The following article was published in the Sudbury Town Crier today.  I am posting it here as well.

By Eric Richard, Sudbury Earth Decade Committee

We’ve all heard of the fad diets that come and go each year.  You have the Atkins, the Zone, and the South Beach.   Of course, there is good old-fashioned calorie counting as well. Each provides its own take on how to ensure that you lose weight by burning more calories than you consume.

On September 18^th, the Earth Decade Committee will be teaming up with the Sudbury Valley Trustees to introduce a new type of diet.  Unlike other diets that are low fat or low carbohydrate, this diet is called the Low Carbon Diet and its goal is to help individuals shed 5,000 pounds in a single year.

You might think that is a typo.  Who could conceivably need to lose 5,000 pounds in a year?  Actually, all of us can and, if we did, the world would be a healthier place.

You see, the Low Carbon Diet isn’t about burning calories or losing weight.  Instead the Low Carbon Diet focuses on helping you decrease your environmental footprint by reducing your carbon dioxide emissions.

What is the Low Carbon Diet?

Every mile you drive, every kilowatt hour of energy you consume, and every gallon of heating oil you burn results in carbon dioxide being emitted into the air.  Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, which means that it acts as a blanket, keeping heat trapped in the atmosphere and contributing to the overall warming of the planet.

Through all of our daily activities, the average American generates an estimated 40,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and the Low Carbon Diet is about taking steps in our personal lives to help reduce these emissions.  Rather than dictating any specific solutions, the Diet leaves it up to each individual to figure out which solutions are best for them.

Individuals just getting started may be able to make progress by simply turning off lights in the house, replacing their light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights, getting their oil heater serviced, or recycling more.

Other individuals may have already done all of those things and may have to work harder for the next set of gains.  These folks may have to look at other solutions like finding ways to reduce how much they drive (carpooling, public transportation, biking, etc.), replacing high intensity appliances with EnergyStar appliances, or improving the insulation on their homes.

As with a food diet, the first steps are the easy ones and the later steps get harder and harder.  But the most important first step is to make a commitment to change and then work toward that change.

The “good news” is that there is an endless list of things that we can all be doing to help reduce our environmental footprint.  Even people who have been actively reducing their emissions for years can always find more things that they can do.

Team-Based System

The Low Carbon Diet is centered on the idea of building teams of individuals who get together on a regular basis and help support each other through their goals.

Each meeting, the members of the group share their experiences.  What have they tried?  What have their results been?  What really works?  What is great in theory but just not practical to maintain?

These group meetings help in a couple of ways.

First and foremost, they help people get new ideas for what they can do to help reduce their emissions.   One of the greatest assets of any team is the creativity of its members and the meetings provide an opportunity to share their ideas and experiences.

The meetings also help us keep ourselves accountable and increase our odds of success.  Many dieticians would tell you that one of the most powerful forces behind any diet is having the individual publicly state their goal to other people and then report on that progress.  There is a very strong psychological response toward these public declarations; none of us want to go to that next meeting and say that we didn’t make progress.

How Can You Learn More?

Individuals who are interested in learning more about the Low Carbon Diet and how they can reduce their own environmental footprint should attend the introduction meeting on Tuesday, September 18th 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM at Wolbach Farm on Wolbach Road, Sudbury.

Please register for this event by calling Sudbury Valley Trustees at 978-443-5588.  Seating will go to registered individuals first.

This event will introduce the concept of the Low Carbon Diet and help folks get started forming teams.  The schedule for follow on meetings will be determined once the teams have been formed.

Individuals who cannot make this meeting but are interested in learning more should contact the Sudbury Earth Decade Committee at lcd-info@sudburyedc.org or visit http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/lcd.

