Well, yeah, they’re pretty darn good. Everything on the menu looks so good, it’s tough to choose which pannekoeken (Dutch pancakes) to order. Sweet, savory, all delicious. Not to mention the large bucket of treacle on the table to sweeten the deal.

The pancakes are so large that you will have to stumble out.

Source: Processed People

They ask, “how did we get here and what do we do?” Check out the trailer:

Eat frank food!

We’ve written about water for last year’s Blog Action Day, but some recent movies have got me thinking again about water, and wanted to share them.

View of Manhattan from Roosevelt Island

I recently watched the documentary No Impact Man. This guy Colin Beavan takes his family on a one-year quest to have no impact on the environment – meaning walking, biking, scooting everywhere, no electricity, no new clothes, no toilet paper, and of course, no water in plastic bottles. While many of us don’t live in places like New York City where it’s a bit easier because of the accessibility of farmer’s markets within walking or biking distance, the documentary makes one question what each of us can do to lower our impact.

Georgia Aquarium

For anyone who talks about caring about the environment or where their food comes from, check it out (streaming on Netflix) and the follow-up initiative, the No Impact Project. In any case, the Beavan’s taking their no impact to the nth degree really raises how far we have become as a society in how we treat our food and drink.

Waters of the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town, South Africa

If you’ve ever drank water (duh), you need to watch Tapped, a documentary about the bottled water business. Winner of multiple awards, this movie examines some startling information, not only about how much we consume (29 billion bottles purchased by Americans alone in 2007), but also the terrible consequences of the business. A few notes:

• Everyone – EVERYONE, YOU, ME – will have an issue with having accessible, clean, drinking water by 2030. That’s not so far away.
• Only 1% of the Earth’s water is drinkable.
• Groundwater rights depends on the state, so big companies own water rights in small towns, like Nestle (which owns Poland Springs) in Maine.
• Though the International Bottled Water Association (yes, there is one) says they only take .02% of available groundwater, critics say by doing so in small areas, fish populations get depleted…among other things.
• 40% of bottled water is filtered tap water. (My way is cheaper!)
• Places nearby refineries making plastic bottles have higher rates of birth defects and cancer. In Corpus Christi, refinery workers are forbidden to let citizens know they have a right to clean air and water. Air and soil are contaminated. Birth defects are 84% higher than the state average.

Jellyfish at Dawn, Wilmington, NC

Wait! It gets better! Have you switched out of individual bottled water because of BPA and stuff? You might still drink water at the office from the water cooler, even filling your aluminum bottle with it. Well, it turns out that most 5-gallon bottles have BPA, and these low doses of estrogen can lead to cancers of the breast and prostrate, ADD, diseases of the liver, ovaries, uterus, low sperm count, and it goes on and on…. So you might think you’re safe refilling at the water cooler, but think again!

The movie is streaming on Netflix (oh, Netflix, how I love thee). See the trailer here:

The smart guys at McKinsey recently came out with a key report, Charting Our Water Future. They are part of a group, the 2030 Water Resources Group that comprises of some big business, including the Barilla Group, The Coca Cola Company, Nestlé (yes Nestle), New Holland Agriculture, SAB Miller, Standard Chartered, and Syngenta.

Folks are starting to recognize this issue more and more. University of Canberra in Australia is discontinuing sale of bottled water by World Water Day 2011. World Water Day (March 22) theme this year is: Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge. Find out here what you can do.

Essentially, something’s gotta be done because we’re all going to be effected – whether you want to know or not.

Check us out on Simple Lives Thursday!

I say add the source, lot #, whether the animal was raised humanely or in gestation crates, what feed, and what additives/hormones were added.

Check out this great post by So Good about Oprah’s investigate video into Cargill’s feedlots…PR effort or real thing? Either way, wouldn’t you like to know where your meat comes from?

But is it always? A USDA study showed that bags of fresh broccoli and spinach lost much of their nutrients just by being exposed to the lights in a grocery store. Vegetables that are flash frozen (not soaked in sodium BPA-lined cans) could retain some of those lost nutrients. Read this Slate article by Daniel Engber for more information.

A tip? Next time you reach for that bagged spinach, reach for the one in the far back that’s been hidden in the dark.

Source: GreenDeals

Source: Summer Tomato

Beanie Baby’s Zomppa debut!

Join the movement at Healthy Child Healthy World, a great website with lots of information and resources. Watch this Wake-Up Story and sign up!

A Wake-Up Story from Healthy Child Healthy World on Vimeo.

As a milk lover and one who has drunk straight from the teet (warm), I know how yummy raw milk can be. But this seems to be topic that gets people riled up. Slate wrote an article arguing that drinking raw milk puts people at risk and milk was never meant to be drunk this way.

While you’re deliberating, check out Barry from Politics of the Plate’s visit to two dairy farms. Seems a good place to start is to ask where the milk – raw or not – comes from and how it’s gotten to your glass.

Can’t figure out what chemical is what? GiveThemRoots has a great simple list of what these abbreviations mean – and why you should know them.

Did you know Canada quietly declared BPA toxic back in October? Findings that BPA causes neurological and behavior development issues in rodents and likely sensitively to pregnant women and their fetuses.

We’ve talked about chemicals in your food and your products over the last months. If you want to know some helpful products, check these posts out:

• BPA Alternatives
• Skin Deep

When is the U.S. going to get on board? A Senate hearing noted how babies are born “pre-polluted.” Check out CNN’s video here and watch their useful ‘Toxic America‘ report – from PCBs to those chemicals you find on your non-stick pan, get the 911.