tools: "I have one favorite tool: It's a circuit tester. You can touch any live wire and see that it's alive. It's really demanding to do construction, but it helps me relax."



2. Gaffer's tape: "Gaffer's tape is a very important part of life-for everything."



3. Little plastic animals: Used in preparation for her secret December show.



4. Compost bowl: "I grew up composting near a maple-syrup farm. When this is full, it goes into a bucket outside."



5. Iron circles: "I use these for hot things, as coasters sometimes."



6. "Melt program": "It's made of beeswax. The performers in the piece sit covered in beeswax and lanolin under a hot light for half an hour."]]> GOOD Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:49:26 PST <![CDATA[The Guerilla Deck]]> http://www.good.is/post/the-guerilla-deck/ http://www.good.is/post/the-guerilla-deck/

Quit squandering your roof's potential. It's easier to fix than you think.


My right hand, unaccustomed to labor more manual than pushing a mouse, is blistered. My back, indolent from so many hours on the couch, is aching. With great effort, I'm sawing through two steel pipes. One appears to be a leftover fence post; the other, the air intake for a kitchen sink. Sweating, I fell these metal saplings and stash them in a corner of my rooftop.

The doorbell rings. It's the landlord. We're building a deck on the roof of his property, without his permission or the city's. The roof looks like a junkyard. We panic briefly, then wave him up. I show off the deck's strong, safe foundation that won't pierce the rooftop. I demonstrate the modular design that allows for immediate and, if necessary, permanent removal of the planks. I pretend that I know what I'm doing.

My girlfriend Neena and I are lucky: We have a 530-square-foot roof space attached to our one-bedroom apartment. The previous tenants squandered this resource, littering it with cheap plastic chairs and a few patches of worn Astroturf. As the DIY-minded son of a staunchly DIY dad, I knew I could do better. But how?

Challenge: I can't afford a contractor, and wouldn't hire one if I could.


My father taught me that only fools hire contractors for anything other than plumbing and electrical work. An engineer who designed and built roofing equipment, my dad was a very creative guy in a traditionally noncreative field. "We are not lazy people," he once said to me. "Always finish the job." The smell of motor oil still reminds me of our many trips to the junkyard, where we picked clean the bones of dead Corvairs and, later, for my first car, Mustangs. Though he died several years ago, my father was telling me to build our deck the hard way-with our own blood, sweat, and junk.

Done right, our deck could be a showcase of the 21st century's greenest thinking. So I drew up a plan. With five weekends and $3,000, we would build a low-impact deck from scratch.

Challenge: Trendiness has made reclaimed lumber a luxury.


Obviously, buying virgin lumber isn't a sustainable practice. It leads to deforestation, less biodiversity, and deadly landslides. But junkyard lumber, now in vogue among high-end designers who prefer to call it "reclaimed," is too expensive. The most eco-friendly option is composite planks made from wood and recycled plastic, such as those made by Trex. They're easy to work with, they don't warp or splinter, and they come with a 25-year warranty. They, too, however, are expensive, and all those planks would cost more than four times our entire budget. In the end, we settled for pressure-treated pine from Dykes, an employee-owned lumberyard in Brooklyn. Not sustainable, but the best we could do.

With help from a generous friend, we hauled several hundred pounds of lumber up our narrow, lopsided stairwell, through the kitchen and onto the roof. Next came 300 pounds of rubber matting (to protect the roof's surface), a gazillion galvanized decking screws, two sawhorses, and several gallons of stains and sealant. I wondered-would my father have been so handy had he lived not in a suburban house, but in a third-floor walk-up?




Challenge: How to waterproof the lumber without poisoning local ecosystems.


To seal the wood, the best finishes are zero- or low-VOC ("volatile organic compound"), such as BioShield's wood stains and Safecoat's WaterShield. Using a nontoxic sealant is crucial for decks that sit directly on the ground; the chemicals will slowly bleed into the soil and may eventually reach the water table. Even on our rooftop deck, rainwater will go into the gutter, into the sewer, and eventually into the East River.

Challenge: Actually building the thing.


Soon enough, it was time to break in my glorious new drill and circular saw. In two marathon afternoons, I built the 16 mattress-size units. Because my work area was the deck itself, I had to be economical with space. In a backyard build, it's easy-pour a bunch of concrete posts, add vertical support posts, raise the crossbeams, and start securing your deck planks. Needing to be more crafty, I arranged six 6-inch-by-8-foot planks side-by-side, then held them together with 3-foot lengths of 2-by-4-thereby making a fairly sturdy 3-by-8-foot platform. With 16 of these units, I could cover nearly 400 square feet of rooftop. Once they were laid and leveled on a series of small freestanding piers, they would become Barbecue Heaven.

Challenge: Finding plants and planters I can afford


Every day we scoured Craigslist for reclaimable deck furnishings. From Build It Green, we hauled away two enameled steel bathtubs to be redeployed as planters. To hold flowers and herbs, I weatherproofed three small filing cabinet drawers. One night, I found a metal footlocker at the curb-the perfect flowerbed. We wanted more than a pretty space; we wanted to grow stuff. Caring for plants is healthy. It's also good for the city. Plants pump oxygen into the air, of course, but, when placed on the roof, they also insulate the building, thus lowering heating and cooling costs.

I finally found some old lumber: a dozen 2-by-10s that looked like old theater floorboards. I built long, narrow planters for maiden grass, a perennial that can reach 7 feet tall. Positioned in front of wooden latticework, we'd have a buffer screening off the busy street's sights and sounds.

Challenge: Trapping rainwater the old-fashioned way


Even our garden's water is coming from a renewable source: the sky. On eBay, I bought a decommissioned food barrel that once held olives in Greece. With a piece of window screen, basic plumbing hardware, and minor modifications to our gutter, it became a rain barrel. Short of building a personal wind turbine (which I considered), we're pretty off-the-grid for a Brooklyn rooftop. We even researched what's best for grilling, deciding that a refillable propane tank is better than burning 5 pounds of charcoal every time we want a few burgers. Now it's the end of the summer. We've already hosted several barbecues, and our Netflix queue hasn't moved in weeks. A few of the planks have begun to warp, but I expected that. The next time we build a roof deck that's bigger than our apartment, we'll find more time and money. And we'll tell the landlord-but hopefully, by then, the landlord will be us.

