COOL FOODS CAMPAIGN ENLISTS CITY OF SANTA MONICA IN FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING

Popular California Destination Becomes First City to Sign Cool Foods Pledge and Support Sustainable Eating

Washington, DC, October 10, 2008 – Center for Food Safety today announced that it has enlisted the city of Santa Monica, California in its widely-heralded Cool Foods Campaign. Santa Monica will become the first city to participate in the campaign, joining an impressive list of organizations, communities and businesses. In signing the Cool Foods Pledge, Santa Monica will empower its residents and businesses to take a bite out of global warming and encourage them to make more sustainable food choices.

Santa Monica’s decision to sign the pledge comes on the heels of the City’s Sustainability Month, celebrated in September. By joining the Cool Foods Campaign and signing the pledge, the City reaffirms its commitment to responsible living and environmental conservation, ensuring that the community will score even higher marks on the Sustainable City Report Card it will issue next year.

“Santa Monica has a famous commitment to sustainability, having adopted our first Sustainable City Plan in 1994 and recently updating it to pursue even more challenging goals,” said Kevin McKeown, Santa Monica City Councilmember and Council Liaison to the city’s Task Force on the Environment. “What better way to engage each individual in this ongoing process than to educate our residents for better sustainability on the most intimate of choices each of us makes daily, what to eat?”

The Cool Foods Campaign is a public education initiative concerned with the impact of food choices on global warming and the environment. The Campaign outlines easy steps that help families and businesses make more environmentally-friendly food choices and help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the foods they eat—referred to as their “FoodPrint”. The campaign promotes the consumption of organic, local and whole foods, and advocates for reduced consumption of conventional meat and dairy, as well as processed and packaged foods—practices that help cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

“Because our food system produces nearly 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions, fighting global warming begins with the way we eat ,” said Meredith Niles, Cool Foods Campaign Coordinator. “When communities like Santa Monica sign on to the campaign, they are empowering their residents with the resources to fight global warming with their fork.”

As signees to the Cool Foods Pledge, Santa Monica administrators will benefit from the Campaign’s resources, experience and guidance. Center officials will work closely with city leaders to develop citywide programs that will best reduce the community’s FoodPrint. Suggested initiatives include the expansion of Santa Monica’s existing composting program, infusion of organic and local food selections into government-run cafeterias, widespread public education programs including the potential for agricultural and gardening initiatives in the local school district, and continued support for the development of new farmers markets.

The city of Santa Monica joins numerous other distinguished organizations that have signed the Cool Foods Pledge. These include the Humane Society of the United States, the Cornell University Farm to School Program, New York’s Blue Hill restaurants, and the Mennonite Central Committee. Communities, organizations and businesses that take the Cool Foods pledge receive information for distribution to families and customers, as well as the Campaign’s support and frequent updates on important food news and agricultural events relevant to addressing the global warming crisis.

To take the Cool Foods Pledge check out the Cool Foods Campaign website at www.coolfoodscampaign.org.

The Center for Food Safety is national, non-profit, membership organization founded in 1997 to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. On the web at: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org

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