I am a fan of the Earth Fair Market. It's location in Tokai makes it a really easy 'pop in and grab' place to stock up on fresh, organic and local food on a Wednesday evening and Saturday morning.

And now, the indoor market is getting an outdoor equivalent in the city bowl, St George's Mall, just opposite the cathedral (what a setting).

when
Every Thursday from 12.30 pm to 6.30 pm

where
Upper St Georges Mall, off Wale Street

Jacci Simpson, the market's organiser is very excited. As she says, it's been eight months of getting approval and permits and it is the closest we will have in this country to a European style street market.

Jane's Delicious KitchenJane's Delicious Kitchen – Harvesting, preserving and cooking seasonal food - by Jane Griffiths is a South African cookbook, that is the sequel if you like, to the bestselling Jane's Delicious Garden.

The book is beautifully produced and provides an eclectic mix of recipes that show you what to do with the wonderful fresh produce you've grown, having been inspired by Griffiths' first book of course! The recipes in the book are structured around the seasons, and focus on Griffiths' favourite seasonal ingredients from her garden. Jane's Delicious Kitchen (JDK) heavily features Griffith's abundant organic garden – which produces the fruit and veggies that have starring roles in many recipes in the book.

Some of you will remember the petition that went out from Avaaz in January, in which we sent the following message to big brands sourcing cocoa from Ivory Coast:

Ivory Coast is on the brink of a war that could cause unspeakable bloodshed. Please end your company's trade with Laurent Gbagbo and his forces and immediately and publicly commit to working only with President Alassane Ouattara's democratically elected government. Gbagbo relies on revenues and tariffs from cocoa exports to finance his repressive troops perpetuating his illegal grip on power. Millions of Ivorians risked their lives to vote last month. Your urgent action now could tip the balance towards democracy and save lives...

Rosemary Hill Farm Market has been around for two years. They're trying something slightly new as of this weekend, with a focus on family and food. They're also moving the market to Friday evenings in order to accommodate this.

Rosemary Hill is just that, a hill on a stretch of gorgeous organic farmland only 10 minutes outside Pretoria, or 45 minutes from Sandton (considering it takes at least that to get across Jo'burg, it isn't far).

The farm has been organic since 1978 and grows African potato, sutherlandia, rosemary, lavender, artemisia, lippia, spearmint, eucalyptus and other plants from which they distill essential oils. They have a herd of Nguni cattle and grow other crops like pecan nuts, as well as vegetables. Next door to them is the Max Stibbe Waldorf School.

We received the most beautiful peaches and figs yesterday from Hoogwater Farm via the food collective. These have to be the biggest and juiciest peaches I've tasted in a long time, and the figs, well....

The Food Collective isn’t a business, or a formal organization. It encompasses the friendship, koffieklets, food activism projects and support group of three women called Kate, Pia and Liz. We became friends through our work founding and running Slow Food Mother City, and the relationship developed into weekly (or bi-weekly. And market visits. And cherry-picking road trips) sessions where we generate ideas, projects, and websites, support each other’s fledgling business ideas and also recipe- and plant-swap, complain about our menfolk, and drink tea.

You can urge the government to meaningfully label all genetically-modified (GM) foods by signing this petition , launched by ACB (African Centre for Biosafety), and SAFeAGE via Activist.

It was way back in 2008 that the government announced that GM food would 'soon' be labelled. but according to the two watch dogs, the latest draft regulations on GM food published by the DTI (department of trade and industry) 'fails to protect the citizens' freedom of choice of what they eat'...

pigs in stalls: pic- huha.org.nzDear Friends,

South Africa’s pregnant pigs are trapped in metal cages that prevent any movement forwards, backwards or sideways – not just for a day, or a week, or a month. But, for life!

Their suffering is relentless. View this footage of pregnant pigs hidden away on a factory farm in the Cape Winelands.

Please join Compassion in World Farming (SA) in its call to Mr Simon Streicher, CEO of the South African Pork Producers’ Organisation, to join the world movement to phase out sow stalls.

As consumer pressure helps pregnant pigs break free of sow stalls around the world, the future for South Africa’s breeding sows who produce the 10 000 young pigs that are slaughtered weekly in SA for their ham and bacon, remains a secret.

Late in 2010, Australian Pork Limited voluntarily agreed to heed the call by consumers in that country, to begin a

Jill's cob guest houseWe find the house via a combination of directions from McGregor’s locals and the ability to follow our noses once we have the rather obvious house in sight – there are not many homes in McGregor that look quite like it. Outside is a sign – cobbits cottage. It’s an apt description of what stands before us, built completely out of earth and serving as MAT’s headquarters.

nanobreweries set to trend this year in the US

JWT - one of the world's largest advertising agencies credited with firsts like creating the first global ad agency network (by 1930 they had branches in 30 countries), employing the first female creative director over a century ago (1908), and creating the first television advert back in 1939 - has produced its annual trendwatching report: 100 Things to Watch in 2011.

They take a stab at predicting what will trend this year - companies, events, artists, products, cities etc. And they have a track record - looking back at the 2010 report - of at least getting some of their predictions right. Perhaps because of their standing their predictions even become self fulfilling...

Now we know who to thank for Lady Gaga.

I scanned their list of trends for signs of environmental/green/eco trends set to feature this year:

Pic: funny-for-funny.blogspot.comFeasting and drinking has become symbolic of family gatherings at Christmas time. Bonds with family and friends are strengthened at this time of year. Or so the story goes... the planning and cooking of the meal can often be a source of huge stress and a time of family feuds too!

This year we are aiming for casual dining at home on Christmas Eve where everyone gets involved in the preparation of the meal.

The most important element when choosing your Christmas meal is to know where your food comes from. Support local, organic food. When it comes to deciding between an imported organic item, and its local non-organic counterpart it's an individual choice - each of us needs to weigh up the health benefits versus the cost to the environment.

Boar's head or nut bake? Or something in between?