WHAT WE SPENT

New drill and circular saw: $300

Lumber, nails, other building materials: $1,500

Truck rentals: $400

Two tables, 8 chairs, umbrella (used and hand-me-down): $200

Trees, plants, and flowers: $500

Planters: $200

Potting soil: $250

Gas grill: $200

Back-breaking labor: Donated by friends ]]>

Quit squandering your roof's potential. It's easier to fix than you think.


My right hand, unaccustomed to labor more manual than pushing a mouse, is blistered. My back, indolent from so many hours on the couch, is aching. With great effort, I'm sawing through two steel pipes. One appears to be a leftover fence post; the other, the air intake for a kitchen sink. Sweating, I fell these metal saplings and stash them in a corner of my rooftop.

The doorbell rings. It's the landlord. We're building a deck on the roof of his property, without his permission or the city's. The roof looks like a junkyard. We panic briefly, then wave him up. I show off the deck's strong, safe foundation that won't pierce the rooftop. I demonstrate the modular design that allows for immediate and, if necessary, permanent removal of the planks. I pretend that I know what I'm doing.

My girlfriend Neena and I are lucky: We have a 530-square-foot roof space attached to our one-bedroom apartment. The previous tenants squandered this resource, littering it with cheap plastic chairs and a few patches of worn Astroturf. As the DIY-minded son of a staunchly DIY dad, I knew I could do better. But how?

Challenge: I can't afford a contractor, and wouldn't hire one if I could.


My father taught me that only fools hire contractors for anything other than plumbing and electrical work. An engineer who designed and built roofing equipment, my dad was a very creative guy in a traditionally noncreative field. "We are not lazy people," he once said to me. "Always finish the job." The smell of motor oil still reminds me of our many trips to the junkyard, where we picked clean the bones of dead Corvairs and, later, for my first car, Mustangs. Though he died several years ago, my father was telling me to build our deck the hard way-with our own blood, sweat, and junk.

Done right, our deck could be a showcase of the 21st century's greenest thinking. So I drew up a plan. With five weekends and $3,000, we would build a low-impact deck from scratch.

Challenge: Trendiness has made reclaimed lumber a luxury.


Obviously, buying virgin lumber isn't a sustainable practice. It leads to deforestation, less biodiversity, and deadly landslides. But junkyard lumber, now in vogue among high-end designers who prefer to call it "reclaimed," is too expensive. The most eco-friendly option is composite planks made from wood and recycled plastic, such as those made by Trex. They're easy to work with, they don't warp or splinter, and they come with a 25-year warranty. They, too, however, are expensive, and all those planks would cost more than four times our entire budget. In the end, we settled for pressure-treated pine from Dykes, an employee-owned lumberyard in Brooklyn. Not sustainable, but the best we could do.

With help from a generous friend, we hauled several hundred pounds of lumber up our narrow, lopsided stairwell, through the kitchen and onto the roof. Next came 300 pounds of rubber matting (to protect the roof's surface), a gazillion galvanized decking screws, two sawhorses, and several gallons of stains and sealant. I wondered-would my father have been so handy had he lived not in a suburban house, but in a third-floor walk-up?




Challenge: How to waterproof the lumber without poisoning local ecosystems.


To seal the wood, the best finishes are zero- or low-VOC ("volatile organic compound"), such as BioShield's wood stains and Safecoat's WaterShield. Using a nontoxic sealant is crucial for decks that sit directly on the ground; the chemicals will slowly bleed into the soil and may eventually reach the water table. Even on our rooftop deck, rainwater will go into the gutter, into the sewer, and eventually into the East River.

Challenge: Actually building the thing.


Soon enough, it was time to break in my glorious new drill and circular saw. In two marathon afternoons, I built the 16 mattress-size units. Because my work area was the deck itself, I had to be economical with space. In a backyard build, it's easy-pour a bunch of concrete posts, add vertical support posts, raise the crossbeams, and start securing your deck planks. Needing to be more crafty, I arranged six 6-inch-by-8-foot planks side-by-side, then held them together with 3-foot lengths of 2-by-4-thereby making a fairly sturdy 3-by-8-foot platform. With 16 of these units, I could cover nearly 400 square feet of rooftop. Once they were laid and leveled on a series of small freestanding piers, they would become Barbecue Heaven.

Challenge: Finding plants and planters I can afford


Every day we scoured Craigslist for reclaimable deck furnishings. From Build It Green, we hauled away two enameled steel bathtubs to be redeployed as planters. To hold flowers and herbs, I weatherproofed three small filing cabinet drawers. One night, I found a metal footlocker at the curb-the perfect flowerbed. We wanted more than a pretty space; we wanted to grow stuff. Caring for plants is healthy. It's also good for the city. Plants pump oxygen into the air, of course, but, when placed on the roof, they also insulate the building, thus lowering heating and cooling costs.

I finally found some old lumber: a dozen 2-by-10s that looked like old theater floorboards. I built long, narrow planters for maiden grass, a perennial that can reach 7 feet tall. Positioned in front of wooden latticework, we'd have a buffer screening off the busy street's sights and sounds.

Challenge: Trapping rainwater the old-fashioned way


Even our garden's water is coming from a renewable source: the sky. On eBay, I bought a decommissioned food barrel that once held olives in Greece. With a piece of window screen, basic plumbing hardware, and minor modifications to our gutter, it became a rain barrel. Short of building a personal wind turbine (which I considered), we're pretty off-the-grid for a Brooklyn rooftop. We even researched what's best for grilling, deciding that a refillable propane tank is better than burning 5 pounds of charcoal every time we want a few burgers. Now it's the end of the summer. We've already hosted several barbecues, and our Netflix queue hasn't moved in weeks. A few of the planks have begun to warp, but I expected that. The next time we build a roof deck that's bigger than our apartment, we'll find more time and money. And we'll tell the landlord-but hopefully, by then, the landlord will be us.

