Category Archives: Sustainable Food

The 2019 Local Food Microgrant is Now Open for Farmers

Pomona Produce is one of SLC’s local food microgrant recipients and is currently growing food on one of our urban farming parcels.

Who doesn’t love getting food from our local farmers’ markets?

Shopping at local farmers’ markets is important for supporting our community as well as benefiting SLC’s surrounding environment. A few of our other favorite reasons include:

  • The fruits and vegetables you buy are the freshest and tastiest available. All of the food is grown by the seller within a short radius, picked fresh, and brought to local markets.
  • The SLC Downtown Farmers’ market only sells products that have been grown or hand raised by local farmers. This makes it easy to ask them what their farming practices are to make sure they align with your values.
  • The incredible variety of healthy fruits and veggies is inspiring. Need information or recipes for something you have never tried before? Farmers often have recommendations for preparing their products and are more than happy to share their favorites.
  • We are supporting family farmers! Buying directly from farmers gives them the valuable capital they need to keep operating and providing consumers with an alternative to mass-produced foods.
  • Buying local supports the economy, keeping more of our dollars invested in the community.

Many of our local farmers are in business because they love it, but it’s a tough, physically-demanding job with tight financial margins.

Salt Lake City understands the value of healthy, local food as well as the benefit that farmers bring to our local community and economy.

That’s why we’re allocating a total of $75,000 in microgrant funding to assist local, small-scale farmers who want to expand their operations with sustainability in mind. The microgrant fund is one of SLCgreen’s Local Food programs aimed at helping achieve our goal of increasing overall access to fresh, healthy food for all members of the SLC community.

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What a Year! Check out our 2018 Year in Review

Check out Salt Lake City Sustainability’s 2018 Year in Review!

The last few years have been incredible for us here at SLCgreen and this past year was no exception.

We are thrilled to share our progress from 2018 with you. As always, we’d like to give a huge shout out to all of our partners— those in City government, other government agencies, non-profit associations, passionate neighborhood groups, and dedicated community councils with whom we work. Building a more sustainable SLC takes many hands!

Below are some of the highlights from our 2018 annual report. You can download the full 2018 report here. 

Don’t miss our reports from 2017 and 2016 too.

Highlights from 2018 include:

Air Quality and Climate Change

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It’s Meatless Monday: Start Your Week on a “Lighter” Foot

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The holidays are approaching and it is a great time to take stock of our health and evaluate our eating habits— for the good of our bodies and the planet. The latter benefit is something we at SLCgreen feel passionately about.**

That’s why we’re excited to share the Meatless Monday phenomenon with you. The premise is simple: you don’t have to go fully vegan or vegetarian to make a difference. You can realize a significant health and environmental benefit just by skipping animal products one day a week!

We like to think of “Meatless Monday” as an addition, not a subtraction. Eating more whole grains, beans and lentils and vegetables on your meatless day tends to be less expensive and offers more health benefits than eating meat and dairy.

When we chose to participate in a meat-free day it is an easy way to transition to healthier eating habits one day at a time. There have been numerous studies that show that skipping meat one day a week can make a big impact on losing weight while reducing the chances of certain cancers, heart disease, and obesity.

Kids are leading the way!
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Bridget Stuchly Recognized by Slow Food Utah

This week, our program manager Bridget Stuchly was honored at Slow Food Utah’s Feast of the Five Senses with the “Community Leader – Snail Award.” We’re grateful (and not at all surprised) that she received this recognition! (Though she was surprised, because we all kept it a secret!)

The Slow Food Utah Snail Awards were launched in 2012 as a way of recognizing those people who are ardent supporters and believers in the Slow Food mission. That mission is to “inspire individuals and communities to change the world through food that is good, clean and fair for all.”

Bridget Slow Food Award 2018

Carson Chambers of Slow Food Utah and the Downtown Farmers Market presenting the “Community Leader Snail Award” to SLCgreen Program Manager Bridget Stuchly on October 21, 2018.

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Introducing the Gateway Community Garden!

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Salt Lake City celebrated the opening of our newest community garden yesterday!

This is the SEVENTH community garden created through the SLC’s Green City Growers program which began in 2013. The program converts City-owned land into vegetable gardens that are managed by the non-profit Wasatch Community Gardens. Community gardens create solutions for sustainable food production in an urban landscape.

Our newest garden is in the Gateway District which is quickly becoming the densest neighborhood in Utah. Demand for open space and “room to grow” is paramount.

On Tuesday, media representatives and residents joined Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, CEO of Rocky Mountain Power Cindy Crane, Director of Parks & Public Lands Kristin Riker, and the Wasatch Community Gardens Executive Director Ashley Patterson, for the celebration.

We’d like to thank the many people and organizations who made this vision become a reality! Continue reading →

Plant Based Utah to Host Symposium Oct. 13

By Jack Hurty, SLCgreen intern

Welcome to SLCgreen Connections, an occasional series highlighting SLCgreen’s fantastic local partners—the people and organizations with whom we work closely to make Salt Lake City a greener, more vibrant, and sustainable city!

