September 2009 Archives

A four-member European delegation sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the United States will be touring the Bay Area, visiting with elected officials and community leaders in both San Francisco and Oakland to explore how to increase bicycle use throughout the region. The delegates' experiences in Amsterdam, Brussels and Copenhagen show that cities can boost bicycle use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save travelers time and money by building comprehensive cycling networks.

    Who:  Adelheid Byttebier, former member of the Brussels regional
           parliament
          Niels Jensen, Senior Traffic Planner, Traffic Department of
           Copenhagen
          Hans Voerknecht, Int'l Coordinator for unit of Dutch Knowledge
           Center on Traffic & Transport
          Geert-Pieter Wagenmakers, Senior Adviser, Amsterdam Chamber of
           Commerce
          Rebecca Kaplan, Oakland City Councilmember
          Jason Patton, City of Oakland Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Director

    What:  Bicycle tour of Oakland, spotlighting both opportunities for and
           obstacles to increased bicycle use in the Bay Area. Bike ride to
           be preceded by discussion of mobility issues with local elected
           officials and citizens.

    When:  Sunday, September 27, 2009
           Welcoming remarks: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
           Bicycle Tour: 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
           Dinner to be provided after the bike ride

               Follow-up discussions will take place Monday, September 28 at
               5:30 p.m. at Oakland City Hall, and Tuesday, September 29 at
               11 a.m. at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
               headquarters, Second Floor Atrium, 1 South Van Ness Street,
               San Francisco.

    Where:  Bay Area Bikes
            437 Water Street, Jack London Square
            Oakland

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission

The world's leading architects, engineers and building designers are focused on getting to zero: net-zero energy buildings, which produce as much energy as they use over the course of a year. While these revolutionary buildings are necessary and technically possible, because of the prohibitive cost and technical sophistication required, few buildings have achieved this exalted status. On October 7-8, McGraw-Hill Construction's Architectural Record and GreenSource will address these issues during the Innovation 2009 conference, "The Net-Zero Energy Buildings Conference II: Technologies, Materials, and Systems for Getting to Zero." The event will be held at The McGraw-Hill Companies' corporate headquarters, 1221 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan.

Innovation 2009 is expected to attract more than 300 design and construction professionals including architects, interior designers, engineers, energy consultants, green building consultants, and educators. The two-day event will include an overview of advanced systems and materials, real and hypothetical case studies from around the world, developments for tomorrow's design and construction, and fundamentals for getting to zero today. Lectures as well as interactive discussions will provide attendees with firsthand knowledge of the latest developments in net-zero energy buildings, as well as ample opportunities to network with peers and presenters. Innovation 2009 will also host an exhibition hall with architectural and engineering product and services suppliers showcasing their latest technologies.

Colin G. Harrison, Director, Corporate Strategy, IBM, will present the keynote address, "Smarter Cities of the Future, Where No Building is An Island." In addition, Special Guest Lecturer Helmut Jahn, FAIA, President and CEO, Murphy/Jahn Architects, will present a case study on Merck Serono, a complex of new and existing buildings located on the shores of Lake Geneva. Other distinguished speakers include:

• David Altenhofen, AIA, Technical Design Principal, RMJM
• Drury Crawley, Team Lead, Commercial Buildings, Office of Building Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy
• Anna Dyson, Director, Center for Architecture Science and Ecology; Associate Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Carl Galioto, FAIA, Partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
• A. John Hart, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
• Charles Linn, FAIA, Deputy Editor, Architectural Record (Conference Chairperson)
• Peter Rumsey, PE, Managing Principal, Rumsey Engineers
• Scott Shell, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, EHDD Architecture
• John Straube, P.Eng., Principal, Building Science Corporation, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
• Norbert W. Young, Jr., FAIA, President, McGraw-Hill Construction
  

A video summary of last year's event is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxokM12BYHo. For more information and online registration, visit http://construction.com/events/innovation2009 or call 1-800-371-3238. Special rates apply for AIANY members, media and groups of four or more. Attendees are eligible to earn seven HSW/SD AIA Continuing Education Credits.