 The Low Carbon Diet is the product of David Gershon and the Empowerment Institute.  The Sudbury Earth Decade Committee is a non-profit organization committed to environmental causes.  You can find out more about the EDC at www.sudburyedc.org.

by Eric Richard

Slowly catching up  on the distributions.  Here is the week 12 distribution (from 2 weeks ago):

•  1 zucchini
• 1 sweet onion
•  1 head garlic
• 4 (3/4 lb) leeks
• 5 lbs. tomatoes
• 3 halia peppers (3/4 lb)
• 1 bunch basil (1/4 lb)
• 1 bunch kale (3/4 lb)
• 1 bunch arugula (1/2 lb) (Choice of okra, carrots, broccoli, chard, arugula, beets, eggplant, or celery)
• 1 bunch chard (1/2 lb) (Choice of okra, carrots, broccoli, chard, arugula, beets, eggplant, or celery)
• 1 lettuce (1/2 lb)
• 6 ears corn
• 1 bunch edamame
• 1 muskmelons
• 1 watermelon

by Eric Richard

Here’s the week 11 distribution:

• 1 qt. cherry tomatoes
• 12 lb. tomatoes
• 1 cantaloupe
• 7 ears corn
• 1 bunch (1/2 lb.) kale
• 1 bunch (1/2 lb.) arugula (choice of arugula, beets, carrots, and celery)
• 2 heads lettuce (choice of romaine, red leaf, and Boston)
• 1 lb. flat beans
• 1 bunch (1/8 lb) basil
• 1 watermelon
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 head garlic
• 4 leeks
• 7 green peppers
• 1 zucchini

by Eric Richard

We came back from vacation to find out that we were in the middle of tomato season.  As you will see over the next couple of weeks, we are up to our necks (don’t worry readers, we are safe!) in tomatoes.   The good news is that we have become masters at making bruschetta (with the fresh tomatoes, basil, and garlic from the farm) and that is a pretty darn fine way to get rid of tomatoes.

• 2 (1/2 lb.) summer squash
• 1 lb. carrots
• 1 lb. potatoes
• 1 head garlic
•  2 onions
• 1/4 lb. basil
• 1 bunch (1/2 lb.) kale (choice of green kale, beets, okra, and scallions)
• 1 bunch (1/2 lb) arugula
• 1 head green leaf lettuce (choice of green leaf, Boston, or red leaf)
• 1 head Boston lettuce (choice of green leaf, Boston, or red leaf)
• 1 oz. oregano (take as much as you want)
• 1 oz. chive (take as much as you want)
• 3 jalapeño peppers (take as much as you want)
• 1 (5 lb.) watermelon
• 10 lbs. tomatoes (no, that is not a typo)
• 1 qt. cherry tomatoes
• 1 quart flat beans

As a humerous aside, when Vicki went to pick up the distribution and was writing down the list, she got to the 10 lb. of tomatoes and went and asked one of the workers there, “That isn’t a typo is it?” and the person said, “Nope.  Last week it was 15 lb.”

by Eric Richard  

We wound up taking Week 9 off.  We took a vacation this weekend and figured we had enough food to last us for a while (despite the concerns of my readers).

So, we passed on this week.

by Eric Richard

Some of my readers are growing increasingly concerned that I have withered away like an old head of lettuce or suffered an untimely death of food poisoning. You can stop your fretting and rest assured that I am alive and well. I just changed jobs and that has kept me busy.  Now, I did consume something pretty rotten on Sunday that did make me feel a little sick, but this isn’t a sports blog, so we’ll leave that for another location.

However, you will hopefully also be happy to know that I have been busy writing some articles in the background and have a nice backlog that I can start posting soon. Hopefully the blog will re-emerge soon.

Anyway, to assure you that I am not starving to death, here is an update on the recent distributions.

• 3 (1 lb.) zucchini
• 5 cucumbers
• 1 oz. sage (take as much as you want)
• 1 oz. thyme (take as much as you want)
• 1 oz. parsley (take as much as you want)
• 1 lb. carrots
• 4 heads garlic
• 1 head (1 lb.) cabbage
• 1/2 lb. basil
• 2 lb heirloom tomators
• 1 head lettuce
• 1 bunch (1/2 lb.) chard (choice of chard, pickling cucumbers, scallions, or beets)
• 10 pickling cucumbers (choice of chard, pickling cucumbers, scallions, or beets)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 3 quarts green beans