Vegetarian Star

Christian Lander, founder and writer on the very popular and satirical Stuff White People Like blog, that launched millions of visits, thousands of discussions, a book deal and a dozen other “Stuff People Like” blogs, is the authority on what the subject of his humor–college educated, upper middle class, often liberal Caucasians–enjoys.

Lander jokingly told the Arkansas Times he predicts the next very environmentally friendly and sustainable trend among white people is gardening.

As a white person, he’s already tried it.

“Um, “growing your own food” is trending pretty hard. I spent $80 to grow two tomatoes last summer. They were terrible tomatoes, but I lied to myself and told myself they were delicious.”

Guess Lander didn’t bother consulting any Gardening Guides before planting those organic tomatoes.

Ironically, he says backlashes are another trend that might show up and vegetarians may feel the brunt of it.

“It was like the whole backlash against bacon after everyone wanted to go vegetarian, then people started getting annoyed with vegetarians so they went as far the other way as possible.”

Confusing, since #32 on the list of Stuff White People Like is Vegetarian/Veganism.

White, black, brown, purple and green people should get on this latest bandwagon and plant your own tomatoes, green beans, lettuce and everything else.

And if you haven’t already done #32 on the list, it’s time.

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Gabby Reece was invited to help with The Teaching Garden by her friend and wife of Tobey Maguire, Jennifer Meyer.

The Teaching Garden teaches students to grow their own produce while emphasizing math and science skills.

The goal is to get 1,000 Teaching Garden programs in schools, but parents can start instructing at home, something Reece is already doing.

“My kids get to live in Hawaii and California,” Reece told Celebrity Baby Scoop.

“They play out in the dirt all the time. One of their favorite things to do each morning when we are in Hawaii is to pick fruit from the trees: lemons, avocados and papayas. My 2 year old likes lettuce and my 6 year old, well it’s a constant negotiation. Broccoli seems to be the winner so far.”

Of course, it’s great when the students can teach mom and dad a thing or two about planting, cultivating and harvesting in the home.

“Another important message is that the learning goes from the kids back to the parents. The children can teach their parents what they have learned about nutrition and fitness and hopefully have an impact.”

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Michelle Obama‘s White House garden is expanding!

The garden will be enlarged from 1,100 to 1,500 square feet to accommodate four additional vegetables of bok choy, white cauliflower, artichokes and mustard greens.

Once again, Mrs. Obama invited local school children to help plant this year’s seeds.

According to Treehugger, last year the garden yielded 1,000 pounds of food that was eaten by White House Staff and at State dinners or donated to local homeless shelters.

Another accomplishment for the garden last year was employing the use of “hoop houses,” protective structures placed over the plants to protect them from the winter’s freeze, allowing 50 pounds of food to be harvested during the winter.

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Alyson Hannigan is quite the locavore.

If she can’t find the produce she wants at the nearby Farmers Market, she’ll go straight to her backyard.

“We go to the farmers market all the time,” she told Mother Nature Network. “We’re putting in an organic garden to grow things I can’t get at the farmers market.”

What does the How I Met Your Mother actress plan to put in her soil?

“We’ll do unusual lettuces and a particular kind of cucumber and a lot of different herbs.”

No pesticides, no fuel used in transport, no worrying about double bagging the produce so your eco-friendly laundry detergent doesn’t accidentally season your red leaf lettuce.

Backyard organic gardening sounds like the way to go!

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Move over Michelle Obama!

The First Lady of the White House isn’t the only woman to show off her home grown greens.

Jennifer Taylor, the actress who is Charlie Sheen‘s love interest on Two and a Half Men, has revealed to EcoStiletto she tries to be greener by tending to an organic garden, which makes it so much easier to eat better at home.

“It takes a conscious effort because it’s so much easier to cook crap that’s nowhere near green. It takes a lot of effort. I’m a big planner and list maker. I live out of my little agenda. I prepare for dinners a couple of days in advance because I know that I can’t just grab something off of the shelf as I’m going home.”

“I think it’s important to eat clean and simply and just do something. Gardening, recycling, carrying reusable water bottles—every little thing helps. If everybody did one little thing it would really help.”

Need some advice for growing your own?

Jennifer gives the following tips:

1. Wear gloves. I always forget.
2. Use your coffee grinds and pickle juice as fertilizer. Gardenias love pickle juice!
3. Soapy water in a spray bottle is a great natural pesticide for your fruits and vegetables.
4. Don’t be afraid to prune a lot. The plant will grow back bigger and stronger.
5. Get the kids involved. We let Jake pick his own seed packets, and he’s responsible for watering his plants. He recently planted a sunflower and was amazed at how big it grew!

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Michelle Obama gave a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors at the Capital Hilton this week which highlighted the need to combat childhood obesity.

The First Lady has taken a leadership role in encouraging healthier habits in children and adults.

Appearing on Sesame Street, she and Elmo urged children to eat more fruits and vegetables.

She showed up to support local and fresh produce at the nearby Farmers Market in D.C.

And according to Jocelyn Frye, the first lady’s domestic policy adviser, good habits start in the home–or at least in the yard of the home.

“We didn’t want to have a garden just to have a garden,” said Frye of the White House garden, according to the Washington Post. “It was a vehicle for talking about children’s health.”

Mrs. Obama’s ideas to reduce the childhood obesity epidemic include ensuring healthier options are in school lunches, encouraging more physical activity, increasing the availability of healthy food in every neighborhood and giving parents and kids better nutrition education.

Would a meat-free Monday be too much to ask for as well?

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Could Michelle Obama‘s desire to return to healthy eating and eat local inspire African Americans to do the same?

According to Dr. Shemuel Israel, President of the North Lawndale Greening Committee on Chicago’s West Side, the answer is yes.

Dr. Israel thinks the First Family’s garden is partially responsible for the increased interest and hopes the trend continues.

“We do a lot, but there’s more work to be done to teach people to grow their own food,” he said, according to Chicago Now.

With Mrs. Obama’s influence and African Americans like John Salley and Forest Whitaker encouraging African Americans to improve their diets by eating vegetarian, Dr. Israel might see the fruits of his labor sooner than later.

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The worst part about winter (besides being stuck in the snow, high heating bills and dry skin) is having to miss out on all the seasonal produce you now have to buy frozen.

Sam Kass and the rest of Michelle Obama‘s staff is protecting the White House organic garden this winter by using “hoop houses” that will help the cabbage, spinach, carrots and other produce absorb heat and protect from frost.

“Sugar doesn’t freeze, so spinach produces extra sugars in the winter to protect itself from frost,” Kass blogged. “It tastes almost like candy.”

Hmm…Is a veggie lover in the garden like a kid in a candy store?

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