When you’re shopping for produce, what do those numbers on the stickers mean?

The PLU “Price Look Up” code stickers on fruits and vegetables can help you identify organic, conventional and even genetically modified produce.

•  Organic produce stickers start with a 9 and have 5 numbers
• Conventional produce has 4 numbers
• GM (Genetically Modified) produce have 5 numbers like organic produce but start with the number 8 so be particularly cautious of those fruits and vegetables

Choose 9 for peace of mind!

Author Annie Malka is a mother of four living in the Florida Keys. She writes about cooking, nutrition, organic foods and sustainability at her blog Hip Organic Mama.

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By The Green Mom Review, February 3, 2010  
Filed under: Blog, Eat
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

We all know chlorine is a poison. It’s toxic and has been linked to infertility and disease. Sadly it’s everywhere—in our drinking water, bleaching our paper towels and toilet paper, in pools, in PVC plastics, in pesticides, so we do our best to avoid it by getting unbleached products and filtering our water (even the showers!) and just when we thought we were safe, we find out that chlorine is routinely used to keep our healthy produce “fresh” by, and I quote the MMS Newsletter:

“In the grocery store, glistening carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc. all glisten and look fresh primarily because five days ago they were picked, washed, then passed under a cloud of ClO2 gas that destroyed bacteria and disease-germs that ordinarily cause food to quickly spoil.

Some transportation trucks carrying produce (sometimes on two-day trips) can blow some ClO2 into the enclosed truck before closing the rear doors. The spoiling of food begins from invisible surface contaminants. ClO2 eradicates such bacteria.”

I learned this first hand before searching for it on the web to confirm. A truck driver was explaining how when transporting strawberries, chlorine vapor kept his strawberries from molding and therefore looking pretty and lasting longer. Read the rest of this entry »

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By The Green Mom Review, November 2, 2009  
Filed under: Blog, Eat, Organic
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

Read it. See it. Change your life and the lives of your loved ones. Make a difference in your health and the health of the planet and our future. We CAN do it and most certainly we must make more informed choices.Grocery stores are such an illusion. The waste in packaging, transporting products, the ingredients (and the real ingredient behind what is mysteriously listed on the label), shelf space and electricity, dated items going to the garbage (that’s mostly produce since the other stuff has a life span to practically last into our child’s adulthood), how the animals we consume are treated (you are what you eat), hormones shot into our animals and getting into our dairy and meats, genetic modifications to the DNA of the foods, the colors and additives and smells added that now seem normal to us. It’s all a strange place with food-like substances. Read the rest of this entry »

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By The Green Mom Review, August 18, 2009  
Filed under: Blog, Eat, Learn, Nature, Organic, Sustainable, Watch
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

We have many cloth diapering enthusiasts amongst our readers so we thought it would be helpful to have you all chime in on this reader question:

Hi, I’m new to cloth diapering and have no idea where to start or what would be best.  I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a good cloth diaper for an older child (almost 4) who doesn’t stay dry at night. He weighs around 37 lbs and is about 35 inches tall and wears a 6 in regular diapers, if that helps.

Thank you from a devoted reader!
Caroline

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By The Green Mom Review, July 30, 2009  
Filed under: Blog, Community, Diapering, Tips
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

We started the Great Green Post Awards so that readers could give props to the writers of posts on green topics that they found particularly inspiring, informative or just plain GREAT.

If you would like to give an award for a great green post next month, please use this form to send us your submission.

Thanks to all who submitted for the July 2009 GGP Awards!

Cicily awards  Baby Eco Trends

Madonna Cramer awards Sweet Greens

Leslie Grant awards Cooking for Monkeys

Lisa Frack awards Environmental Health News

Mrs. Green awards My Green Side

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By The Green Mom Review, July 13, 2009  
Filed under: Community, Read
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

Sometimes the ugliest* fruit is the sweetest. Sometimes the simplest preparation of meals are the most delicious.

Like roasting, for example… It is the easiest, simplest, quickest (and quite tasty) way to prepare vegetables. The method can be used on almost anything and it’s pretty much the same:

• Cut up veggie into equal sizes.
• Drizzle on oil and toss to coat.
• Sprinkle on grey salt or sea salt.
• Lay it flat on a cookie sheet so they are not crowded.
• Roast at 375F for 10 - 30 minutes until done, usually until they begin to brown.

Variations have to do with what vegetable, oil, and temperature.

• You can roast at a higher heat, 425F, for less time. I usually choose that method.
• You can toss in olive, coconut , walnut, macadamia nut, or sunflower oils. Don’t use corn or soybean oil or another GMO oil.
• The big secret is not to overcrowd the pan, otherwise they will steam instead of roast.
• Choice of vegetable or mix of vegetables is the biggest change.

Roasting enriches the flavor and deepens the color. It offers variety into our weekly menu and can be done for any seasonal vegetable. It is quick and easy, nutritious and delicious, and comprises of 3 ingredients and some heat.

Read the rest of this entry »

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By The Green Mom Review, June 12, 2009  
Filed under: Blog, Eat, Kitchen, Learn, Tips, Vegan
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

I love to travel and explore with my family. At the same time I dread it—being out of my comfort zone, being away from my kitchen where I prepare meals that nourish our bodies with good food and our souls with tradition, and stepping into the unknown of chemicals and cleaners used at the place where we will rest our heads.