WHAT WE SPENT

New drill and circular saw: $300

Lumber, nails, other building materials: $1,500

Truck rentals: $400

Two tables, 8 chairs, umbrella (used and hand-me-down): $200

Trees, plants, and flowers: $500

Planters: $200

Potting soil: $250

Gas grill: $200

Back-breaking labor: Donated by friends ]]> Jeff Koyen Thu, 6 Nov 2008 18:17:33 PST <![CDATA[The Air Up There]]> http://www.good.is/post/the-air-up-there/ http://www.good.is/post/the-air-up-there/

Writer Malcolm Gladwell sits down with environmentalist Amy Norquist to discuss one of the most unsung and low-tech green solutions out there: green roofs.


In Europe, quiet and clean diesel engines cruise for 40 or 50 miles on one gallon of gas. Geo-thermal heating and cooling systems cost about as much as a new furnace, and can be installed by anyone with a backyard. Yet stateside, industry leaders insist we just aren't ready for widespread-and simple-strategies to curb our habit of wasting energy.

Malcolm Gladwell: What is a green roof, exactly? Does it look like you've got a patch of prairie on your roof?

Amy Norquist: A green roof is simply a roof that is partially or fully covered with plants. Typically the sort of silver-bullet plant of green roof is called sedum… Part of what's so cool about it is that because there are so many varieties, it covers the whole spectrum of aesthetic design. If you have a very modern house and you like the look of succulents and cactus, you can pick sedum that looks that way. Or you can have sedum that flowers at different times of the year, or in different colors. There is sedum that turns a bright purple in the fall, and there is sedum that flowers white. What they all have in common though is that they are drought tolerant.

MG: How do you install it?

AN: Well, first you want to make sure your roof is waterproof. So you don't want to just put a green roof on top of shingles, for example. You want a single-ply waterproof membrane. You have a drainage layer, a filter fabric, growing medium (soil) and plants. The growing medium can be anywhere from 2 to 16 inches depending on what type of green roof you have.

MG: Lets walk through the benefits. As a homeowner, why would I want to do this with my roof?

AN: You are going to save money in heating and cooling costs, because the green roof acts as an insulation layer. It is also going to look beautiful and more and more cities are offering financial incentives to building owners who install green roofs.

MG: So it's the equivalent of going up into your attic and adding another layer.

AN: Exactly.

MG: Can we be more specific about the insulation benefits?

AN: The insulation properties, especially in summer, can reduce energy needs by 50% or more. It the winter, it helps keep the indoor temperature more constant. If you look at a typical one-story home, and the temperature outside is between 75 and 90 degrees, it's going to be on average 7 to 10 degrees cooler inside.

MG: Seven to ten degrees? That's astonishing!

AN: It is astonishing. So summertime benefits are huge, which means that your payback time for the costs of installation can be as short there is two to three years-depending on the energy costs where you live.

MG: And I have a feeling that the two-to-three-year period is going to shrink as energy costs increase.

AN: Bingo.

MG: Does the slope of the roof make a difference? It doesn't have to be flat, does it?

AN: It's just a matter of tinkering with the system. People have put in green roofs on a 45-degree slope. You really can do a green roof on most any roof as long as you have a waterproof base and the structural capacity is adequate.

MG: So if I have the standard American, 2,500-square-foot house, what is it going to cost me?

AN: In addition to roofing the house, you are going to spend between $10 and $50 a square foot depending on the depth of [the soil], the plant you choose, and the complexity of design. So if you have a 3,000-square-foot house, and you are putting in a green roof, you might spend $30,000. That would be for everything-labor and materials. The other great thing to remember about green roofs is that they actually double the life of the roof membrane because you don't have the degradation of the roof due to the sun and [weather]. So that $30,000 investment is going to last you a lot longer than a similar investment in a conventional roof. There have been some green roofs in Europe that are 100 years old, and they are still okay.

MG: Does it get unruly up there?

AN: Not really. These are plants that don't require a lot of water so as a result they are not big and booming. That being said, there are varieties of sedum that grow as high as 11 inches. So if you want something that looks a little wilder, you can certainly try it.

MG: Tell me a bit about the history of this idea. How long have people been putting in green roofs?

AN: For thousands of years.

MG: I take it that in parts of Europe, it is quite common?

AN: Yes, green roofs are most common in Germany, [where] certain municipalities actually require green roofs at this point. Also, there are many in the Netherlands. The airport in Amsterdam actually has a large extensive green roof.

MG: Are there parts of the U.S. where it is taking off?

AN: Chicago, Portland, and Seattle are leading the way, as are Baltimore, D.C., and Philadelphia. They are also catching on in Los Angeles … and here in New York City.

MG: Did anyone ever run numbers if every roof in New York City was green? Do we know what impact that would have?

AN: We know that if 50% of the buildings that could build a green roof did, it would be the equal in additional green space of something like 16 Central Parks. It would save the city something like $100 million in waste water cost per year. And it would drastically reduce the number of combined sewerage overflow, meaning there wouldn't so much raw sewage that gets poured into the Hudson and East Rivers.

MG: So you have this technology, and there are three arguments for it: an aesthetic argument, an economic argument, and an environmental arguments. Which of those three do you think is the most powerful with the public?

AN: I think it comes down to the economics, with aesthetics and the environment tied for second. New York is proposing a tax abatement which would be given to building owners who install green roofs. When and if that is approved by the state legislature, it will have a big impact with consumers.

MG: The American homeowner has eagerly embraced all kinds of ideas that make their home more beautiful while they save money. But this has been around forever, and we have been slow to embrace it. Why do you think that is?

AN: I think because it is a pretty big psychological change. It's having something  growing on your roof. People are accustomed to thinking of that part of their house as being sterile.

MG: If you can dream up one thing that would make speed up the adoption of green roofs, what would it be?

AN: I think given the state that green roofs are in right now, government incentives are critical. It can be local, state, or federal. I think most people right now need a little push-just like they do for solar power and other energy-saving measures.

MG: So many of these environmental interventions have the same economic profile, which is they require large upfront investments which are recouped over time. And that's a different way of thinking. If I go to a bank and try to borrow $30,000 for a green roof, is that something banks are open to?

