A friend of mine was recently pulled over and given a ticket for three Class C Misdemeanor charges. No big deal, right? This happens every day. Yes, but he was on a bicycle.

My friend “Bill” was on his way home from work one night last week. It was 5:45 p.m. and he chose to bike down South Main due to lack of traffic and safer conditions than other main roads, despite the treacherous trolley tracks. A Memphis Police officer stopped Bill and cited a city ordinance that says bicyclists must ride as close to the right side of the street as possible. Bill kept riding as close as he could to the right without crashing into parked cars or getting his tire stuck in the trolley tracks.

Within seconds, the officer was on his bullhorn stating that if Bill didn’t pull over, he would lose his bike. The officer reminded Bill that he had told him to ride as close to the right side as possible and, since he didn’t heed his request, he would receive a citation.  Bill explained to the officer that he was riding as close to the right side as safety would permit but was riding on the left side of the tracks because a trolley stop and parallel-parked cars prevented him from riding to the right of the rails (the trolley stops are built as close to the rails as possible, so a bike can’t fit between the rail and the trolley stop).

That’s when the officer threatened to take Bill to jail for disorderly conduct and asked for his driver’s license.

The officer then pulled out a book of Memphis City Ordinances and informed Bill that he was in violation of three of them:  (1) riding too far from the right side of the road, (2) riding without a reflector (even though it was broad daylight), and (3) riding without a bell.

The TCA (Tennessee Code Annotated) requires that cyclists riding at less than the normal speed of traffic ride as close as practicable to the right hand curb, except when reasonably necessary to avoid conditions, including fixed or moving objects. This is both a right and an obligation. It sets the standard of conduct for cyclists statewide, and Memphis recently adopted a new ordinance consistent with this state law. Neither law enumerates reasons that might make riding against the curb impracticable.

Additionally, Memphis recently updated its ordinances and no longer requires bikes to be equipped with a reflector during the day. Nor do they have to have a bell. It appears that this officer had an out-of-date set of city ordinances.

If we’re going to be a more sustainable city, if we’re going to build more bike lanes and encourage people to bike more often, we need to all be on board. That includes the Memphis Police Department.

While Bill was receiving his three citations, for ordinances that no longer exist (a good 30 minutes) the police car was left running, doors open, air conditioning blasting.  Not a great example of sustainability.

OK, I admit it, I watch TV. And I admit that I watch a little more than I’d like to admit.

So when someone tells me about a new TV show, I shrink away, not wanting to get hooked into any more TV. BUT when I read about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, I immediately set the recorder.

In this new show, Oliver takes on one of the unhealthiest cities in America, Huntington, WV. He chose this West Virginia city because of the bleak statistics of obesity and diabetes in Appalachia. When Jamie shows up for his first day of school, it’s pizza for breakfast and when he takes a peek into the school walk-in fridge he proclaims, “processed crap.”

If you know anything about Jamie, aka The Naked Chef, then you know he’s been a proponent of healthy eating for quite some time now. He founded the Fifteen Foundation whose purpose is, “to inspire disadvantaged young people by giving them the opportunity to create a better life for themselves in the restaurant, hospitality and catering sectors, through practical training and work placements.” And now he’s turning his attention to helping people of all ages eat balanced meals and cook with fresh ingredients, not only in schools, but homes, workplaces and even restaurants.

I’d love Jamie to make his way to Memphis, I can think of many institutions that would greatly benefit from his help. In the meantime, we can start our own Food Revolution in our homes by choosing a healthier diet. A start in that direction is eating more locally grown non-processed foods and we’re lucky to have more and more options to eat this way. We have Easy Way, Miss Cordelia’s, Whole Foods, Fresh Market and of course all of the Memphis great Farmers Markets, with a new Farmers Market in Cooper Young on our horizon.

Ironically, the show was interrupted by an ABC Special Report on Health Care Reform so I took the time to borrow this quote from a friend’s Facebook posting, “Here’s the deal: We are a bunch of lazy fat asses. If you want the best of both worlds, that is, low cost AND universal coverage, let’s get in shape. Eat healthy, eat less, smoke less, drink less (pointing the finger at myself), and exercise. THAT is the only real solution.” Nice summary, David!

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution aired on ABC March 22. If you missed it, tune in for next week’s episode airing March 26^th.  Look out lunch ladies; Jamie’s headed your way!

I have a great job.