Innovation 2009 is produced by McGraw-Hill Construction. Lutron Electronics and MechoShade Systems, Inc. are Key Corporate Sponsors, and PPG IdeaScapes is a Corporate Sponsor. Bentley Systems, the American Institute of Steel Construction, and SageGlass are Product Gallery Sponsors. The American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter is the Association Sponsor.

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Construction

Bon Appetit Management Company's Eat Local Challenge aims to solve the healthcare crisis through flavor.

Chefs at the sustainable food service company's more than 400 university, corporate, and specialty venue cafes know that the best way to ensure diners make healthier choices is to first appeal to their palates.

Diverse opinions about how to solve the healthcare crisis abound, but a growing number of people like USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, food journalist Michael Pollan, and Renegade Lunch Lady Ann Cooper agree that a healthy diet with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables is a good start. The conundrum: produce picked unripe and transported across the country is not as appealing flavor wise, as locally harvested, peak season produce. You can taste the difference. Potatoes dug from a local farm the day before will taste earthy and sweet. Pears allowed to ripen on the tree will be juicy and fragrant, not hard and mealy. A fig picked ripe from a local farm will taste better than any sugary processed dessert. Through long-standing relationships with small-scale, family farms, Bon Appetit chefs are able to provide such delectables.

On September 29th, 2009, for the company's 5th annual Eat Local Challenge, Bon Appetit chefs will pull out all the stops. On that day, every diner in every single Bon Appetit cafe will enjoy a meal made from 100% local ingredients grown and produced from within 150 miles or less of each cafe. This includes dairy products, cooking oils, meats, vegetables--everything but salt.

The Challenge educates diners about the variety of foods available in their local areas, inspiring them to seek out what their local foodsheds have to offer. It's one important step toward building support for local food economies and beginning to rebuild robust regional food systems.

The meals showcase the best of the season's harvest as well as the tastiest artisan and indigenous foods--from Minnesota's wild rice to Monterey's sardine. The Challenge is a celebratory way to make healthy, delicious foods easily accessible to thousands of college students and corporate employees nationwide, and to prove that local food really does taste better. It's one thing to be able to shop at the farmers' market and prepare local food at home in your own kitchen. But the work or school day doesn't usually include such choices. Unlike most public cafeterias serving up bland, tasteless food, Bon Appetit's cafes serve up affordable, restaurant quality food prepared by highly trained chefs. Through the company's Farm to Fork and Healthy Cooking initiatives, great tasting, health-promoting choices are available every day.

The annual Eat Local Challenge requires an extra level of commitment to sourcing locally. And sometimes it requires planning months in advance.

"We wanted to produce a truly 100% local pizza," says David Apthorpe, Executive Chef at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. "Just in time for the Eat Local Challenge, farmer Monroe Stutzman of Stutzman Farms in Millersburg, harvested and milled the first custom wheat flour exclusively for our pizza. His 35 acres of wheat will produce 70,000 pounds of flour, which will make more than 70,000 pizzas for the Case community to enjoy, year-round. That's the kind of synergy between farmers and chefs that the Eat Local Challenge is all about."

As a final advantage, buying locally keeps money in the local community, and those benefits extend far beyond the eaters and farmers. With the economic downturn and the healthcare crisis both at the top of the news, it's wonderful that the simplest acts, like choosing wholesome foods produced close to home can have an impact on both.

For more about the Eat Local Challenge: http://www.bamco.com/page/25/eat-local-challenge.htm

SOURCE Bon Appetit Management Company

Culinary School of the Rockies (CSR) is pioneering a new approach to culinary education through their Farm to Table Externship. CSR is the only culinary school in the nation to offer an innovative five-week off-campus Externship that takes students to work on farms, wineries, ranches and restaurants, in Colorado's breathtaking North Fork Valley (near Aspen) and in Boulder County.

A new crop of culinary students are learning firsthand how to source local ingredients from farmers, growers and producers. The farming experience is topped off by an apprenticeship with acclaimed Farm to Table Colorado chefs in restaurants such as Fruition in Denver, Six89 in Carbondale, and The Kitchen in Boulder.