AN: Yes. A bunch of banks are starting to do this kind of lending, either as individual loans or as part of mortgages [because] the math works out. If you amortize that $30,000 over 20 years, it becomes a very easy investment to make. Something else that factors in is that the real estate industry has gotten into figuring out how much value is created when you add green components to your home or business.  It's pretty high. There is a pretty big increase-between  8% and 25%-in terms of the value of the home.

MG: Is the nonresidential market here potentially more important?  

AN: There is a lot of newfound cachet in marketing green buildings. One particular company has thousands of properties in Manhattan. They want Greensulate to go around with them and see which of their buildings are good candidates for green roofs, and then run the numbers on what their energy savings would be over time. There's also been interest from municipalities. I did an op-ed for the New York Times which talked about how much the city could save if they employed green roofs instead of trying to re-engineer their entire sewerage system.

MG: Are there a lot of people out there like you, pushing this idea?

AN: I'm afraid that so far there are very few people who have started green roof or green wall companies. It's a brand new industry.

MG: Describe to me what a living wall is.

AN: A green living wall is a similar concept. It can be interior or exterior, but you are planting plants in panels or growing them from the ground and training them up the wall. Green walls have some of the same benefits of the green roof: They improve air quality, decrease storm run-off, and insulate the building. And I have one client who is putting up a number of parking lots in Manhattan and their projects are going to be a lot more popular and have less impact on the neighborhood if you see green walls instead of solid concrete slabs. I think for me the coolest use of a green walls in the dense urban setting. They can transform a block or neighborhood.

LEARN MORE greensulate.com ]]>

Writer Malcolm Gladwell sits down with environmentalist Amy Norquist to discuss one of the most unsung and low-tech green solutions out there: green roofs.


In Europe, quiet and clean diesel engines cruise for 40 or 50 miles on one gallon of gas. Geo-thermal heating and cooling systems cost about as much as a new furnace, and can be installed by anyone with a backyard. Yet stateside, industry leaders insist we just aren't ready for widespread-and simple-strategies to curb our habit of wasting energy.

Malcolm Gladwell: What is a green roof, exactly? Does it look like you've got a patch of prairie on your roof?

Amy Norquist: A green roof is simply a roof that is partially or fully covered with plants. Typically the sort of silver-bullet plant of green roof is called sedum… Part of what's so cool about it is that because there are so many varieties, it covers the whole spectrum of aesthetic design. If you have a very modern house and you like the look of succulents and cactus, you can pick sedum that looks that way. Or you can have sedum that flowers at different times of the year, or in different colors. There is sedum that turns a bright purple in the fall, and there is sedum that flowers white. What they all have in common though is that they are drought tolerant.

MG: How do you install it?

AN: Well, first you want to make sure your roof is waterproof. So you don't want to just put a green roof on top of shingles, for example. You want a single-ply waterproof membrane. You have a drainage layer, a filter fabric, growing medium (soil) and plants. The growing medium can be anywhere from 2 to 16 inches depending on what type of green roof you have.

MG: Lets walk through the benefits. As a homeowner, why would I want to do this with my roof?

AN: You are going to save money in heating and cooling costs, because the green roof acts as an insulation layer. It is also going to look beautiful and more and more cities are offering financial incentives to building owners who install green roofs.

MG: So it's the equivalent of going up into your attic and adding another layer.

AN: Exactly.

MG: Can we be more specific about the insulation benefits?

AN: The insulation properties, especially in summer, can reduce energy needs by 50% or more. It the winter, it helps keep the indoor temperature more constant. If you look at a typical one-story home, and the temperature outside is between 75 and 90 degrees, it's going to be on average 7 to 10 degrees cooler inside.

MG: Seven to ten degrees? That's astonishing!

AN: It is astonishing. So summertime benefits are huge, which means that your payback time for the costs of installation can be as short there is two to three years-depending on the energy costs where you live.

MG: And I have a feeling that the two-to-three-year period is going to shrink as energy costs increase.

AN: Bingo.

MG: Does the slope of the roof make a difference? It doesn't have to be flat, does it?

AN: It's just a matter of tinkering with the system. People have put in green roofs on a 45-degree slope. You really can do a green roof on most any roof as long as you have a waterproof base and the structural capacity is adequate.

MG: So if I have the standard American, 2,500-square-foot house, what is it going to cost me?

AN: In addition to roofing the house, you are going to spend between $10 and $50 a square foot depending on the depth of [the soil], the plant you choose, and the complexity of design. So if you have a 3,000-square-foot house, and you are putting in a green roof, you might spend $30,000. That would be for everything-labor and materials. The other great thing to remember about green roofs is that they actually double the life of the roof membrane because you don't have the degradation of the roof due to the sun and [weather]. So that $30,000 investment is going to last you a lot longer than a similar investment in a conventional roof. There have been some green roofs in Europe that are 100 years old, and they are still okay.

MG: Does it get unruly up there?

AN: Not really. These are plants that don't require a lot of water so as a result they are not big and booming. That being said, there are varieties of sedum that grow as high as 11 inches. So if you want something that looks a little wilder, you can certainly try it.

MG: Tell me a bit about the history of this idea. How long have people been putting in green roofs?

AN: For thousands of years.

MG: I take it that in parts of Europe, it is quite common?

AN: Yes, green roofs are most common in Germany, [where] certain municipalities actually require green roofs at this point. Also, there are many in the Netherlands. The airport in Amsterdam actually has a large extensive green roof.

MG: Are there parts of the U.S. where it is taking off?

AN: Chicago, Portland, and Seattle are leading the way, as are Baltimore, D.C., and Philadelphia. They are also catching on in Los Angeles … and here in New York City.

MG: Did anyone ever run numbers if every roof in New York City was green? Do we know what impact that would have?

AN: We know that if 50% of the buildings that could build a green roof did, it would be the equal in additional green space of something like 16 Central Parks. It would save the city something like $100 million in waste water cost per year. And it would drastically reduce the number of combined sewerage overflow, meaning there wouldn't so much raw sewage that gets poured into the Hudson and East Rivers.

