Green Aquavit

Last night, we were going to a Swedish Julbord (traditional Christmas dinner) at Tre Kronor restaurant in Chicago. So we stopped at Binny's to pick up some beverages. Aquavit was first on our list, and our only choices were Danish, Norwegian, and North Shore. North Shore?? But given that my partner is Swedish, she decided that was better than the alternatives. Plus, as I pointed out, it was the greenest option, given that it only traveled a few miles as opposed to a few thousand. I don't particularly care for aquavit's fiery sensation, but that's fine b/c I was the designated driver and it was 90 proof.

The setting at Tre Kronor is quite lovely--candlelight, a fire in the fireplace, beautifully arranged buffet tables with delicious food; it feels like you are in someone's home in Sweden. The dinner consists of four courses, the first of which is nine different types of herring. That's when you bring out the aquavit. It is poured into tiny chilled glasses (less than a shot), and some people down the whole thing at once, although I sipped mine with trepidation. It was actually quite tasty! Kudos to the folks at North Shore Distillery. They really did make a nice smooth, tasty aquavit. And I also realize why aquavit is the drink of choice at a Julbord. After the herring, there is the second (cold) course, followed by the hot course, and, finally, dessert. If you drank anything else (with less alcohol, but more volume), you would explode. As it was, I took no more than a tiny portion of any one thing (and skipped many of them), and I found myself to be incredibly full by the time I reached the dessert table.

Good AND Green?

For the past several years, Lake Street Church of Evanston has participated in Heartland Alliance's Adopt-A-Family program during the holiday season. This year, the Peace and Justice Committee (which coordinates the congregation's involvement in the program) decided to adopt TWO families. This was a very ambitious undertaking, as Heartland Alliance selected two families of five persons each. They provided us with the names, ages, needs and wishes of our adopted family members. We decided to split the congregation in half alphabetically into the "Green Team" and "Red Team". Each team is responsible for gifts for one family. The "Green" family consists of a single mother and her four small children. The "Red" family consists of a mother and father and their three teenage children. The friendly competition within the congregation spurred us forward and we have obtained almost all of the gifts for both families. But we are still missing winter outerwear for the mother, father, and daughter of the "red" family, along with clothes for one of the boys, and a comforter for the parents. Everything must be purchased new, of course.

This is all really wonderful, but it isn't very green. It is both fiscally and environmentally irresponsible to go out and buy new items when slightly used ones would cost less, keep waste out of landfills, and lower emissions of greenhouse gases into the environment. Another greener option would be to purchase from local, sustainable sources. Unfortunately, this would cost more (at least to the buyer), because of the economy of scale and externalizing of costs by big box retailers. :-(

So, what to do? Since we can't give them used items, we could give them gift cards that could be used at second hand stores (ie, non retailer-specific cards), and they could purchase those items cheaply themselves. Another option would be to suck it up and purchase items that are more expensive in the short run, but much less costly in terms of environmental impact. Finally, we can work to change/enforce laws such that environmental, health, and other costs are internalized. Then we will all realize that it isn't "cheap" to buy petroleum-based products produced by child labor in rapidly developing nations.

Crust--sustainable?

On Friday night, my partner and I decided to finally make a pilgrimage to Crust after years of keeping it on our "have to check it out" list. As it was late, cold, and far, we broke down & drove the car. First impressions were good--in spite of a phone conversation with the hostess suggesting we would probably have a 20-30 minute wait, we were seated right away. Our waiter--Patrick?--was awesome. The first thing he said to me was, "I love your glasses. They're open-ended - like life!" And we immediately noticed that there were no bad (mass-produced) beers on the list. The homemade onion dip (with chips) was yummy, as was the arugula salad. We ordered a an arabiatta flatbread to share: wood roasted shrimp, fresh mozzarella, spicy tomato sauce & basil. This is where things started to head south. Not that it wasn't tasty. It was. But I'd still vote for Spacca Napoli's wood-fired pizza any day. But Crust claims to be "Chicago's Finest Organic Eatery and Lounge". They state that although certain menu items "are not certified organic...every effort is made to use responsibly produced, locally produced & wild crafted products. Ask your server for more information on these items. " So we asked where the shrimp came from, and Patrick didn't know - but he cheerfully went to ask. However, the General Manager didn't know, either. Or wasn't saying. "Uh, we get it from a guy. A company. It comes from all over. Wherever they get it." Quite a contrast from Lula Cafe in Logan Square where every server can tell you the name of the sustainable farm where they obtain their shrimp.