"Working directly with the farmers provides our students a real life glimpse of the farm to table philosophy from people who live and breathe it everyday," said Culinary School of the Rockies Chef Instructor Adam Dulye. "Our students graduate with extraordinary respect for ingredients, because they experience hands-on the efforts and emotions involved in growing vegetables and fruits, and raising and processing lambs, chickens and pigs. We want them to develop a passion for savoring and serving the freshest and best-tasting ingredients available."

The Farm to Table Externship, was developed by CSR in response to the growing movement in sustainability, and is a natural extension of the school's values. Since its founding in 1991, the school has been committed to fresh and innovative culinary education, including keeping a "green commitment" by actively purchasing local, fresh products and ingredients whenever available and by recycling and composting its waste products year-round.

"I am really looking forward to working with the animals, and even participating in the lamb slaughter. I want to know exactly where my food comes from and how it gets to my plate," says Kade Ferachi, a Culinary Arts student who is eagerly awaiting the externship. Culinary Arts Students will spend 10 days in September working at Zephyros Farm, Abundant Life, High Wire Ranch, Jack Rabbit Hill Winery and with artisan producers to help harvest and learn about sustainable food systems.

The school will host a Celebration Farm to Table Dinner on Tuesday, September 15, at Zephyros Farm. The dinner is located outside, in the fields surrounded by lamb pastures, acres of flowers, and rows and rows of lush vegetables. One long dining table is covered in a crisp white table cloth and set for 100 people. The students are preparing: Basil Marinated Melon Skewers with Crispy Ham; Pork Belly Sliders with Caramelized Peach Jam served with Summer Onion Rings; Savory Bread Pudding with Goat Cheese and Bacon Lardons, and much more. Tickets are $75, and available here

Farm to Table is a broad trend toward supporting local, organic, and natural farms and producers. "This is not a passing fad in the culinary world, rather, it is a lasting cultural shift," says Joan Brett, Culinary School of the Rockies' CEO. "We want our graduates to appreciate and understand the intricacies and challenges of sourcing and serving local, seasonal food. It makes them more marketable, and I believe, they will be the next leaders in guiding our nation's restaurant, grocery and hospitality industries in creating a new future for restaurants, businesses and farming communities."

Culinary School of the Rockies offers intense, short-term culinary and pastry programs that fully immerse students in classic and cutting-edge techniques, with an emphasis on using local and seasonal ingredients. Nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET), CSR is located at 637 South Broadway, Suite H, Boulder (303.494.7988). For further information, visit www.culinaryschoolrockies.com

SOURCE Culinary School of the Rockies

People with chronic low-back problems who do yoga also do better at overcoming pain and depression than people treated conventionally for back pain, a West Virginia University study funded by the National Institutes of Health shows.

The three-year, $400,000 study, published in the September issue of the journal Spine, showed lifted mood, less pain and improved function in the group that did yoga postures compared with a control group who received standard medical therapy.

"The yoga group had less pain, less functional disability and less depression compared with the control group," said Kimberly Williams, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Department of Community Medicine. "These were statistically significant and clinically important changes that were maintained six months after the intervention."

The 90 study subjects, who experienced mild to moderate functional disability, were randomly assigned to the yoga group or the group that received conventional medical therapy. Yoga participants took 90-minute classes twice a week for 24 weeks, doing postures targeted to relieve chronic low-back pain. Follow up continued for six months after the end of classes or therapy.

"Proponents of yoga have long described its benefits in reducing back pain," Williams said. "But not everybody was convinced. This is a much bigger, much more rigorous evaluation than had been done before."

The classes were taught by certified Iyengar yoga instructors. A popular form of yoga in the United States, Iyengar yoga emphasizes postures that encourage strength, flexibility and balance.

In the United States, low-back pain represents the largest category of medical reimbursements, with $34 billion in direct medical costs reported annually, Williams said.