MG: So you have this technology, and there are three arguments for it: an aesthetic argument, an economic argument, and an environmental arguments. Which of those three do you think is the most powerful with the public?

AN: I think it comes down to the economics, with aesthetics and the environment tied for second. New York is proposing a tax abatement which would be given to building owners who install green roofs. When and if that is approved by the state legislature, it will have a big impact with consumers.

MG: The American homeowner has eagerly embraced all kinds of ideas that make their home more beautiful while they save money. But this has been around forever, and we have been slow to embrace it. Why do you think that is?

AN: I think because it is a pretty big psychological change. It's having something  growing on your roof. People are accustomed to thinking of that part of their house as being sterile.

MG: If you can dream up one thing that would make speed up the adoption of green roofs, what would it be?

AN: I think given the state that green roofs are in right now, government incentives are critical. It can be local, state, or federal. I think most people right now need a little push-just like they do for solar power and other energy-saving measures.

MG: So many of these environmental interventions have the same economic profile, which is they require large upfront investments which are recouped over time. And that's a different way of thinking. If I go to a bank and try to borrow $30,000 for a green roof, is that something banks are open to?

AN: Yes. A bunch of banks are starting to do this kind of lending, either as individual loans or as part of mortgages [because] the math works out. If you amortize that $30,000 over 20 years, it becomes a very easy investment to make. Something else that factors in is that the real estate industry has gotten into figuring out how much value is created when you add green components to your home or business.  It's pretty high. There is a pretty big increase-between  8% and 25%-in terms of the value of the home.

MG: Is the nonresidential market here potentially more important?  

AN: There is a lot of newfound cachet in marketing green buildings. One particular company has thousands of properties in Manhattan. They want Greensulate to go around with them and see which of their buildings are good candidates for green roofs, and then run the numbers on what their energy savings would be over time. There's also been interest from municipalities. I did an op-ed for the New York Times which talked about how much the city could save if they employed green roofs instead of trying to re-engineer their entire sewerage system.

MG: Are there a lot of people out there like you, pushing this idea?

AN: I'm afraid that so far there are very few people who have started green roof or green wall companies. It's a brand new industry.

MG: Describe to me what a living wall is.

AN: A green living wall is a similar concept. It can be interior or exterior, but you are planting plants in panels or growing them from the ground and training them up the wall. Green walls have some of the same benefits of the green roof: They improve air quality, decrease storm run-off, and insulate the building. And I have one client who is putting up a number of parking lots in Manhattan and their projects are going to be a lot more popular and have less impact on the neighborhood if you see green walls instead of solid concrete slabs. I think for me the coolest use of a green walls in the dense urban setting. They can transform a block or neighborhood.

LEARN MORE greensulate.com ]]> GOOD Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:27:34 PDT <![CDATA[Farmers in the City]]> http://www.good.is/post/farmers-in-the-city/ http://www.good.is/post/farmers-in-the-city/ The best farmers' markets for your money
With the number of farmers' markets in the United States climbing comfortably toward 5,000 (up from 1,755 in 1994), there's no denying the national obsession with knowing the stories behind our food. But there are some things that even the farmer who sells you blackberries and rapini can't tell you about your shopping experience. Here's the info you need to know about the country's five best markets.





Key:



 



PORTLAND FARMERS MARKET


at Portland State University
Portland, OR



Local specialties: Pears, cranberries, morels, chanterelles, truffles, blackberries, abalones, clams, crabs, and oysters

Star stands: Gathering Together Farm for salad greens and herbs; Viridian Farms for peaches, asparagus, and chicories; Gilson Marine Farms for bivalves; SuDan Farm for lamb; Two Tarts for peanut-butter oatmeal cookies

Scene: Portland natives are quick to brag about their hometown exports-think Nike, Powell's Books, and Elliott Smith-and the market at PSU is a recent addition to this ever-growing list. "Many Portlanders have become quite possessive about the market and are asking for it to become year-round," says Scott Dolich of Portland's Park Kitchen.

 



FERRY PLAZA FARMERS MARKET


on the Embarcadero
San Francisco



Local specialties: Strawberries, artichokes, apricots, figs, almonds, pistachios, grapes, persimmons, pomegranates, oranges, grapefruits, kumquats,, guavas, dates, crabs, avocados, olive oil

Star stands: Dirty Girl Produce for radicchio, tomatoes, and beans; Yerena Farms for berries; Brokaw Nursery for avocados and citrus; Shogun Fish for salmon; Pt. Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company for blue cheese

Scene: The Ferry shoppers are hard core. They show up long before the brunch hour on Saturdays and bombard the coffee stand (local organic roaster Blue Bottle Coffee) before moving onto the produce-and attack it so aggressively that you fear for the lives of nearby children. According to Chris Cosentino, chef of Incanto, "It's really serious: It's like [fighting to get] the last Cabbage Patch doll for your kid to get a basket of strawberries."

 



DANE COUNTY FARMERS MARKET


on The Capitol Square
Madison, WI



Local specialties: Cheese curds, morels, hickory nuts, plums, corn, tomatoes, emu, ostrich, venison

Star stands: Blue Valley Gardens for asparagus and turkeys; Harmony Valley Farm for rhubarb and spinach; Black Earth Valley for mushrooms and lettuces; Fountain Prairie Farms for beef; Bleu Mont Dairy for cheeses

Scene: For a place as progressive as Madison, the restaurant scene is anything but mind-blowing. And because of this, the city's culinarily inclined seek refuge in the market and its more obscure offerings (emu, anyone?). Even Tory Miller of L'Etoile, the city's most accomplished chef, claims, "There is one farmer with a dozen varieties of different kinds of greens. You don't realize that variety exists."

 



BOULDER FARMERS MARKET


along Central Park
Boulder, CO



Local specialties: Popcorn, winter squash,  kale, spinach, berries, elk, goat milk, and raw cheeses

Star stands: Cure Organic Farm for potatoes, leeks, and beets; Grow-Anywhere Air-Foods for microgreens; Munson Farm
Stand for corn and popcorn; Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy for goat cheese

Scene: Boulder is a place that even strident granola-munchers would describe as crunchy, and it's likely because of this sensibility that its market thrives. As Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson of the northern Italian-themed Frasca Food and Wine, "There probably isn't an example of another town with 100,000 people that produces so many great leaders in the natural-food industry." What does this mean for the marketgoer? Be prepared for a side of Sun Salutations with your produce.

