First packaging-free grocery store in the US

Never again will you have to answer the question “paper or plastic?” At this grocery store, they are eliminating all of it. Destined to become the first zero-waste, packaging-free store in the US, this Austin, TX start-up in.gredients says that it will carry “all the basic ingredients you need for life (and most recipes).”

“Most will perceive our competition as supermarkets, since we’re literally revising what grocery shopping looks like. But really, our competition is hyper-consumerism, which is just not sustainable long-term,” explains Brian Nunnery of in.gredients in an email to Fast Company. “If we were competing with supermarkets, we’d be setting up shop across the street from one. Instead, we’re targeting areas where folks don’t have easy access to good food–and are forced to buy unhealthy food out of convenience.”.

Read more at Fast Company

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Green Recipe of the Week: Chickpea Crabcakes

CHICKPEA “CRAB CAKES”

True story: Less than two weeks before the manuscript for my book, The Meatlover’s Meatless Cookbook was due, with most recipes edited and determined fit for public consumption, I pan-fried a batch of my falafel patties for me and my husband, Russ. He took one bite into his falafel-on-a-bun and looked at me with all seriousness. “This falafel looks and eats likes a crab cake.”

He was right. With thirty combined years of living in Washington, D.C.—crab cake central—we could both see that this chickpea patty had Chesapeake potential.

With the wild eyes of a mad scientist, I immediately went to work, replacing Middle Eastern falafel spices with Old Bay, the iconic Maryland seafood seasoning that’s had a cult following for three generations. Out with the tahini, in with a yogurt remoulade and horseradishy cocktail sauce that transport you from the Mid-East to the Mid-Atlantic.

The result: Downright crab-shacky.

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Imani on Genetically-modified Foods

Although most consumers in the United States remain unaware that 90 percent of what sits on grocery store shelves are genetically modified, increasing numbers are demanding product labeling as done in Europe. Why are US companies who readily use GM ingredients in their products so reluctant to accurately label their products? Studies show that the majority of US consumers would choose non-GM foods IF they knew the foods they were buying contained GM ingredients.

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