A policy report on Mayor Kevin Johnson’s 2010 environmental initiative, known as “Greenwise,” is scheduled to be released on Jan. 20 at the annual State of the City address. The Greenwise report will consist of an action plan and goals, according to a Dec. 15 e-mail from the Greenwise project coordinator Lauren Altdoerffer. Johnson will speak at the State of the City address, which will be held at the Sacramento Convention Center. The report will be the product of months of meetings and brainstorming sessions on environmental sustainability in the Sacramento region. Johnson has repeatedly stressed that the focus on environmental progress should be regional. “If we look at just one poli

Sacramento is making progress toward Mayor Kevin Johnson’s goal of becoming the green capitol of the nation, green leaders said Tuesday at the final Greenwise Intitative meeting. Alice Waters, chef, activist and co-owner of Chez Panisse, Mayor Sam Adams of Portland and honorary co-chair of Greenwise Initiative Chancellor Linda P.B. Ketehi gathered at the California Museum to discuss Sacramento's resources and collaborative efforts. “After the last 24 months, in terms of the triple bottom line sustainability – environmental, social and economic sustainability – your city has gone from kind of good work – but middle of the pack – to a real bullet, and people are really watching what you’re

Joanne Neft is on a mission to change the poor eating habits common in many households today. "We're eating really inappropriately," she explained to dinner guests at her home this past week. She pinpoints Americans' "inappropriate" eating habits to the cause of many problems. "We eat subsidized food because it's cheap, forgetting the huge price we pay for the resulting obesity, diabetes, cancer, and coronary problems. Americans pay a high price for cheap food." She is currently self-employed and owns a couple of commercial properties but these days she is putting most of her energy and passion into a crusade against poor eating habits found in the form of a cookbook. Neft and her clos

Sacramento resident Robert Lee Grant will screen his documentary Nourishing the Kids of Katrina Wednesday at the Shepard Garden & Arts Center in McKinley Park. The film focuses on Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard program in two New Orleans schools: Green Charter and Arthur Ashe Charter Schools. It will feature commentary from First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama regarding the installment of the White House's own organic garden and concerns about America's obesity epidemic. In 1995, The Edible Schoolyard was established at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School In Berkeley, Calif. by the Chez Panisse Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Waters. In an article in NR

Mark Miller admitted being flattered when Life magazine named him one of America's most influential chefs of the 1980s alongside Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck and Paul Prudhomme. But he isn't comfortable with his celebrity chef status. Miller is most famous for popularizing the southwest cooking style worldwide. He's written 10 cookbooks altogether, and seven of them deal with southwestern-style cooking, including The Great Chile Book and Coyote Café, named after his famous Santa Fe café. However, what Miller really wants is to inspire people to cook. "Sometimes we watch too much television, and we are preordaining what the [culinary] experience is," Miller said. "People should really de

 Saturday Today was my first day in DC and you can feel the electricity and excitement in the air. As the city readies itself for this historic occasion and incredible event, people are beginning to stream into the nation’s capital. I attended the US Conference of Mayors and the highlight was listening to Rahm Imanuel. He issued a challenge to us Mayors. His most poignant comment was when he said, “We are currently facing the most difficult times our generation has seen. We cannot squander this opportunity.” He went on to talk about the stimulus package and how they were going to act fast, bring transparency to government and hold us all accountable. I completely understood what he meant.