 



UNION SQUARE GREENMARKET


New York City




Local specialties: Herbs, garlic, ramps, apples, maple syrup, fava beans, heritage meats, heirloom vegetables, and  eggs (duck, pheasant, turkey, goose, and chicken)

Star stands: Stokes Farm for herbs and peppers; Eckerton Hill Farm for tomatoes; Flying Pigs Farm for heritage pork; Ronnybrook Farm Dairy for milk, yogurt, and ice cream

Scene: Getting New Yorkers to acknowledge that a universe exists beyond bodegas and 24-hour delivery is a feat unto itself, but the greenmarket goes further, capturing an excitement about produce that is hard to explain. "It's a really direct connection between the rural world and the urban world," says Peter Hoffman the local-food pioneer chef of Savoy and Back Forty, "and you start to see these worlds aren't as divided as certain people want to make them out to be."

LEARN MORE  portlandfarmersmarket.org; ferrybuildingmarketplace.com; madfarmmkt.org; boulderfarmers.org; cenyc.org]]> The best farmers' markets for your money
With the number of farmers' markets in the United States climbing comfortably toward 5,000 (up from 1,755 in 1994), there's no denying the national obsession with knowing the stories behind our food. But there are some things that even the farmer who sells you blackberries and rapini can't tell you about your shopping experience. Here's the info you need to know about the country's five best markets.





Key:



 



PORTLAND FARMERS MARKET


at Portland State University
Portland, OR



Local specialties: Pears, cranberries, morels, chanterelles, truffles, blackberries, abalones, clams, crabs, and oysters

Star stands: Gathering Together Farm for salad greens and herbs; Viridian Farms for peaches, asparagus, and chicories; Gilson Marine Farms for bivalves; SuDan Farm for lamb; Two Tarts for peanut-butter oatmeal cookies

Scene: Portland natives are quick to brag about their hometown exports-think Nike, Powell's Books, and Elliott Smith-and the market at PSU is a recent addition to this ever-growing list. "Many Portlanders have become quite possessive about the market and are asking for it to become year-round," says Scott Dolich of Portland's Park Kitchen.

 



FERRY PLAZA FARMERS MARKET


on the Embarcadero
San Francisco



Local specialties: Strawberries, artichokes, apricots, figs, almonds, pistachios, grapes, persimmons, pomegranates, oranges, grapefruits, kumquats,, guavas, dates, crabs, avocados, olive oil

Star stands: Dirty Girl Produce for radicchio, tomatoes, and beans; Yerena Farms for berries; Brokaw Nursery for avocados and citrus; Shogun Fish for salmon; Pt. Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company for blue cheese

Scene: The Ferry shoppers are hard core. They show up long before the brunch hour on Saturdays and bombard the coffee stand (local organic roaster Blue Bottle Coffee) before moving onto the produce-and attack it so aggressively that you fear for the lives of nearby children. According to Chris Cosentino, chef of Incanto, "It's really serious: It's like [fighting to get] the last Cabbage Patch doll for your kid to get a basket of strawberries."

 



DANE COUNTY FARMERS MARKET


on The Capitol Square
Madison, WI



Local specialties: Cheese curds, morels, hickory nuts, plums, corn, tomatoes, emu, ostrich, venison

Star stands: Blue Valley Gardens for asparagus and turkeys; Harmony Valley Farm for rhubarb and spinach; Black Earth Valley for mushrooms and lettuces; Fountain Prairie Farms for beef; Bleu Mont Dairy for cheeses

Scene: For a place as progressive as Madison, the restaurant scene is anything but mind-blowing. And because of this, the city's culinarily inclined seek refuge in the market and its more obscure offerings (emu, anyone?). Even Tory Miller of L'Etoile, the city's most accomplished chef, claims, "There is one farmer with a dozen varieties of different kinds of greens. You don't realize that variety exists."

 



BOULDER FARMERS MARKET


along Central Park
Boulder, CO



Local specialties: Popcorn, winter squash,  kale, spinach, berries, elk, goat milk, and raw cheeses

Star stands: Cure Organic Farm for potatoes, leeks, and beets; Grow-Anywhere Air-Foods for microgreens; Munson Farm
Stand for corn and popcorn; Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy for goat cheese

Scene: Boulder is a place that even strident granola-munchers would describe as crunchy, and it's likely because of this sensibility that its market thrives. As Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson of the northern Italian-themed Frasca Food and Wine, "There probably isn't an example of another town with 100,000 people that produces so many great leaders in the natural-food industry." What does this mean for the marketgoer? Be prepared for a side of Sun Salutations with your produce.

 



UNION SQUARE GREENMARKET


New York City




Local specialties: Herbs, garlic, ramps, apples, maple syrup, fava beans, heritage meats, heirloom vegetables, and  eggs (duck, pheasant, turkey, goose, and chicken)

Star stands: Stokes Farm for herbs and peppers; Eckerton Hill Farm for tomatoes; Flying Pigs Farm for heritage pork; Ronnybrook Farm Dairy for milk, yogurt, and ice cream

Scene: Getting New Yorkers to acknowledge that a universe exists beyond bodegas and 24-hour delivery is a feat unto itself, but the greenmarket goes further, capturing an excitement about produce that is hard to explain. "It's a really direct connection between the rural world and the urban world," says Peter Hoffman the local-food pioneer chef of Savoy and Back Forty, "and you start to see these worlds aren't as divided as certain people want to make them out to be."

LEARN MORE  portlandfarmersmarket.org; ferrybuildingmarketplace.com; madfarmmkt.org; boulderfarmers.org; cenyc.org]]> Erica Cerulo Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:49:27 PDT <![CDATA[This is Shintaro...]]> http://www.good.is/post/this_is_shintaro/ http://www.good.is/post/this_is_shintaro/

And Those Are His Things...