For an abstract of the study see

http://journals.lww.com/spinejournal/Abstract/2009/09010/Evaluation_of_the_Effectiveness_and_Efficacy_of.18.aspx.

SOURCE West Virginia University Health Sciences Center

Since it first emerged in April, the global swine flu epidemic has sickened more than 1 million Americans and killed about 500. It's also spread around the world, infecting tens of thousands and killing nearly 2,000.

This summer, the virus has been surprisingly tenacious in the U.S., refusing to fade away as flu viruses usually do. And health officials predict a surge of cases this fall, perhaps very soon as schools reopen.

A White House report from an expert panel suggests that from 30 percent to half the population could catch swine flu during the course of this pandemic and that from 30,000 to 90,000 could die.

So how worried should you be and how do you prepare? The Associated Press has tried to boil down the mass of information into 10 things you should know to be flu-savvy.

1. No cause for panic.

So far, swine flu isn't much more threatening than regular seasonal flu.

During the few months of this new flu's existence, hospitalizations and deaths from it seem to be lower than the average seen for seasonal flu, and the virus hasn't dramatically mutated. That's what health officials have observed in the Southern Hemisphere where flu season is now winding down.

Still, more people are susceptible to swine flu and U.S. health officials are worried because it hung in so firmly here during the summer - a time of year the flu usually goes away.

2. Virus tougher on some.

Swine flu is more of a threat to certain groups - children under 2, pregnant women, people with health problems like asthma, diabetes and heart disease. Teens and young adults are also more vulnerable to swine flu.

Ordinary, seasonal flu hits older people the hardest, but not swine flu. Scientists think older people may have some immunity from exposure years earlier to viruses similar to swine flu.

3. Wash your hands often and long.

Like seasonal flu, swine flu spreads through the coughs and sneezes of people who are sick. Emphasize to children that they should wash with soap and water long enough to finish singing the alphabet song, "Now I know my ABC's..." Also use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

4. Get the kids vaccinated.

These groups should be first in line for swine flu shots, especially if vaccine supplies are limited - people 6 months to 24 years old, pregnant women, health care workers.

Also a priority: Parents and caregivers of infants, people with those high-risk medical conditions previously noted.

5. Get your shots early.

Millions of swine flu shots should be available by October. If you are in one of the priority groups, try to get your shot as early as possible.

Check with your doctor or local or state health department about where to do this. Many children should be able to get vaccinated at school. Permission forms will be sent home in advance.

6. Immunity takes awhile.

Even those first in line for shots won't have immunity until around Thanksgiving.

That's because it's likely to take two shots, given three weeks apart, to provide protection. And it takes a week or two after the last shot for the vaccine to take full effect.

The regular seasonal flu shot should be widely available in September. People over 50 are urged to be among the first to get that shot.

7. Vaccines are being tested.

Health officials presume the swine flu vaccine is safe and effective, but they're testing it to make sure.

The federal government has begun studies in eight cities across the country to assess its effectiveness and figure out the best dose. Vaccine makers are doing their own tests as well.

8. Help! Surrounded by swine flu.

If an outbreak of swine flu hits your area before you're vaccinated, be extra cautious.

Stay away from public gathering places like malls, sports events and churches. Try to keep your distance from people in general. Keep washing those hands and keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth.

9. What if you get sick?

If you have other health problems or are pregnant and develop flu-like symptoms, call your doctor right away. You may be prescribed Tamiflu or Relenza. These drugs can reduce the severity of swine flu if taken right after symptoms start.

If you develop breathing problems (rapid breathing for kids), pain in your chest, constant vomiting or a fever that keeps rising, go to an emergency room.

Most people, though, should just stay home and rest. Cough into your elbow or shoulder. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever breaks. Fluids and pain relievers like Tylenol can help with achiness and fever. Always check with a doctor before giving children any medicines. Adult cold and flu remedies are not for them.

10. No swine flu from barbecue.

You can't catch swine flu from pork - or poultry either (even though it recently turned up in turkeys in Chile). Swine flu is not spread by handling meat, whether it's raw or cooked.

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.