I work with locally owned restaurants helping them reduce their carbon footprint. So, I eat out a lot and I get to blame my job for the few extra pounds I’ve been carrying around since I started Project Green Fork eighteen months ago.

I love restaurants—especially the types that are small enough that you get to see the chef working their magic when you walk in the door. It’s what I call the, “What You See is What You Get” restaurant, case in point with a local favorite, Umai. The chef greeting you while he’s hand-rolling sushi is a most welcoming sight to me.

I recently starting working with Umai, a small Midtown Japanese/French restaurant (Umai means delicious or tasty in Japanese) and quickly became impressed by chef/owner, Ken Lumpkin. He’s been around for a while and has an impressive résumé to prove it.

When he went out on his own, he really went out on his own. Many restaurateurs have silent partners, financial backers, or money to invest and not lose their shirt. Not the case with Ken. He has a passion and a drive and a hell of a talent, but not deep pockets. It’s this passion and drive that has kept Umai going for the past 3 years.

A few weeks ago at our PGF board retreat the question of how can we continue to do what we do with limited financial resources was discussed. While brainstorming, one of our board members brought up the possibility of working with nationally-run chain restaurants as an additional source of income. Working with this restaurant category would help our financial stream but that’s not what PGF is about. Equal to helping reduce environmental impact, bringing attention to these small locally owned and operated restaurants is what we’re about.

Like Umai, Project Green Fork is small and we run our organization with passion and drive, not deep pockets. We’ll continue to work with and support the locally owned with a faith, like Ken, that the work will speak for itself and the funding will come.

The next time you’re mulling over the question, “What’s for dinner?,” choose one of these locally owned jewels. Your choice may just keep them in business.

Website: projectgreenfork.org

Facebook: Project Green Fork

Twitter: projgreenfork

A friend of mine recently posted on her facebook page that she wished wine were sold in grocery stores in Memphis. She had no idea the can of worms she opened. She received a gambit of responses from her facebook friends, some strongly agreeing with her, some adamantly disagreeing with her, each for a variety of reasons.

This harmless wall post got me thinking about convenience and how ultimately that’s what led to the creation of fast food. Do we really need everything to be faster, easier and cheaper?

I asked my friend, Michael Hughes, General Manager of Joe’s Liquor Store, to weigh in about the wine in grocery store issue. He not only educated me on the topic but summed it up perfectly as well. Read below and feel free to express your views.

Cheers!
Margot

From Michael:

“It’s difficult to separate my viewpoints from that of a consumer/wine lover and that of someone who is in the retail wine biz.  So I won’t try to do that.

The way I see it changing legislation to allow wine sales in grocery stores will bring about an incredible convenience to consumers.  But along with that comes so many unseen costs that the consumer has no idea about.

The incredibly well-financed group behind the “Red, White & Food” propaganda would have us believe that our current laws are backward, anti-consumer, inconvenient and anti-business.  Would anyone call New York backward?  They don’t allow grocery store wine sales.  This group would have us believe that there will be an overwhelming amount of tax revenue due to the increased sales of wine.  How can that be possible when there is only a finite amount of alcohol drinkers in the state?  Drinking will not increase so therefore how can tax revenue increase?  The way I see it they are being very misleading when it comes to the supposed financial windfall.

Many supporters of this bill say that other states allow grocery store wine sales and they still have thriving independent wine stores.  That is true but those states have allowed grocery store wine sales for decades.  Enacting this law will cause the closure of many independent shops across the state.  That is a simple fact.  With an inability to compete with big box pricing a multitude of small business will close.  Does it really make sense to cause more job loss in this or any other economy?

I’m sure that big box retailers will only focus on the big sellers and not the unique, expressive wines from small family growers.  The reason being that they can’t make money off of those wines because they don’t sell at the rate of the “Top 100.”

The money spent in the big box grocery stores goes to their headquarters.  Money spent in the locally-owned independent wine and liquor retail stores stays here.  That profit gets put back into the local economy.  Locally owned wholesalers here in Tennessee will be either gobbled up by the multi-state wine wholesalers or they’ll be forced out of business.

Being a wine retailer I have had the pleasure of helping my customers explore their own interest in wine.  One of the main reasons I’ve been able to do that is because I’ve developed relationships with these locally owned wholesalers.  They’ve been more than willing to bring wines into the Memphis market for me to provide to my customers.  Those customers appreciate the extra step you take for them and they appreciate having access to new and delicious wines.  I don’t anticipate the same working relationships to be developed with large conglomerates.  These companies see dollar signs not customers.  Wine is simply a product to sell not something they are passionate about and I can’t stand to see that.