Name: Shintaro Okamoto
Age: 34
Location: Queens, New York
Occupation: Ice Sculptor; Founder and Creative Director of Okamoto Studio

Chisel
1. Antler-handled V-chisel
I always have this one on my desk as a reminder of being connected with the production guys. It's a drawing tool. When carving, it's always the first thing we use.
octopus necklace
2. Octopus necklace
A guy named Louie the Fish taught me how to carve bone when [my family] lived in American Samoa for a year.
Bird
3. Handmade bird
I gave my daughters a feather boa; they tore it apart and turned it into this.
Stihl chainsaw
4. Stihl MSE 140 Electric Chain Saw
It's amazing how much delicacy and flexibility you can get out of the chain saw. No matter what we create, at least half is done with this.
Syringe
5. Syringe
We call this "the elephant inseminator." We use it to push water between the pieces of ice for fusion.
Bianchi Pista bicycle
6. Bianchi Pista fixed-gear bike
It's literally the most pure form of bike riding: Just one gear means what you give is what you get; The front brake is just there as optional because much of the work done braking is with your legs. First time I rode it, it was a very humbling experience.]]>

And Those Are His Things...


Name: Shintaro Okamoto
Age: 34
Location: Queens, New York
Occupation: Ice Sculptor; Founder and Creative Director of Okamoto Studio

Chisel
1. Antler-handled V-chisel
I always have this one on my desk as a reminder of being connected with the production guys. It's a drawing tool. When carving, it's always the first thing we use.
octopus necklace
2. Octopus necklace
A guy named Louie the Fish taught me how to carve bone when [my family] lived in American Samoa for a year.
Bird
3. Handmade bird
I gave my daughters a feather boa; they tore it apart and turned it into this.
Stihl chainsaw
4. Stihl MSE 140 Electric Chain Saw
It's amazing how much delicacy and flexibility you can get out of the chain saw. No matter what we create, at least half is done with this.
Syringe
5. Syringe
We call this "the elephant inseminator." We use it to push water between the pieces of ice for fusion.
Bianchi Pista bicycle
6. Bianchi Pista fixed-gear bike
It's literally the most pure form of bike riding: Just one gear means what you give is what you get; The front brake is just there as optional because much of the work done braking is with your legs. First time I rode it, it was a very humbling experience.]]> GOOD Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:30:48 PDT <![CDATA[Ikan Grocery Bot]]> http://www.good.is/post/ikan_grocery_bot/ http://www.good.is/post/ikan_grocery_bot/

Ever had a roommate who would finish the milk and put the empty carton back in the fridge? It's a cruel form of laziness, but now there is a truly simple solution to keeping the larder fully stocked. The Ikan sits on your counter and allows you to scan empty food containers before you thrown them out, then makes a shopping list for you (you can also use it to order from a delivery service like Peapod). It also tells you whether the container is recyclable. Apples don't have bar codes, you say? It also has voice recognition. The moment of stomach-churning frustration that comes when the sushi delivery arrives and you find no soy sauce in the bag and an empty bottle of soy sauce in the cabinet will now be a thing of the past. $400; ikan.net]]>

Ever had a roommate who would finish the milk and put the empty carton back in the fridge? It's a cruel form of laziness, but now there is a truly simple solution to keeping the larder fully stocked. The Ikan sits on your counter and allows you to scan empty food containers before you thrown them out, then makes a shopping list for you (you can also use it to order from a delivery service like Peapod). It also tells you whether the container is recyclable. Apples don't have bar codes, you say? It also has voice recognition. The moment of stomach-churning frustration that comes when the sushi delivery arrives and you find no soy sauce in the bag and an empty bottle of soy sauce in the cabinet will now be a thing of the past. $400; ikan.net]]> GOOD Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:45:56 PDT <![CDATA[I Hate Perfume]]> http://www.good.is/post/i_hate_perfume/ http://www.good.is/post/i_hate_perfume/

The perfumer Christopher Brosius, ironically, hates perfume. But instead of just bemoaning the state of sellable scents, he took action, and concocted some redolence of his own. It comes in a variety of whimsical, subtle fragrances like "Winter 1972" and "I am a Dandelion." Not sure you want a whiff of "In the Library?" You do.

From $12
cbihateperfume.com]]>

The perfumer Christopher Brosius, ironically, hates perfume. But instead of just bemoaning the state of sellable scents, he took action, and concocted some redolence of his own. It comes in a variety of whimsical, subtle fragrances like "Winter 1972" and "I am a Dandelion." Not sure you want a whiff of "In the Library?" You do.

From $12
cbihateperfume.com]]> GOOD Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:36:49 PDT <![CDATA[NatureMill Home Composter]]> http://www.good.is/post/naturemill-home-composter/ http://www.good.is/post/naturemill-home-composter/

We all know that composting is good for both the environment (less trash) and your garden (more fertilizer). This device ushers composting into the future: It fits in your cabinets and can be filled with up to 120 pounds of food (including meat) per month. Over two weeks, using a system of fans and heating elements, it odorlessly converts the scraps into natural fertilizer. Enjoy those homegrown, salmonella-free tomatoes.

$300
naturemill.com]]>

We all know that composting is good for both the environment (less trash) and your garden (more fertilizer). This device ushers composting into the future: It fits in your cabinets and can be filled with up to 120 pounds of food (including meat) per month. Over two weeks, using a system of fans and heating elements, it odorlessly converts the scraps into natural fertilizer. Enjoy those homegrown, salmonella-free tomatoes.

$300
naturemill.com]]> GOOD Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:23:43 PDT <![CDATA[Derringer Cycles]]> http://www.good.is/post/derringer-cycles/ http://www.good.is/post/derringer-cycles/

Gas is expensive these days. Perhaps you've heard? Cycling seems so appealing except for your sweaty arrival at a dinner a long distance away. Imagine if you could pedal on the flat parts and be powered over the hills. Los Angeles's Derringer Cycles has come up with a solution by attaching a small motor to a sexy-looking bike. The engine has a 1.8-gallon tank, gets up to 180 miles per gallon, and can push the bikes to speeds of 40 miles per hour at the times when you're too tired to provide pedal power. It's a little pricey for a souped-up bicycle, but, as you've noticed, gas is expensive.

