Welcome to Bluedot Los Angeles! Every other Sunday, we share stories about local changemakers, sustainable homes and yards, the nature all around us along with planet-friendly recipes, and advice from Dear Dot. Please email us with story ideas at laeditor@bluedotliving.com. Together, we can make a difference for the blue dot we call home.
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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES
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When you step on to the grounds of The Ecology Center, a bustling 28-acre farm and community hub in San Juan Capistrano, it’s hard to believe it started in 2008 as a 1-acre plot. In the years since then, the center has welcomed more than 300,000 visitors, who’ve stopped at the farm stand, visited the EcoTots outdoor classroom, feasted with friends at Community Table
dinners, and volunteered at the farm. It’s also trained 150 farmers and another 150 culinary leaders, and donated more than 100,000 pounds of food grown on the property. All of the classes, events, and programs offered at the center today share one goal: to inspire visitors to relate to the Earth in a new way. As the center celebrates its 15th anniversary, it’s launching tours of its regenerative organic farm and working to push the regenerative farming movement forward. “It’s not about being the best in the world,” says Jonathan Zaidman, The Ecology Center’s director of engagement. “It’s about being the best for the world.”
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Quick Links
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Skip scrolling! Here’s what you’ll find in today’s Bluedot Los Angeles Newsletter:
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Paid Advertisement from NativePath Collagen
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So… what exactly does collagen do, again? This nutrient is Insta-trending for a reason – it’s essential for healthy skin, joints, and bones. The big bummer: many collagen supplements are made with artificial ingredients and (gross) animal byproducts.
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Get Yours Today
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Vegans, rejoice: The Vegan Women Summit is hosting its first-ever Restaurant Week May 6-12. Vegan restaurants throughout Los Angeles and West Hollywood will offer special menus or menu items during the event, and 5 percent of each purchase will be donated to Support + Feed, a nonprofit founded by actress Maggie Baird (also known as Billie Eilish and Finneas’s mom)
that works to combat food insecurity and the climate crisis by increasing the accessibility of plant-based meals across the globe. The list of participating restaurants includes favorites like Planta in Brentwood, Pura Vida in West Hollywood, and Sugar Taco in West Hollywood. Support + Feed is just one of the many inspiring projects Maggie Baird has taken on these days. Bluedot Founder Victoria Riskin sat down with her to talk about why she went vegan, how she helps people struggling with food insecurity, and the other sustainable traditions her family has developed over the years. (Plus she gave us her favorite jackfruit taco recipe!)
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–Illustration by Elissa Turnbull
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Dear Dot,
How long does leftover food last in a refrigerator? Is it important to cover or seal it, and why?
–David
Dear David,
“Food” is a pretty broad category. Some “leftover food,” of course, lasts months, like peanut butter and salad dressings. But Dot assumes you mean leftover things you’ve cooked, like pasta, or chicken, or fish.
While we have already taken a careful look at the myths and misinformation around expiration dates, and we have provided a handy-dandy guide to avoiding food waste (proper storage is key), you are right to point out that we have not addressed either how long we might safely store leftovers in the fridge or how to store them appropriately. So let us take this opportunity to remedy that omission.
Read the rest of Dot’s answer.
Got a question for Dot? Write her at deardot@bluedotliving.com.
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If you make a purchase through our links, including from Amazon, we may earn a small commission.
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Mother’s Day can be an emotional holiday. The most important thing to remember this time of year is to take care of yourself and those you love. Whether you’re shopping for your mother, daughter, daughter-in-law, wife, partner, or simply yourself, we hope you’ll find inspiration in this list of eco-friendly gift ideas.
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Gorgeous paper bouquets from Unwilted will last forever. Buy now or read our review.
Cheerful organic cotton pajamas in inclusive sizing. Buy now or read our review.
Everyday fine jewelry with hip, minimalist designs. Buy now or read our review.
Chic shoes and handbags from Nisolo come with Sustainability Facts (like about nutrition for the planet). Buy now or read our review.
Unique online learning experiences on subjects like '80s cocktails, Pollinator Gardens, Dog Massage Therapy, and so much more from B Corp Uncommon Goods. Buy now.
A Dutch oven from Le Creuset can pass down from generation to generation. Buy now (on Amazon) or read our review.
Pascale Beale’s Les Fruits: Savory and Sweet Recipes From the Market Table on cooking with fruit all year long. Buy now (on Amazon).
Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver focuses on the beauty of the natural world. Buy now (on Amazon).
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Looking for a treat that helps you stay on track with your goal to eat more healthfully, with the planet in mind? We’ve got not one, but two recipes for delicious, healthier goodies that will satisfy your sweet tooth. (One’s even vegan!)
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It’s Cinco de Mayo, an excellent excuse to mix up a margarita or two. (As if we needed an excuse.) If you’re in the market for tequila, Good Libations columnist Julia Cooper has a few suggestions for finding tequila that’s been produced with fully mature agave – a more sustainable process that also results in “delicate and complex tequilas that are rich with terroir.”
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If L.A. has a uniform, it’s yoga pants. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why: They’re comfortable, forgiving, flattering, and ideal for the Southern California climate. But if you’re one of the many
Angelenos who wear them daily, you might sometimes worry, like Room for Change columnist Mollie Doyle does, about the microplastics your leggings leach when they’re washed. “Because I’m a person who has practiced
yoga for more than 30 years, leggings are part of my daily clothing life. So, how many teaspoons of plastic had I unwittingly washed into the earth? The thought horrified me.” Mollie set out to find a solution that didn’t include replacing all of her leggings with cotton pants – and she found a compromise she could live with.
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Something Un-bee-lievable |
Last week, a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks was delayed – not because of rain, but because a swarm of bees decided to land on the netting behind home plate. A local pest control company humanely removed the bees in time for the game to go on, and during the two-hour delay, I reflected on how often our everyday activities intersect with the natural world these days. I spoke with USC anthropologist and biologist Craig Stanford about this very topic last
week, and I’ll be sharing our conversation on the Bluedot Living website in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, check out our stories on heroic sea otters, California’s state bat, and kangaroo rat recovery for your wildlife good-news fix. And consider contributing to our journalism so we can keep bringing you these kinds of stories, and more.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll be back in two weeks!
–Robin Jones
Do you have a special Los Angeles photo or story to share?
Email laeditor@bluedotliving.com.
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Robin Jones is a Southern California native who served as an editor at Westways magazine for more than a decade. She currently lives in Long Beach and teaches journalism at Cal State Long
Beach, where she advises the award-winning student magazine, DIG MAG. She loves road-tripping across California, especially when the itinerary includes stops in Arcata and Trinidad.
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