Since we’ve stopped using chemicals and have been eating real food, we notice it, even the kids do. Walking into a shoe or toy store makes our eyes water with all the off-gassing. It’s amazing what we can subject our bodies to, lack of nutrition, bombarding it with chemicals and disease, and our lovely bodies continue to function. Our family, thankfully, is more in tune so we can make better decisions knowing what’s good and not.

We realize this and are more accepting of the outside world when we travel but there is one thing we cannot tolerate. And you shouldn’t either. When you think about it, it’s an amazing invention that never existed and now has become a necessary element in making a house a home.

Sprays, plug-ins, plug-ins that self-spray, odor neutralizers, air sanitizers, and aromatherapy candles in just the right scent are all there, something for everyone. Air fresheners seem to work to help erase the smells in the room and clean the air, but actually they work on us. The chemicals coat our nasal passages with a film that deadens the nerve endings. They mask the problem and fool us into thinking the room is fresh, the smell we have learned to think of as clean.

Read the rest of this entry »

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By The Green Mom Review, May 2, 2009  
Filed under: Blog, Clean, Home, Tips
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

Due to a legal issue with the domain name greenmomfinds.com, we will be moving have moved to a new address. We ask that you please update your bookmarks and if you have one of our buttons, if you could point it at our new address, we would be eternally grateful. We’re very upset about having to move but we hope to make the transition as smooth as we can. Our main concern is our loyal readership—we don’t want to lose you!

If you have any questions, please feel to drop us a note.

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By The Green Mom Review, April 26, 2009  
Filed under: Blog
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

This is a very stressful, yet hopeful, time in our lives. Due to the economy, we are forced to make changes in what we buy for our family, but can we also choose what’s best for the planet? “Green” seems to cost more, it takes time to learn and implement, it requires that we focus and prioritize. It may not seem like the best time to go green and eat healthier, but this is actually the perfect time to get healthy, heal our environment, and save money!

Especially under times of stress, we need to keep our immune system strong to ward off disease. Disease costs money, so there is a real savings there (avoiding doctor bills, medicines, days off) but it’s deeper than that because without our health, we have nothing. Being healthier keeps us within our budget. Making changes that impact our health, in turn, helps heal our environment. And the truth is, choosing healthier options for our body and planet does NOT have to cost more; there are ways to save money while making good choices. We can tighten our belts and still eat delicious nutritious food that allow us to tighten our belts a notch as we get healthy and lose weight.

Support your body to do it’s job to keep you healthy by:

1. Eating well
2. Sleeping
3. Exercising
4. Being Optimistic
5. Loving
6. Using Safer products On & Around Your Body

Eating Well Read the rest of this entry »

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By The Green Mom Review, March 20, 2009  
Filed under: Blog, Save Green
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

We were in the grocery store the other day. (Yes, now that our biz closed we have to go to one of those) I find them very surreal. There is very little real food—lots of things to fill the belly, and loads of chemicals, but very little nourishing food and a pretty “hospitalized” look to the whole thing. Sometimes I still feel like an alien dropped on a strange planet when I enter. Take a look the next time, think of yourself landing here looking for real nourishing foods and see what you think.

Anyway, we were at the bakery and it was the end of the day so they had just restocked their bread on the shelf. Other customers are pulling loaves in bags complaining that they are wet. Of course they were wet! We know to expect that based upon our experience running a grocery store, but maybe you didn’t know to expect that as a consumer. That leads us to our first “Grocery Store Secret”

Read the rest of this entry »

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By The Green Mom Review, March 1, 2009  
Filed under: Blog, Eat, Learn
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

Workbook pages, dittos, Xerox copies…paper, paper, paper!

Anyone who has a child in school knows about the deluge of paper sent home EVERY DAY. Honestly, much of it is needless. I’m not just saying that as the parental recipient of all this stuff, but as a teacher myself.

From the teacher’s standpoint, we have all this great information to share. We don’t want our students to miss a bit of it! I could honestly make a textbook sized handout of all the good info I find for my students. No one wants to shortchange education for green, so what do we do?

Read the rest of this entry »

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By The Green Mom Review, February 9, 2009  
Filed under: Blog
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.

Everybody loves a hot star that supports a good cause! We’ve seen stars associated with AIDS, political campaigns, children’s hospitals, etc., and now it seems that everyone’s going green. The following  men have been involved from the beginning and have done a lot to bring attention to the environment:

Leonardo DiCaprio: Founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which focuses on global warming and it’s environmental impact. He flies commercial airlines and sports a Toyota Prius. He recently auctioned off his $300,000 watch to benefit his charity.

Robert Redford: He’s been an activist for thirty years, bringing awareness to issues such as: the climate, condition of the Utah wilderness, and the many uses for solar energy. He’s recently slotted time on his Sundance Channel for eco-shows.

George Clooney: He’s fighting to change American’s dependence on oil, and involved in many of his friends’ environmental charities. He was the first person to own the Tango electric car.

Edward Norton: Norton comes from a family of environmentalists. He provides solar power technology to low income homes and hosts a National Geographic series on global environmental problems.

Brad Pitt: He has been actively involved in rebuilding New Orleans with environmentally friendly housing. He and Angelina live there with their children when they’re not traveling the world supporting other causes.

Author Patricia Wooster is the founder of the Project Organic Eating blog, where healthy eating meets affordability!

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By The Green Mom Review, January 27, 2009  
Filed under: Blog
Please read our disclaimer regarding the content on this site.