Conscious Choice Seattle:

January 2006 | Letters to the Editor

‘Fair Enough’ for Evergreen Monthly

As we part ways with EM as our shorthand and fully embrace Seattle’s Conscious Choice, it was fitting to see the following comments from Seattle Audubon Society conservation program director Alex Morgan regarding Starbucks and shade-grown coffee. Our first issue as Evergreen Monthly in Jan. 2004 featured a cover story about the local coffee giant and its fair-trade program, which you can debate as better than nothing (at least back then $4 million better than nothing) or simply not enough. It’s clear where Alex Morgan stands. Whether we are EM or CC, he raises vital questions we care about at this magazine.

“Starbucks is not a leader in protecting birds with shade coffee…

Starbucks supplies only one line of shade-grown coffee (a minuscule fraction of its coffee), does not serve it regularly, if at all, and has dodged established standards of the Rainforest Alliance and the Smithsonian by coming up with its own standards.

While it’s important to recognize those businesses that are doing the right thing for the environment, it’s also important to take the time to dig beneath the surface of assertions of environmental progress. If we continue to allow businesses and governments to ‘greenwash’ their efforts, we’ll set back the efforts of those businesses and groups that are trying to do the right thing.”

What’s Cooking with the Evvies?

To Evergreen Monthly:
Kudos on the Evvie Awards (Dec.) I enjoyed knowing that some of my favorite restaurants and yoga studios are recognized. Got to love those tacos at Café Flora.

One question: What happened to the categories related to best cooking classes and where to learn about sources of our seafood. I enjoyed those ratings in the first Evvies (Dec. 2004) and feel we all need to be more conscious about where our food is coming from.

Then once we know its sources, we need to be clear about how to retain the wholesomeness of those foods—and not just what food marketers consider “wholesome.”

Sincerely,
Robert Sabatino, Internet

Editor’s note: We did cut down on the number of categories for the 2005 Evvies, mostly to add some new categories and to reflect those categories that didn’t attract much voting. That said, look for a special report on local natural/organic cooking classes during the next few months. Plus, we are always on the lookout for stories about seafood sources. Salmon, shellfish and more are not only vital to good nutrition but also our local economy.

By the way, now that we have changed our name to Conscious Choice, we will have to pick out a new name for our annual awards recognizing the greenest, healthiest, best-tasting, deepest, most peaceful, most meaningful and most socially responsible that the Seattle and Puget Sound area has to offer.

The early favorite name for the awards is “The Connies”.

Age-Old Challenge For Dr. Weil

Dear Editor:
Thanks for the story about Dr. Andrew Weil (Evergreen News, Dec.). It is heartening to know that his sage voice is working on getting Americans to live more gracefully.

I noticed Dr. Weil’s book has scored well on non-fiction bestseller lists in recent weeks. Now if we can just convince Baby Boomers to follow his lead, rather than schedule more appointments for liposuction and cosmetic surgery.

Ed McMichael, Seattle

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