$3,500
derringercycles.com

]]>

Gas is expensive these days. Perhaps you've heard? Cycling seems so appealing except for your sweaty arrival at a dinner a long distance away. Imagine if you could pedal on the flat parts and be powered over the hills. Los Angeles's Derringer Cycles has come up with a solution by attaching a small motor to a sexy-looking bike. The engine has a 1.8-gallon tank, gets up to 180 miles per gallon, and can push the bikes to speeds of 40 miles per hour at the times when you're too tired to provide pedal power. It's a little pricey for a souped-up bicycle, but, as you've noticed, gas is expensive.

$3,500
derringercycles.com

]]> GOOD Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:02:09 PDT <![CDATA[Learned Handmade Plates]]> http://www.good.is/post/learned_handmade_plates/ http://www.good.is/post/learned_handmade_plates/

After a few years at Harvard Law School, José Klein felt that the human stories at the heart of legal doctrine were being overlooked. So he picked up some magic markers and chose dinner plates as his canvas. The result was Learned Handmade Plates (it's a Learned Hand joke; look it up). Now you can eat off of Antonin Scalia giving his famous "Sicilian hand gesture" or a drawing meant to evoke the Pentagon Papers case. Verdict: Harvard folk art was long overdue.

From $20
joseklein.com]]>

After a few years at Harvard Law School, José Klein felt that the human stories at the heart of legal doctrine were being overlooked. So he picked up some magic markers and chose dinner plates as his canvas. The result was Learned Handmade Plates (it's a Learned Hand joke; look it up). Now you can eat off of Antonin Scalia giving his famous "Sicilian hand gesture" or a drawing meant to evoke the Pentagon Papers case. Verdict: Harvard folk art was long overdue.

From $20
joseklein.com]]> GOOD Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:56:13 PDT <![CDATA[Conmoto Travelmate Mobile Fireplace]]> http://www.good.is/post/conmoto_travelmate_mobile_fireplace/ http://www.good.is/post/conmoto_travelmate_mobile_fireplace/

There are some people who have TVs in their bathrooms, and their laundry rooms, and their closets. Perhaps you are similarly visually dependent but not the TV type. Instead you prefer a roaring fire and a good book, but your fireplace is cruelly tethered to the chimney. Now, with this mobile, 20-inch-high fireplace, you can have a romantic fire in any room of the house, or even outdoors. It burns odor and smoke free. No wood means no cut-down trees and lower carbon emissions-think about it. Just sit down on the toilet and warm your feet by the fire.

$3,300
conmoto.com]]>

There are some people who have TVs in their bathrooms, and their laundry rooms, and their closets. Perhaps you are similarly visually dependent but not the TV type. Instead you prefer a roaring fire and a good book, but your fireplace is cruelly tethered to the chimney. Now, with this mobile, 20-inch-high fireplace, you can have a romantic fire in any room of the house, or even outdoors. It burns odor and smoke free. No wood means no cut-down trees and lower carbon emissions-think about it. Just sit down on the toilet and warm your feet by the fire.

$3,300
conmoto.com]]> GOOD Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:51:02 PDT <![CDATA[Thames & Kosmos Powerhouse]]> http://www.good.is/post/thames__kosmos_powerhouse/ http://www.good.is/post/thames__kosmos_powerhouse/

There was a time when children built model cars or model airplanes. No longer. Now children build model eco-friendly homes. With this new kit, kids aged 12 and up (or fun-loving adults) can learn all about forms of alternative energy while conducting 70 experiments or building the 20 models contained within, each focusing on a different aspect of saving energy.

$150
thamesandkosmos.com]]>

There was a time when children built model cars or model airplanes. No longer. Now children build model eco-friendly homes. With this new kit, kids aged 12 and up (or fun-loving adults) can learn all about forms of alternative energy while conducting 70 experiments or building the 20 models contained within, each focusing on a different aspect of saving energy.

$150
thamesandkosmos.com]]> GOOD Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:45:55 PDT <![CDATA[Treeblocks math kit]]> http://www.good.is/post/treeblocks_math_kit/ http://www.good.is/post/treeblocks_math_kit/

For most adults, even grade-school-level math problems can prove daunting, as our mathematical muscles are so often left unstretched. But a quick spin with this toy set and you'll be thinking numbers in no time, by comparing the size and shape of different blocks and learning about the metric system and mathematical concepts. We suppose you could give them to children underserved by a stultifying math curriculum, but that seems like less fun.

$50
treeblocks.com]]>

For most adults, even grade-school-level math problems can prove daunting, as our mathematical muscles are so often left unstretched. But a quick spin with this toy set and you'll be thinking numbers in no time, by comparing the size and shape of different blocks and learning about the metric system and mathematical concepts. We suppose you could give them to children underserved by a stultifying math curriculum, but that seems like less fun.

$50
treeblocks.com]]> GOOD Mon, 7 Jul 2008 15:12:23 PDT <![CDATA[An Atlas of Radical Cartography]]> http://www.good.is/post/an_atlas_of_radical_cartography/ http://www.good.is/post/an_atlas_of_radical_cartography/

The idea of maps as more than simply direction-givers is taken to the extreme in this collection of abstract cartography. Featuring the projects of different designers (including the Center for Urban Pedagogy and Brooke Singer of Superfund365, both previously covered in these pages), the maps in the atlas range in subject from New York's garbage-removal system to the secret CIA rendition flights. They may not help you navigate the roads, but they will help you navigate the information of the world around you.

$30
an-atlas.com]]>

The idea of maps as more than simply direction-givers is taken to the extreme in this collection of abstract cartography. Featuring the projects of different designers (including the Center for Urban Pedagogy and Brooke Singer of Superfund365, both previously covered in these pages), the maps in the atlas range in subject from New York's garbage-removal system to the secret CIA rendition flights. They may not help you navigate the roads, but they will help you navigate the information of the world around you.

$30
an-atlas.com]]> GOOD Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:14:34 PDT