Wine to me is something I drink, read about, explore, pair with food, travel to learn about and pretty much obsess over.  I’d hate to see it be treated like a box of cereal”.

Check out Michael’s blog at: www.midtownstomp.blogspot.com

I’m trying to be optimistic. I’m thinking that maybe today is the day.

Will they? Will this be the week that our across the street neighbors (family of five), changes their ways? Nope, it happens again. Same as last week and the week before and the week before and …

These neighbors put more trash on the curb than anyone else in the neighborhood. That’s right, it’s ALL trash, no recycling.

The city of Memphis picks up recycling in most neighborhoods and for the life of me, I cannot figure out why everyone who has this service available to them isn’t using it. Have we really gotten that lazy? And, we pay for this service, look at your MLGW bill under “City of Memphis Solid Waste Fee.”

Drop it:

Our city doesn’t offer this service to businesses, apartments, town houses/condos, or even in some gated communities (don’t get me started on this topic), but they can still do their part. There are five recycling drop-off centers available for residents and businesses not serviced by City of Memphis Solid Waste Management:

Downtown – Located in the parking area on Mud Island Drive at the North entrance to Mud Island Park.

East Memphis – Located on Moore Ed, off Germantown Parkway South,  south of Shelby Showplace Arena at the Agricenter.

Midtown – Located on the corner of Cooper and Walker at the First Congregational Church.

Southeast – Located at the Hickory Hill Community Center at 3910 Ridgeway.

FCR – 3197 Farrisview Blvd. (located off American Way ,west of Lamar intersection). This is the City’s recycling processing facility operated by FCR of Tennessee. Place recycling material in carts located just outside the gate.

Gimme 5:

Did you know that Memphis doesn’t recycle #5 (polypropylene) plastic containers?  Whole Foods has stepped up to the plate and offers a service to meet this need. It’s called the Gimme 5 Program. You can take your #5 plastics to them and they will recycle for you (think large yogurt containers, bottle caps and closures).

More Info:

Need new or additional bins? Confused about what gets recycled? Go here.

Should I?

Do you think it would be considered rude of me to order my annoying neighbors a recycling bin as a holiday gift? Maybe tie a nice red bow around it? Think they might get the hint? I doubt it.  Don’t be the annoying neighbor.

Website: www.projectgreenfork.org

Facebook: Project Green Fork

Twitter: projgreenfork

And I don’t just mean the heat. Memphis has long been known for it’s incredible restaurants and talented chefs. If you live here, you know these local jewels and will likely agree how food-fortunate Memphians are.

I’m proud to call Memphis my home. I’m proud of the local talent in music, art, film and especially food. There is never an occasion that we don’t have a wide variety of great places to choose from. Sometimes the biggest dilemma is which of these local favorites we should go to next—there are so many. And we’re not the only ones who think so. Memphis has quite a few national award-winning chefs and you don’t have to look far to see who they are!

My husband and I like to eat out a lot and I’ve worked in restaurants —waiting tables, hosting and bartending. Over time, I started to pay attention to the amount of waste restaurants generate and wanted to do my part in helping eliminate some of it. Or, rather, not eliminate it but put it to good use through composting, recycling, etc. I got sick of hearing myself complain and decided to do something about it, so I started Project Green Fork.

Project Green Fork is a non-profit initiative that helps Memphis restaurants become environmentally sustainable. We help connect chefs to local farmers to increase their usage of locally produced goods. We assist in setting up in-house composting and recycling programs to reduce solid waste, which ultimately ends up in our landfills. We partner with Memphis Light, Gas and Water to perform free restaurant energy assessments. We also help source and replace toxic cleaning chemicals and non-biodegradable food and beverage containers with greener alternatives.

Project Green Fork certified restaurants are working hard to take care of their customers and the environment by following sustainable practices. They’re also helping take care of the local economy by hosting fundraisers, sourcing local foods and shopping at Farmer’s Markets.

The restaurant business is not an easy one. It’s a labor of love and in this economy it sure takes a lot of love! Memphian, tourist, and Smart City web reader … please support all of the great dining options available to you, especially those locally owned.

Cheers!

Website: www.projectgreenfork.org

Facebook: Project Green Fork

Twitter: projgreenfork