RESOURCES

Grocery Tour, Part 2: June 17, 2010
Our first stop was Arbor Farms Market on Stadium. We bought our dinners from the deli and ate outside while Robert Cantelon, store Manager, discussed their buying decisions with us. They are very conscious about buying from producers they know. They are also concerned about the humane treatment of animals.	We then moved on to Kroger on Maple, where our tour was led by the Asst. Store Manager, Meghan. She told us many surprising things about what her store is doing both in their food buying and energy-efficiency. The newly updated store has a large all-organic section (which has high sales); they use motion-sensitive LED lights in their frozen food cabinets.

Who we are:

The Ethical Eating Team, or E.E.T, is a forum for UUAA congregants to study and explore the many facets of ethical eating, and to contribute to the dialogue regarding the Statement of Conscience by the UUA. See Colleen Crawley'sCongregational Report for 2010, summarizing what EET is all about.

Mission Statement:

The UUAA Ethical Eating Team (EET) provides interested members, friends and the wider community with objective, comprehensive, current information needed to make informed ethical decisions about food. EET also provides support to put this information into personal practice and communityi projects.

What we have done:

On November 15, 2009 we held a World Café, where about 40 people worked together to answer these questions:

1.Why is ethical eating important or meaningful to you personally?

2. How is ethical eating a religious topic?

3. What events and activities related to ethical eating should we do at UUAA that would interest and excite you?

Here are the results of that exciting day:

1. Summary of Answers

2. Action Items

3. Photos of Event

See more of what we've done...

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We have a table in the Social Hall after some services with books and articles and someone to answer questions on the 1st Sunday of the month. Join us there.

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Input:

We need your input to select new and enhance existing food justice projects 2010-2011.
UUAA members are already involved in CROP Walk, Growing Hope, Food Gatherers, Alpha House, Locavores and community/sustainable gardening on UUAA grounds. What Ethical Eating actions best suit our goals and capabilities, and your talents & enthusiasm?

Sign up to be on our new email list: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , whether you are focusing on ethical study, action or reflection. To sign up, give input on or help with events, or for questions contact Colleen or Cathy (see below).

Questions, thoughts? Contact Colleen Crawley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Cathy Muha at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

What else we've done:

• Read and discussed Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". The groups were facilitated by Stephanie Minerath and Paula Loewenhardt.*Read Stephanie's summary of the discussion.
• Toured three area grocery stores. *Read summaries on the 3 tours: Whole Foods (Eisenhower Pkwy), Meijer (Ann Arbor-Saline Rd.), People's Food Co-op (4th Ave).
• Had a panel discussion featuring several UUAA farmers. Jennifer Kangas, owner of a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and Dan Bair, project manager for several area initiatives, discussing "Sustainable Farming. See John Erdevig's summary on this important topic.
• On Sunday, February 21, Alison Paine, horticulture expert, held a workshop asking: "What is Sustainable Farming?". View her presentation.
• Held a Reflection Brunch, where we reflected on what we've learned so far, and where we might go from here.
• On Monday, March 1, author Janet Kauffman spoke on"The Rise of Industrial Livestock Factories (CAFOs) and the Impact on Communities and the Environment". Janet, author of "Trespassing: Dirt Stories & Field Notes", shared with us her thoughts and activism around CAFOs that are all around her farm in Hudson Township. The audience was very engaged! More details to come...

We held a cooking class: Taking the Mystique Out of Tofu, taught
by Chris Kelly. We had a great time watching Chris cook and tasting - from main dishes to a yummy chocolate mousse. Here are the recipes he used.

Real Time Farms: About 20 people enjoyed a lively presentation by Karl Rosaen on his upcoming website for connecting people with fresh, local foods. We had many thoughts/ideas for ways he could make his great site even more user-friendly. Karl said afterwards how much he appreciated our input.

In April, a large and enthusiastic group of adults and children toured the Calder Dairy. Take a look at the photos.

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On May 9, we listened to a great panel discussion on: "Hunger Among Us. We learned alot about local agencies that are working to assist those in our community without easy access to good food.See the rest of the story here.

We showed the documentary, "Food, Inc." on May 26th. About 30 people watched this Oscar-nominated documentary showing how, as the film's website states"our nation's food supply is controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment". After the movie, Barb Cherem led us in a discussion of the issues and what we can do. Prior to the movie, Keely Kaleski, whointerviewed the movie's director, Robert Kenner, told us what his goals were. See 10 simple things we can do to help change our food system.