This week we sat down with Chandler Rosenberg, Managing Director of Plant Based Utah, to talk about meat, the environment, and their upcoming events. Plant Based Utah is a local plant-based nutrition advocacy group.

Chandler PBU

Chandler Rosenberg, Managing Director of the non-profit Plant Based Utah.

What if you could improve your health, save money, and lower your carbon footprint, all with one simple lifestyle change? It’s possible – by eating less meat and transitioning to a plant-based diet. That’s the message Plant Based Utah is working to spread.

In March 2017, Thomas Rosenberg and Patrick Olson who are surgeons in Park City, decided to create an organization dedicated to encouraging people to eat healthier.

They had been studying preventative nutrition for years and found that a plant-based diet could prevent and even reverse some of the various chronic diseases and conditions they came across every day. Continue reading →

VegFest is Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the third annual SLC VegFest at Library Square!

Vegfest 2018

Don’t miss the 2018 SLC VegFest!

When: Saturday, September 8 from 12-8 pm

Where: Library Square (210 East 400 South), Salt Lake City

Learn about plant-based eating, enjoy local vegan food, and hear from expert speakers and live music. VegFest is an annual event sponsored and organized by Utah Animal Rights Coalition.

VegFest is a great opportunity to learn about how we can reduce our environmental impact and improve our health through plant-based eating. The event is open to anyone, whether vegetarian or not.

There’s not another gathering locally where you can sample plant-based foods from restaurants and prepared food vendors from all over the Wasatch Front!

VegFest is free to all and also includes live music, a beer garden, movie screenings,  a dedicated Kid’s Zone featuring face painting, bounce houses, and a scavenger hunt.

Speakers include vegan activist lauren Ornelas, to discuss the power of choice and food justice, as well as Victor Ivan, a vegan fitness enthusiast who will be doing a live cooking demonstration.

Additionally, we will hear from a youth panel filled with vegan kids who are changing the way the next generation thinks about food. For the full list of speakers and entertainment, click here.

SLCgreen will be there tabling— come say hi to us at our booth located on 200 East!

For more information:

  • SLCgreen’s Dining with Discretion web page describes why moving to more plant-based eating is one of the most significant lifestyle changes to reduce your carbon footprint.
  • To learn more about how you can cut down on meat consumption without giving it up entirely, join the Meatless Monday movement.

Reduce Your Pesticide Intake from Food

by Sydney Boogaard, SLCgreen intern

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The spring and summer months are the perfect time to barbecue and picnic. Which means delicious fruits and veggies. Because let’s be honest, no picnic is complete without a scrumptious apple or pear. Unfortunately, our tasty produce is also a common source of consuming harmful chemicals from pesticide residue.

Fruits and vegetables that are grown conventionally are often exposed to many pesticides before they are shipped to our local grocery stores.

Luckily there are effective and natural alternatives to reduce the amount of chemicals we ingest. Join our #PesticideFreeSLC campaign and pledge to keep our bodies, yards, and ecosystems healthy, happy, and safe by going pesticide free!

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Celebrate National Pollinator Week!

by Talula Pontuti, SLCgreen intern

Have you heard about Pollinator Week?

The week of June 18-24, 2018 is designated National Pollinator Week by the Pollinator Partnership and the U.S. Senate! Hopefully you made it out to this last weekend’s Bee Festival hosted by CATALYST magazine to help kick it off and celebrate our diverse community of pollinators – bees, butterflies, birds, moths, wasps, and more!

Why Celebrate Pollinators?

Pollinator species, such as the classic honeybee, help fertilize plants that keep ecosystems thriving and crops producing. Farmers depend on them to help produce high yielding, delicious food.

All species also rely on pollinators for increasing carbon sequestration, preventing soil erosion, keeping plants reproducing, and acting as a food source for other species. Continue reading →

Don’t Miss “Bee Fest” on June 16!

Welcome to SLCgreen Connections, an occasional series highlighting SLCgreen’s fantastic local partners—the people and organizations with whom we work closely to make Salt Lake City a greener, more vibrant, and sustainable city!

CATALYST Magazine is a long-time community asset in Salt Lake City, featuring frequent news and tips for sustainability-minded folks. After recently receiving their 501(c)3 status, CATALYST now helps organize community events, including the upcoming Bee Fest.

 Bee Fest

By Ardyn Ford, SLCgreen intern

Mark your calendars for the 8th Annual Bee Fest in Salt Lake City on June 16!

Organized for the first time by the team at CATALYST Magazine, this year the festival will celebrate all pollinators, including bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and the plants that they love.

For the past seven years, Bee Fest has been organized by the folks at Slow Food Utah. However, change was afoot and Greta deJong, the editor and publisher of CATALYST, decided to take it on. Coincidentally, Greta had been in the process of planning a Dandelion Festival, so agreeing to take on Bee Fest was only natural.

After all, the golden flower is one of the first sources of food for bees in the spring. Continue reading →