More food info

Here are links to more organizations and info about local, organic and sustainably raised food.

Tips on pesticides and produce

King County's Hazardous Waste Management Program has produced a downloadable "Shopper's Card for Buying Fruits and Vegetables" that lists the relative risks of pesticide residue posed by different kinds of local and imported produce, and tips for reducing your exposure (including washing produce for 30 seconds). It notes that imported conventional produce has been found to have more pesticide residue than local. Lots of related info and links, too. www.govlink.org/hazwaste/house/ShoppersCard.html

Festivore

Dining Web site for restaurants that serve local, seasonal, eco-friendly and fair meals. You can search for local sourcing, organic, artisan foods, vegetarian/vegan, pastured animals, gluten-free and more. For now it covers Seattle and Portland, but it promises to include more cities later. www.festivore.com

Green Restaurant Association

This organization has a mission of creating an environmentally sustainable restaurant industry. You can search its site for dining spots nationally that are certified (certification requirements include no-Styrofoam use and comprehensive recycling). Few are listed in Washington state, though (the Microsoft cafeteria is one). www.dinegreen.com/twelvesteps.asp

Farm-to-school programs

These programs connect schools with local farms with the goal of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition and supporting local small farmers. farmtoschool.org

Movie

"Good Food" is a documentary celebrating the comeback of family farms in the Pacific Northwest. The favorably reviewed film introduces local farmers and ranchers, stores and restaurants that are building a sustainable-food system. Filmmakers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young of Moving Images specialize in environmental and social-justice documentaries. www.movingimages.org

Slow Food USA/Slow Food Seattle

Slow Food is a nonprofit organization founded in Italy in 1986 by writer-activist-foodie Carlo Petrini that now has chapters around the world. It promotes people coming together as food communities, on the farm, in the market, and at the table — to create and enjoy food that is "good, clean and fair." Lots of links on its Web site. www.slowfoodseattle.org/

Puget Sound Food Network

Puget Sound Food Network has launched a project to create by 2009 an online-ordering system to connect local farmers with consumers as well as stores, restaurants, schools and other institutions, processors, distributors. It began last month with federal seed money aimed at creating a viable sustainable local food system. www.agbizcenter.org

Chefs Collaborative

Chefs Collaborative is a national nonprofit organization that works with chefs and the greater food community to celebrate local foods and foster a more sustainable food supply; Seattle has its own chapter. seattle.chefscollaborative.org/

Seasonal Charts

An online chart to find out more about what's available in the Northwest during the different growing seasons of the year. seasonalcornucopia.com

Tilth Producers of Washington

Organic farming and sustainable-agriculture organization of Washington state, with more than 400 members. Its site includes a guide to organic and sustainable growers, markets, food and farm suppliers and resources in Washington, farm walks, and info on organic produce. www.tilthproducers.org

Seattle Tilth

Nationally recognized nonprofit organization "dedicated to cultivating a sustainable community, one garden at a time." In demonstration gardens and also P-Patches and other community gardens, Seattle Tilth teaches how to improve the environment by using organic gardening techniques. www.seattletilth.org

Marra Farm:

A model food-resource center, in South Seattle. www.seattle.gov/parks/proparks/projects/Marra-Desimone.htm

Food Alliance

Portland, Ore.-based organization with an online database you can search to find food products that meet its standards for social and environmental responsibility, as determined by a third-party site inspection, and the retailers and restaurants that carry these products. www.foodalliance.org/information-for/for-consumers

Good food-news Web sites:

Worth checking out for interesting "conscious-eating" news and commentary:

• Ethicurean: Chew the Right Thing, a blog focusing on "SOLE food — sustainable, organic, local, and/or ethical food." www.ethicurean.com

• ChewsWise: Digesting the Sustainable Food Chain, a blog started by journalist-author ("Organics, Inc.") Samuel Fromartz. chewswise.com

— Compiled by Carey Quan Gelernter, Footprint Editor; reach her at 206-464-2218 or footprint@seattletimes.com