Zoe and I had the absolute pleasure of volunteering a few hours of our time for Fields to Families. I was introduced to this non-profit through two of Chad’s coworkers, who are on the board, and I instantly wanted to help.

We wrote a year ago about Michelle Kaufmann's assault of the booming prefab modern gingerbread scene, noting that "as the mortgage crisis deepens, this may be the only modern prefab market left." We are disappointed to note that whereas last year her house was a modest, one storey number, she has gone all McMansion on us with her GingerLotus, which is

Everyone knows that Charleston is a major tourist destination. The numerous hotels produce a lot of jobs and revenue for the area. What they also produce is a lot of food, much of which goes to waste. There is an article at greenerbuildings.com that reviews four machines that cut food waste that is sent to the landfill through rapid decomposition. In my opinion, only the first one, eCorect, is worthwhile. That one coverts the waste into a powder that can be used as compost.

As most of you know, buying local food is one of the best things you can do to lead a more sustainable life. Fresh food travels an average of 2000 miles to reach our plates, which means eating locally grown food can really make an impact.

This Sunday, October 26th, the SC Aquarium will be hosting the 5th Annual Sustainable Seafood Festival at the

Here at TreeHugger, we've covered the sustainable food movement consistently for years, but never pulled together a list of the greenest restaurants. Wait no more: Here are five outstanding green restaurants -- in no particular order -- sure to please your stomach and the earth.

A little disclaimer: We didn't necessarily expect that four out of five of our top picks would be U.S.-based.

Compost with a Little Help from our Friends
It seems my composting obsession is far from going away. Having moved my compost when moving house, and then composted my move, my wife and I still find ourselves short on compost for our planned veggie garden. So we hatched a perfect plan to acquire masses of good organic matter, and have fun while doing it.

Gulf of St. Lawrence Shrimp Boat by Else49

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has certified 75% of the Gulf of St. Lawrence northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) trawl fishery as sustainable and well-managed. The 27,000 metric tons from this fishery joins the 68,000 tons from the neighboring Canada northern prawn fishery that MSC certified sustainable in early August.

Will Allen fishing for tilapia by cpentecost via flickr

Earlier this year, Sami recognized the good work of the organization Growing Power. The John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation took the praise one step further and named the organization's co-founder and CEO as a "MacArthur Genius".

Have you noticed the new captions in the produce department of Harris Teeter? Cute handwritten bubble signs announcing, “locally grown.” No kidding. Cabbages, collards, mustard greens, peaches, grape tomatoes, and others display their hometown pride.

Judith Alexandre, a single mother, lives with her two children in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and like a lot of other families there they have only one choiread more